Characterization and modeling of thermal diffusion and aggregation in nanofluids.

Fluids with higher thermal conductivities are sought for fluidic cooling systems in applications including microprocessors and high-power lasers. By adding high thermal conductivity nanoscale metal and metal oxide particles to a fluid the thermal conductivity of the fluid is enhanced. While particle aggregates play a central role in recent models for the thermal conductivity of nanofluids, the effect of particle diffusion in a temperature field on the aggregation and transport has yet to be studied in depth. The present work separates the effects of particle aggregation and diffusion using parallel plate experiments, infrared microscopy, light scattering, Monte Carlo simulations, and rate equations for particle and heat transport in a well dispersed nanofluid. Experimental data show non-uniform temporal increases in thermal conductivity above effective medium theory and can be well described through simulation of the combination of particle aggregation and diffusion. The simulation shows large concentration distributions due to thermal diffusion causing variations in aggregation, thermal conductivity and viscosity. Static light scattering shows aggregates form more quickly at higher concentrations and temperatures, which explains the increased enhancement with temperature reported by other research groups. The permanent aggregates in the nanofluid are found to have a fractal dimension of 2.4 and the more » aggregate formations that grow over time are found to have a fractal dimension of 1.8, which is consistent with diffusion limited aggregation. Calculations show as aggregates grow the viscosity increases at a faster rate than thermal conductivity making the highly aggregated nanofluids unfavorable, especially at the low fractal dimension of 1.8. An optimum nanoparticle diameter for these particular fluid properties is calculated to be 130 nm to optimize the fluid stability by reducing settling, thermal diffusion and aggregation. « less