Heat Transfer in Nanofluids-A Review

Heat Transfer Engineering
ISSN: 0145-7632 (Print) 1521-0537 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uhte20
Heat Transfer in NanofluidsA Review

Sarit Kumar Das , Stephen U. S. Choi & Hrishikesh E. Patel
To cite this article: Sarit Kumar Das , Stephen U. S. Choi & Hrishikesh E. Patel (2006)
Heat Transfer in NanofluidsA Review, Heat Transfer Engineering, 27:10, 3-19, DOI:
10.1080/01457630600904593
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Published online: 23 Feb 2007.
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Date: 22 January 2016, At: 00:17
Heat Transfer Engineering, 27(10):319, 2006

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ISSN: 0145-7632 print / 1521-0537 online
DOI: 10.1080/01457630600904593
Heat Transfer in Nanofluids

A Review
SARIT KUMAR DAS
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
STEPHEN U. S. CHOI
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Energy Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA
HRISHIKESH E. PATEL
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
Suspended nanoparticles in conventional fluids, called nanofluids, have been the subject of intensive study worldwide
since pioneering researchers recently discovered the anomalous thermal behavior of these fluids. The enhanced thermal
conductivity of these fluids with small-particle concentration was surprising and could not be explained by existing theories.
Micrometer-sized particle-fluid suspensions exhibit no such dramatic enhancement. This difference has led to studies of other
modes of heat transfer and efforts to develop a comprehensive theory. This article presents an exhaustive review of these
studies and suggests a direction for future developments. The review and suggestions could be useful because the literature in
this area is spread over a wide range of disciplines, including heat transfer, material science, physics, chemical engineering
and synthetic chemistry.
INTRODUCTION
that has been adequately reviewed by texts such as those by Duncan and Peterson [1] and Majumdar et al. [2]. However, all of
these texts indicate that the conventional fin-and-microchannel
technology [3] appears to be inadequate for the new generation
of electronic and optical devices. Choi et al. [4] have shown
that power densities of 2000 W/cm2 can be managed by microchannel heat exchangers that use subcooled liquid nitrogen.
An increasing number of studies on microchannel boiling, such
as those by Kandlikar and Grande [5], Bergles et al. [6], and
Thome et al. [7], also indicates the need for an alternative way
to cool micro-size devices. The advent of nanotechnology and
Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) has only intensified this need, asking for a revolution in cooling technology to
keep pace with the new revolution in device technology.
However, it is important to note that miniaturized devices are
not alone in looking for innovative cooling technology. Large
devices (such as transportation trucks) and new energy technology (such as fuel cells) also require more efficient cooling
systems with greater cooling capacities and decreased sizes.
Thus, big or small, new and enhanced cooling technology is
the need of the hour. This need must be met in two ways: introducing new designs for cooling devices, such as microchannels and miniature cryodevices, and enhancing the heat transfer
The last few decades of the twentieth century have seen unprecedented growth in electronics, communication, and computing technologies, and it is likely to continue unabated into
the present century. The exponential growth of these technologies and their devices through miniaturization and an enhanced
rate of operation and storage of data has brought about serious
problems in the thermal management of these devices. Another
important area that has experienced a similar problem in thermal
management is the area of optical devices. Lasers, high-power xrays, and optical fibers are integral parts of todays computation,
scientific measurement, material processing, medicine, material
synthesis, and communication devices. The increasing power of
these devices with decreasing size also calls for innovative cooling technology. Microscale heat transfer is an area of research
This work is supported by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of India, and
the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of FreedomCar and Vehicle Technologies
and Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under contract W-31-109-Eng-38.
Address correspondence to Prof. Sarit Kumar Das, Heat Transfer and Thermal Power Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras,
Chennai 600 036, India. E-mail: sarit [email protected]
S. K. DAS ET AL.
capability of the fluid itself. The present review deals with the
second option. The suspension of nanoparticles in conventional
fluids are usually called nanofluids. Before going into the details of nanofluids and their potential in cooling technology, it is
worth first examining the rationale behind the idea of nanofluids.
THE RATIONALE BEHIND NANOFLUIDS

