Effect of thermophysical properties models on the predicting of the convective heat transfer coefficient for low concentration nanofluid

The term of nanofluid refers to a solid-liquid mixture with a continuous phase which is a nanometer sized nanoparticle dispersed in conventional base fluids. In order to study the heat transfer behavior of the nanofluids, precise values of thermal and physical properties such as specific heat, viscosity and thermal conductivity of the nanofluids are required. There are a few well-known correlations for predicting the thermal and physical properties of nanofluids which are often cited by researchers to calculate the convective heat transfer behaviors of the nanufluids. Each researcher has used different models of the thermophysical properties in their works. This article aims to summarize the various models for predicting the thermophysical properties of nanofluids which have been commonly cited by a number of researchers and use them to calculate the experimental convective heat transfer coefficient of the nanofluid flowing in a double-tube counter flow heat exchanger. The effects of these models on the predicted value of the convective heat transfer of nanofluid with low nanoparticle concentration are discussed in detail. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.