The effects of nanolubricants on boiling and two phase flow phenomena: A review

The study of nanorefrigerant boiling and two-phase flow phenomena is still very much in its infancy. This research field poses many opportunities to study new frontiers but also gives great challenges. This study presents a comprehensive review of nucleate pool boiling, flow boiling, condensation and two-phase flow of nanorefrigerants to summarize the current status of research in this newly developing interdisciplinary field and to identify the future research needs as well. This review has been realized that the physical properties have significant effects on the nanorefrigerant boiling and two-phase flow characteristics but the lack of the accurate knowledge of these physical properties has greatly limited the study in this interdisciplinary field. Therefore, effort should be made to contribute to the physical property database of nanofluids as a first priority. Secondly, systematic accurate experiments and flow regime observations on boiling and two-phase flow phenomena under a wide range of test conditions and nanofluid types should be emphasized to understand the fundamentals. Finally, physical mechanisms and prediction methods for boiling heat transfer and two phase flow characteristics should be targeted and applied research should also be focused on in the future. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.