It is obvious from a survey of thermal properties that all liquid coolants used today as heat transfer fluids exhibit extremely
poor thermal conductivity (with the exception of liquid metal,
which cannot be used at most of the pertinent useful temperature
ranges). For example, water is roughly three orders of magnitude
poorer in heat conduction than copperas is the case with engine coolants, lubricants, and organic coolants. It goes without
saying that all of the efforts to increase heat transfer by creating
turbulence, increasing area, etc., will be limited by the inherent
restriction of the thermal conductivity of the fluid. Thus, it is
logical that efforts will be made to increase the thermal conduction behavior of cooling fluids. Using the suspension of solids is
an option that came to mind more than a century ago. Maxwell
[8] was a pioneer in this area who presented a theoretical basis
for calculating the effective thermal conductivity of suspension.
His efforts were followed by numerous theoretical and experimental studies, such as those by Hamilton-Crosser [9] and Wasp
[10]. These models work very well in predicting the thermal conductivity of slurries. However, all of these studies were limited
to the suspension of micro- to macro-sized particles, and such
suspensions bear the following major disadvantages.
1. The particles settle rapidly, forming a layer on the surface
and reducing the heat transfer capacity of the fluid.
2. If the circulation rate of the fluid is increased, sedimentation is
reduced, but the erosion of the heat transfer devices, pipelines,
etc., increases rapidly.
3. The large size of the particles tends to clog the flow channels,
particularly if the cooling channels are narrow.
4. The pressure drop in the fluid increases considerably.
5. Finally, conductivity enhancement based on particle concentration is achieved (i.e., the greater the particle volume fraction is, the greater the enhancementand greater the problems, as indicated in 14 above).
Thus, the route of suspending particles in liquid was a wellknown but rejected option for heat transfer applications. However, the emergence of nanofluids helped stimulate the reexamination of this option. Modern materials technology provided
the opportunity to produce nanometer-sized particles which are
quite different from the parent material in mechanical, thermal,
electrical, and optical properties. Thus, nanofluid technology
coupled with new heat-transfer-related studies on microchannel flow [11] has provided a new option of revisiting suspensions of nanoparticles. The first proposition in this area was
heat transfer engineering
from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) through the seminal

work of Choi [12], who designated the nanoparticle suspension
a nanofluid. From a purists point of view, this designation may
not be acceptableevery fluid is nano because of its molecular chainsbut the term has been accepted and become popular
in the scientific community. It must be kept in mind that biologists have been using the term nanofluid for different types of
particles, such as DNA, RNA, proteins, or fluids contained in
nanopores [1315].
The attractive features which made nanoparticles probable
candidates for suspension in fluids are a large surface area, less
particle momentum, and high mobility. With respect to conductivity enhancement, starting from copper, one can go up to
multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which at room temperature exhibit 20,000 times greater conductivity than engine
oil [16].
When the particles are properly dispersed, these features of
nanofluids are expected to give the following benefits:
1. Higher heat conduction. The large surface area of nanoparticles allows for more heat transfer. Particles finer than 20 nm
carry 20% of their atoms on their surface, making them instantaneously available for thermal interaction. Another advantage is the mobility of the particles, attributable to the
tiny size, which may bring about micro-convection of fluid
and hence increased heat transfer. The micro-convection and
increased heat transfer may also increase dispersion of heat
in the fluid at a faster rate. It is already found that the thermal
conductivity of nanofluids increases significantly with a rise
in temperature [17], which may be attributed to the above
reasons.
2. Stability. Because the particles are small, they weigh less,
and the chances of sedimentation are also less. This reduced
sedimentation can overcome one of the major drawbacks of
suspensions, the settling of particles, and make the nanofluids
more stable.
3. Microchannel cooling without clogging. Nanofluids will not
only be a better medium for heat transfer in general, but they
will also be ideal for microchannel applications where high
heat loads are encountered. The combination of microchannels and nanofluids will provide both highly conducting fluids and a large heat transfer area. This cannot be attained
with meso- or micro-particles because they clog microchannels. Nanoparticles, which are only a few hundreds or thousands of atoms, are orders of magnitude smaller than the
microchannels.
4. Reduced chances of erosion. Nanoparticles are very small,
and the momentum they can impart to a solid wall is much
smaller. This reduced momentum reduces the chances of erosion of components, such as heat exchangers, pipelines and
pumps.
5. Reduction in pumping power. To increase the heat transfer of
conventional fluid by a factor of two, pumping power must
usually be increased by a factor of ten. It can be shown that
vol. 27 no. 10 2006
S. K. DAS ET AL.
if one can multiply the conductivity by a factor of three,

the heat transfer in the same apparatus doubles [12]. The
required increase in the pumping power will be very moderate
unless there is a sharp increase in fluid viscosity. Thus, a very
large savings in pumping power can be achieved if a large
thermal conductivity increase can be brought about with a
small volume fraction of particles.
Often, nature proves to be more exciting than imagination.

