Theoretical-Experimental study of factors affecting the thermal conductivity of SWCNT-CuO (25:75)/water nanofluid and challenging comparison with CuO nanofluids/water

In this theoretical-experimental study, the basic parameters effect such as solid volume fraction (SVF or u) and temperature on thermal conductivity (TC) of SWCNT-CuO (25:75)/water nanofluid (NF) has been investigated. The used NF in this study has been prepared and used for the first time. Monitoring and investigation of TC were done in T = 28 to 50 degrees C and SVF = 0.03 % to 1.15 %. The role of SVF effective in relative thermal conductivity (RTC) with changing of the tem-perature shows the importance of this factor in improving the RTC; results show that the better TC is T = 50 degrees C compared to other temperatures. Also, the maximum enhancement of TC compared to the base fluid (BF) (36 %) was observed at the mentioned temperature. In addition to the labora-tory tests such as the margin of deviation (MOD) and RTC sensitivity within the range of-1.90 % 1.42 % in the theoretical section, a new relationship was predicted using the response surface methodology (RSM). A comparison was also made between SWCNT-CuO (25:75)/water NF and other NFs at the same temperature and SVF, which shows the increased RTC of the NF after using SWCNT (25 %).(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

In this study, the effect of basic parameters, such as solid volume fraction and temperature, on the thermal conductivity of SWCNT-CuO(25:75)/water nanofluid was investigated. The experimental results showed that the solid volume fraction had a significant impact on the relative thermal conductivity, and the optimum temperature for thermal conductivity was 50 degrees Celsius. A new relationship was established using the response surface methodology, and a comparison with other nanofluids was made.