Measurement of Thermal and Electrical Properties of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes–Water Nanofluid

The use of high conductive nanoparticles, such as carbon nanotubes (CNT), enhances the thermal and electrical conductivities of the carrier fluid. Depending upon the volumetric concentration of particles and their distribution in the carrier fluid, multifold enhancement of thermal and electrical properties is possible. Therefore, in the present study, thermal and electrical properties of CNT–water mixture are assessed at microscopic level. Special distribution of the CNT in water is obtained experimentally at microscale for different durations of the heating situation. Thermal and electrical properties are predicted numerically incorporating the particle distributions obtained from the experiment. The mass based analysis is also introduced to determine the thermal properties of the mixture. The findings are compared for those obtained from the simulations based on experimentally obtained micro-images. Algebraic equations are introduced to formulate the data obtained from the simulations for temperature dependent properties. It is demonstrated that the mass based estimation of thermal properties are significantly different than those obtained from the experimental based simulations because of the nonuniform particles distribution and their localized conductivity in the carrier fluid.