Henry Becquerel thought uranium ore absorbs sunlight and then
radiates it back until discovering radioactivity, which radiates
without any absorption of sunlight. Similarly, the first test with
nanofluids gave more encouraging features [18] than they were
thought to possess. The four unique features observed are listed
below.
1. Abnormal enhancement of thermal conductivity. The most
important feature observed in nanofluids was an abnormal
rise in thermal conductivity, far beyond expectations and
much higher than any theory could predict.
2. Stability. Nanofluids have been reported to be stable over
months using a stabilizing agent [18, 19].
3. Small concentration and Newtonian behavior. Large enhancement of conductivity was achieved with a very small
concentration of particles that completely maintained the
Newtonian behavior of the fluid. The rise in viscosity was
nominal; hence, pressure drop was increased only marginally.
4. Particles size dependence. Unlike the situation with microslurries, the enhancement of conductivity was found to depend not only on particle concentration but also on particle
size. In general, with decreasing particle size, an increase in
enhancement was observed.
The above potentials provided the thrust necessary to begin
research in nanofluids, with the expectation that these fluids
will play an important role in developing the next generation of
cooling technology. The result can be a highly conducting and
stable nanofluid with exciting newer applications in the future.
Before exploring how many of these dreams have been attained
by the early results, it is necessary to say that this field of research
is interdisciplinary, with inputs from chemistry, mechanical and
chemical engineering, physics, and material science; hence, it
is worth going into the details of not only applications but also
synthesis and characterization.
SYNTHESIS AND PREPARATION OF NANOPARTICLES

Various methods have been tried to produce different kinds
of nanoparticles and nanosuspensions. Gleiter [20] provides a
good overview of the synthesis methods. The first materials tried
for nanofluids were oxide particles, primarily because they were
easy to produce and chemically stable in solution. Various investigators have produced Al2 O3 and CuO nanopowder by an
inert-gas condensation (IGC) process [18, 21] that produced

2200 nm-sized particles. The major problem with this method
is its tendency to form agglomerates and its unsuitability to produce pure metallic nanopowders.
The problem of agglomeration can be reduced to a good extent by using a direct evaporation condensation (DEC) method.
The DEC method is a modification of the IGC process that has
been adopted at ANL [2224]. Even though this method has limitations of low vapor-pressure fluids and oxidation of pure metals, it provides excellent control over particle size and produces
particles for stable nanofluids without surfactant or electrostatic
stabilizers.
Another method is the LASER vapor deposition technique
used to produce SiC nanoparticles from SiH4 and C2 H4 [25].
Recently, carbon nanotubes were used to produce nanofluids.
The multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) used for this
purpose can be produced through the chemical vapor deposition
technique by using xylene as a carbon source and ferrocene as
the catalyst [26].
Pure chemical synthesis is another option for producing
nanoparticles known as metal clusters. Two of the methods by
which nanofluids are made directly are described by Patel et al.
[27]. Recently, Zhu et al. [28] prepared nanofluids of metallic Cu nanoparticles dispersed in ethylene glycol by a one-step
chemical method.
Thus, a variety of physical, chemical, and LASER-based
methods are available for the production of the nanoparticles
required for nanofluids. However, the task to characterize and
disperse them in fluid remains.
To achieve a stable nanofluid that exhibits true nano behavior, the particles should be dispersed with no or very little
agglomeration. This can be done through various methods, including electrical, physical, or chemical. In the literature, the
commonly used dispersion techniques use an ultrasonic or stator rotor method [17]. In some cases [19, 22], stabilizing agents
are also used during dispersion. However, the best way to produce them may be by a single-step method where, instead of
nanoparticles, nanofluids are produced directly, thus reducing
the chance of agglomeration.
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY ENHANCEMENT

