Density Measurement of Different Nanofluids and Their Comparison With Theory

Density measurements were performed on three different nanofluids containing aluminum oxide (Al2O3), antimony-tin oxide (Sb2O5:SnO2), and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles in a base fluid of 60:40 ethylene glycol/water by mass. First, a benchmark test for the density of the base fluid is presented showing excellent agreement with the data presented in the handbook of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers. Next, density measurements of the above-mentioned nanofluids over a temperature range of 0C to 50C for several particle volume concentrations are presented. These measured results were compared with a widely used theoretical equation and good agreements between the theoretical equation and measurements were obtained for the Al2O3 and Sb2O5:SnO2 nanofluids. However, the deviation was observed to be higher with the ZnO nanofluid and it increased with particle volume concentration.