IN NANOFLUIDS
The thermal conductivity of nanofluids is much improved
when compared with usual suspensions. The enhancement of
the thermal conductivity of nanofluids over that of the base fluid
is often a few times better than what would have been given
by micrometer-sized suspensions. So far, the base fluids used
include water, ethylene glycol, transformer oil, and toluene. The
nanoparticles that are used can be broadly divided into three
groups: ceramic particles, pure metallic particles, and carbon
nanotubes (CNTs). Different combinations of the above particles
and fluids give different nanofluids. This study, however, will
classify them mainly by the type of particles.
vol. 27 no. 10 2006
S. K. DAS ET AL.
Ceramic Nanofluids
Ceramic nanofluids were the first type of nanofluid investigated by the ANL group. The first major publication in this
area [18] presented conductivity measurements on fluids that
contained Al2 O3 and CuO nanoparticles in water and ethylene glycol. Conductivity was measured by the traditional transient hot-wire (THW) method. The results clearly indicated that
the thermal conductivity enhancement of the Al2 O3 and CuO
nanofluids were high. They used volume fractions of only 1
5%. The enhancement was higher when ethylene glycol was the
base fluid. An enhancement of 20% was observed at 4% volume
fraction of CuO. The enhancement when water was the base
fluid was lower but still substantial, with 12% enhancement at
3.5% CuO, and 10% enhancement with 4% Al2 O3 . (Figure 1
shows the original publications measurements [18].) These results were high when compared with the model for suspensions
proposed by Maxwell [8], which was improved in 1962 [9] to
include the effect of particle shape. These models predict the
effective thermal conductivity as essentially a weighted average of solid and liquid conductivity derived from a point source
method. The original Maxwell model reads as follows:
keff
3(k p /k f 1)
=1+
kf
(k p /k f + 2) (k p /k f 1)
conductivity of solid particles, n = shape factor (for sphere =

3, for cylinder = 6), and = volume fraction of nanoparticles.
Figures 2a and 2b show the measurements of Lee et al.
[18] and those predicted by the Hamilton-Crosser [9] model
for Al2 O3 water and CuOwater nanofluids, respectively.
Wang et al. [21] also measured the thermal conductivity of
CuOwater and Al2 O3 water nanofluids, but their particle size
was smaller (23 nm for CuO and 28 nm for Al2 O3 ). They also
(1)
whereas the Hamilton-Crosser [9] model reads as

keff
k p + (n 1)k f (n 1)(k f k p )
=
kf
k p + (n 1)k f + (k f k p )
(2)
In both models, keff = effective thermal conductivity of suspension, k f = thermal conductivity of liquid, k p = thermal
Figure 1 Enhanced thermal conductivity of oxide nanofluids systems as measured by Lee et al. [18]. k/ko denotes the ratio of thermal conductivity of
nanofluid to that of the base fluid.
Figure 2 Increase of the thermal conductivity ratio obtained by Lee et al. and
predicted by the Hamilton-Crosser model for (a) Al2 O3 /water nanofluids and
(b) CuO/water nanofluids [18]. k/ko denotes the ratio of thermal conductivity
of nanofluid to that of the base fluid.
vol. 27 no. 10 2006
S. K. DAS ET AL.
measured the nanofluids with ethylene glycol and engine oil

(Pennzoil 10W-30) as the base fluids. The measurements showed
a clear effect of the particle size and method of dispersion. Xie
et al. [29] measured the thermal conductivity of aqueous Al2 O3
nanofluids with even smaller particles (1.2302 nm). They also
observed the effect of particle size in addition to the effect of
the base solution. Thus, it has been generally found that oxide
ceramic particles, which themselves do not exhibit very high
thermal conductivity, can enhance the thermal conductivity of
fluids in nanosuspensions. The main reason for the many studies
on oxide particle-based nanofluids is the availability of oxide
nanoparticles. Murshed et al. [30], who measured the thermal
conductivity of aqueous solutions of spherical and cylindrically
shaped TiO2 nanoparticles, found that 15 nm-sized spherical
particles show slightly less enhancement than 10 40 nm rods,
which showed an enhancement of 33% for a volume fraction of
5%. However, the enhancement was far more than that predicted
by the Hamilton-Crosser model. Another feature brought out
in this work was the nonlinear dependence of enhancement in
thermal conductivity on particle concentration at lower volume
fractions.
Figure 3 Thermal conductivity enhancement for various nanofluids [22].

Reprinted with permission from the American Institute of Physics. k/ko denotes the ratio of thermal conductivity of nanofluid to that of the base fluid.
Metallic Nanofluids
Even though the potential of nanofluids was evident from
ceramic nanofluids, the emergence of metallic particle-based
nanofluids was a big step forward. Xuan and Li [19] were the
first to try copper particle-based nanofluids of transformer oil.
Though they used much larger (100 nm) particles, the enhancement reported was 55% with 5% volume fraction.
However, the real breakthrough came when the ANL group
reported a 40% enhancement of conductivity with only 0.3%
concentration of 10 nm-sized copper particles suspended in ethylene glycol [22]. This report clearly showed the particle size effect and the potential of nanofluids with smaller particles. The
nanofluids were stabilized with thioglycolic acid. Figure 3 shows
the measured values of thermal conductivity for Cuethylene
glycol nanofluids. In another study, Patel et al. [27] used gold
and silver for the first time to prepare nanofluids. They also used
a transient hot wire method for measuring thermal conductivity.
The most important observation in their study was a perceptible enhancement in thermal conductivity for vanishingly small
concentrations. It was reported that at room temperature, the
conductivity of toluene-gold nanofluid was enhanced by 37%
for a volume fraction of only 0.0050.011%, whereas the enhancement for watergold nanofluid was 3.25% for a vanishingly small concentration of 0.00130.0026% volume fraction.
The main reason for such an enhancement was the small size
(1020 nm) of the particles. The enhancement was greater
with water-based nanofluids because bare particles were used,
and was lower for toluene-based nanofluids where the nanoparticles were protected by a layer of thiolate coating, which was
used to prevent agglomeration. Another important observation
of their study was the relatively lower conductivity of water
silver nanofluids. It clearly showed that even though silver is

higher in conductivity, it provided less enhancement because
its size was relatively larger (6080 nm). This finding indicates that particle size can override the particle conductivity or
concentration effects. Xie et al. [31] studied the dependency of
thermal conductivity of nanoparticlefluid mixtures on the base
fluid. These investigators studied nano-sized -Al2 O3 dispersed
in deionized water, glycerol, ethylene glycol, pump oil, ethylene
glycol-water mixture, and glycerol-water mixture. It was found
that thermal conductivity ratios decrease with the increased thermal conductivity of the base fluid.
Hong et al. [32] achieved an enormous increase in the thermal conductivity of nanofluids of 10 nm-sized Fe nanoparticles
suspended in ethylene glycol. They obtained an enhancement of
18% with just 0.55% volume fraction. They also showed that
the sonication of the nanofluid has an important effect on the
thermal conductivity of nanofluid, indirectly proving the effect
of particle size on the thermal conductivity of nanofluid.
Carbon and Polymer Nanotube Nanofluids
The greatest enhancement of thermal conductivity was
observed in a subsequent study performed at ANL [33]. Fig. 4,
a plot of the enhancement of thermal conductivity of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)engine oil (among other
nanofluids) vs. nanotube volume fraction, shows a phenomenal 150% increase in thermal conductivity with just 1% volume
fraction of the nanotubes. This sudden jump in enhancement is
interesting. With polymer nanotubes, a similar enhancement was
reported by Biercuk et al. [34]. The reason for the abnormal rise
vol. 27 no. 10 2006
S. K. DAS ET AL.
Temperature Effect
Figure 4 Enhancement of the thermal conductivity of MWNT vs. volume

fraction [75]. ke /k f denotes the ratio of thermal conductivity of nanofluid to
that of the base fluid.
of enhancement and the nonlinear behavior is yet to be explained,

but one can look at two facts. First, the thermal conductivity of
carbon nanotubes is very high (3000 W/mK); second, the nanotubes have a very high aspect ratio (2000). The article will
indicate the implications of the aspect ratio of the nanotubes
when the possible theories of thermal conductivity of nanofluids are considered.
Xie et al. [35] have measured thermal conductivity of MWCNTs with a 15 nm average diameter and 30 m length, suspended in water, ethylene glycol, and decene. The suspensions
in water and ethylene glycol were without any surfactant but
coated with oxygen-containing functional groups. Those suspended in decene had the help of oleylamine as a surfactant.
It was found that there was more enhancement for same volume fraction in the fluid that has a lower thermal conductivity.
Maximum enhancement in thermal conductivity was found in
decene, which was 20% for 1% volume of CNTs. Also it was
found to be increasing linearly with volume fraction. However,
the enhancement is far smaller than that achieved by Choi et al.
[33]. Assael et al. [36] measured thermal conductivity of multiwalled as well as double-walled CNTs. Thermal conductivity
of MWCNTs of around a 130 nm average diameter and 40 m
average length was found to be 34% for 0.6% volume, whereas
that of double walled CNTs was found to be 8% for 1% volume
suspension in water. Hwang et al. [37] have also obtained similar results for MWCNT suspensions in water as well as ethylene
glycol. Liu et al. [38] measured thermal conductivity of MWCNTs 2050 nm in diameter and observed an increase of 12.4%
in the thermal conductivity of CNT suspension in ethylene glycol for 1% volume fraction and 30% enhancement in the CNT
suspension in synthetic oil for 2% volume fraction.
One important contribution on nanofluids was the discovery

[17] of a very strong temperature dependence of nanofluids with
the same Al2 O3 and CuO particles as those used by Lee et al.
[18].
Using the temperature oscillation technique, they measured
the thermal conductivity of oxide nanofluids over the temperature range of 2150 C. The results revealed an almost threefold increase in conductivity enhancement (i.e., 10% became
30%) for copper oxide and alumina nanofluids, as shown in
Figures 5 and 6, respectively. It is important to note that, contrary to what was observed at room temperature [18], the results
for both Al2 O3 and CuO do not agree with predictions of the
Hamilton-Crosser [13] model because the model is not sensitive
to temperature over this temperature range. The agreement of
the Al2 O3 water nanofluid results with the Hamilton-Crosser
model at room temperature was purely accidental because of its
larger particle size. These results have revolutionized the concept of nanofluids from the application point of view because
they indicate a much larger thermal conductivity in the heated
state. They also indicate that some kind of particle movement
that dramatically changes with temperature must be taking place
within the fluid.
Figure 5 Enhancement in the thermal conductivity of copper oxide-water

nanofluid with temperature [17]. /water denotes the ratio of thermal conductivity of nanofluid to that of the base fluid.
vol. 27 no. 10 2006
S. K. DAS ET AL.
Figure 6 Enhancement in the thermal conductivity of aluminum oxide-water

nanofluid with temperature [17]. /water denotes the ratio of thermal conductivity of nanofluid to that of the base fluid.
Patel et al. [27] reconfirmed the findings of Lee et al. [18] and
Chon et al. [39] and confirmed the temperature effect obtained
by Das et al. [17]. They also showed the inverse dependence
of particle size on the thermal conductivity enhancement with
three sizes of alumina nanoparticles suspended in water.
THEORIES ON NANOFLUIDS
Since Choi [12] proposed his theory on nanofluids, a continuous effort has ensued to look for the causes of the so-called
anomalous increase in thermal conductivity of nanofluids. Starting from simple Brownian motion to complicated fractals, many
propositions have been tested. During the last three years, this
effort of modeling the nanofluid behavior has intensified; however, it appears that the truth is still to be revealed.
Traditional theories [e.g., 810, 4042] explained the thermal conductivity enhancement of usual slurries and suspensions
quite extensively. The basic model of Maxwell [8] was extended
by the investigators who included the effect of shape [9], particle
interactions [4347], and particle distribution [48]. The Bruggeman model [40] has a similar nature plus the advantage of being
valid for a wide range of concentrations. In general, Maxwells

method works well for a low thermal conductivity ratio (10)
between the solid and the fluid.
The failure of the classical theories to predict nanofluid behavior gave rise to hypotheses about the mechanism of heat
transfer in nanofluids. Wang et al. [21] attributed the enhancement to particle motion, surface action, and electro-kinetic effects. The hydrodynamic force in the form of micro-convection
can also be a cause of the enhancement. A serious look at the
various possible enhancement mechanisms was the focus of
Keblinski et al. [49]. At first sight, even though the Brownian
motion appears to be a probable mechanism, results of a time
scale study led to its rejection. The studies of Wang et al. [21]
also showed that Brownian motion is not a significant contributor. Keblinski et al. [49] showed that liquid layering around
the particle could give a path for rapid conduction. The mechanism of ballistic heat transport gains significance because the
phonon mean free path is of the order of nano-particle dimensions. Liquid layering theory was shown to be promising, but
it uses an adjustable parameter of the thickness of the liquid
layer. The transport at nanoscale is obviously to be modeled
with the relevant theories. The nanoscale modeling using Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) appears to be appropriate; however, the solution of BTE with nano-particles in a host medium
by Chen [50] indicates a lowering of effective conductivity for
nonlocal, nonequilibrium conduction rather than enhancement.
Hence, such microscopic treatments also fail to predict the observed enhancement in nanofluid conduction.
Wang et al. [51] approached the theory from the standpoint of
fractal geometry, which is actually an extension of the MaxwellGarnett [52] model. Following up on the approach of Pitchumani
et al. [53] to fibrous composites, they included a surface adsorption and particle conductivity approach, in contrast to the bulk
conductivity used by other models. The results indicate that, for
CuOwater nanofluids, the fractal model shows good promise
when adsorption is included in the analysis, but it underpredicts
the enhancement in the absence of adsorption.
A very novel approach in the modeling of nanofluids was
taken by Xue [54]. The model utilizes field factor approach,
with a depolarization factor and an effective dielectric constant.
The model is essentially based on liquid layering theory. With
two adjustable parameters (i.e., the thickness and conductivity value of the liquid layer), the theory matches the measured
value. A similar model that does not consider the liquid layering was proposed by the same author [55] for the prediction
of thermal conductivities of CNTs. The model is found to be
working fairly well in predicting the thermal conductivities of
CNT suspensions. In the same vein, a model [56] that considers only temperature distribution function and liquid layering
was presented by the same author for the prediction of the thermal conductivities of nanoparticle suspensions. The model predicts the thermal conductivities of CuO particle suspensions in
water as well as ethylene glycol; however, both of the above
models carry the same drawbacks as the original [54]. Yu and
Choi [47] used the liquid layer around particles to find effective
vol. 27 no. 10 2006
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S. K. DAS ET AL.
particle concentration, and calculated as indicated by Schwartz

[57]. Xie et al. [58] have modeled the thermal conductivity of the
liquid layer and incorporated it in effective thermal conductivity
of nanofluid. But they too have validated it against only a few
experimental results, which also considered a fixed nanolayer
thickness of 2 nm, although the nanolayer thickness may be expected to be different for different combinations of liquid and
solid.
The major drawbacks of work that tries to explain effective
thermal conductivity of nanofluids only through liquid layering
are that the size of layer is assumed to be very high, an assumption that hasnt been experimentally validated, and that the
thermal conductivity of the liquid layer is taken to be as high
as the thermal conductivity of the solid. The only experimental
proof of a liquid layer shows that it is only a few (three) atomic
diameters thick [59]. Also in a numerical work, Xue et al. [60]
have confirmed this finding from a fundamental point of view.
Using molecular dynamics simulation, they have shown that the
effect of high surface energies on nanoparticles and the interactions between the solid and liquid molecules cannot affect the
properties of the surrounding liquid for more than five atomic
distances.
More recently, another approach has gained momentum in explaining the thermal conductivity enhancementthe incorporation of particle motion. Even though it has been stated earlier that
Brownian motion alone cannot account for this enhancement, a
new look at Brownian motion [61, 62] has been presented. Using a drift velocity model, Yu et al. [63] have shown that the
collision of particles and the drift velocity can account for a
very small part of the enhancement. With a specific example of
copper particles in ethylene glycol, they showed that at least the
order of the enhancement could be guessed if nano-convection
in the space between the particles is assumed. This is quite logical, because in gases, only a void is present between the particles
(molecules), whereas in nanofluids, a fluid will be participating
in a nano-convection that may even be set by electrical dipole.
The authors even pointed out the possibility of a Soret effect
[63]. Although this work does not present a complete, accurate
model, it does shed light on a very possible mechanism and,
more importantly, tries to model the phenomenon on fundamental physics without adjustable parameters.
Xuan et al. [64] have presented another model that primarily combines the concept of fractals and Brownian motion. The
whole process has been assumed to have two additive parts:
the usual static theory of suspension and the Brownian motiondominated dynamic. Naturally, the Brownian motion part is
temperature-dependent and was proposed to be proportional to
square root of temperature. This model proved to be very weak
when compared with experimental results [17].
A more realistic idea of enhancement as well as temperature effect was modeled recently by two groups that essentially
used the Brownian motion concept. The model of Jang and
Choi [65] is based on conduction, Kapitza resistance at particle surfaces, and convection. In deriving their thermal conductivity model, they considered four modes of energy transport:
collisions between base fluid molecules (i.e., thermal conductance of fluid); thermal diffusion in nanoparticles; a collision
between nanoparticles due to Brownian motion, which by orderof-magnitude analysis, was neglected; and thermal interaction
of dynamic nanoparticles with the base fluid. Brownian motion
produced convection-like effects at nanoscale. As particle size is
decreased, random motion becomes larger, and convection-like
effects become dominant. This model was able to predict a particle size- and temperature-dependent conductivity accurately.
Kumar et al. [66] presented a model that accounts for the
dependence of thermal conductivity on particle size, concentration, and temperature. The proposed model has two aspects.
The stationary particle model accounts for the geometrical effect of an increase in surface area per unit volume with decreasing particle size. It assumes two parallel paths of heat flow
through the suspension, one through the liquid particles, and
the other through the nanoparticles. Here, the direct dependence
of thermal conductivity enhancement on volume fraction and
the inverse dependence of thermal conductivity enhancement
on particle diameter have been suggested. In the moving particle model, the effective thermal conductivity of particles is
modeled by drawing a parallel to the kinetic theory of gases.
Predictions from the combined model agree with experimentally observed values of conductivity enhancement of nanofluids with a vanishingly small particle concentration. They also
showed, by order-of-magnitude analysis, that the value of the
constant c, which is used in the modeling of effective thermal
conductivity of particles, is consistent with that predicted by
kinetic theory. However, in the Jang and Choi [65] and Kumar
et al. [66] models, the constant used is empirical and varies over
several orders of magnitude for different combinations of the
particle-fluid mixture.
A similar approach was adopted by Ren et al. [67], who considered kinetic theory-based micro-convection and liquid layering in addition to liquid and particle conduction. The model is
working well for ceramic particle suspensions. They also considered a fixed nanolayer thickness of 2 nm and determined the
thermal conductivity of the nanolayer as the volume-averaged
thermal conductivity of the base liquid and particles.
Prasher et al. [68] have presented another model in the same
vein. They modeled the thermal conductivity of solid particles
from the kinetic theory of gases and incorporated the contribution of Brownian motion-based convection to total heat transport
in the effective medium approach-based thermal conductivity
equation. The Brownian motion velocity considered is based on
the equi-partition theorem, whereas the velocities of particles
considered for modeling the thermal conductivity of nanoparticles is phonon velocity. For the first time, they considered the
effect of multiparticle convection. The model is working well
for ceramic particle-based nanofluids for particular values of
constants used in modeling.
Recently, Patel et al. [69] have modeled the thermal conductivity of nanofluid empirically with a new, semiempirical approach. High enhancements are attributed to the increase in the specific surface area and Brownian motion-based
vol. 27 no. 10 2006
S. K. DAS ET AL.
micro-convection. The micro-convection is modeled with empiricism in the Nusselt number definition. With that, the model
is working extremely well over a wide range of nanofluid combinations and parameters. Similarly, a completely empirical model
[39] provides a correlation for alumina nanofluids by fitting a
curve through regression analysis to the existing experimental
data. In this model, when micro-convection around particles is
modeled, the mean free path of liquid molecules is considered
as a characteristic length to derive the diffusive velocities of the
particles.
Bhattacharya et al. [70] also performed Brownian dynamics
simulation to determine the effective conductivity of nanofluids. The simulation results were within 3% of experimental data
for Al2 O3 ethylene glycol and in nearly full agreement with
Cuethylene glycol. Recently, Xuan and Yao [71] developed a
Lattice Boltzmann model to investigate nanoparticle distribution
and flow pattern and found that the main flow and rising temperature of the fluid can improve nanoparticle distribution, which
is beneficial to energy transport enhancement of the nanofluids.
Nan et al. [72] have presented a simple formula for thermal conductivity enhancement in CNT composites that is derived from the Maxwell-Garnett model [52] by the effective
medium approach. The model overpredicts the enhancement in
the thermal conductivity of CNT suspensions when calculated
with typical values of CNT thermal conductivities. The same
authors have also developed a new model [73] by incorporating
interface thermal resistance with an effective medium approach.
However, the model needs the thermal resistance value at the
surface of CNTs, which is difficult to get for different types of
CNTs and their combinations with different solvents.
Thus, various models and mechanisms that depend on an
extension of classical theory, liquid layering, particle aggregation, and particle movement have been developed in an effort to
explain the nanofluid behavior. However, the success of these
models has been very limited, and no clear picture has emerged
until recently.
CONVECTION IN NANOFLUIDS
It must be understood that thermal conductivity enhancement
in nanofluids only creates a necessary condition for its usage;
the sufficient condition comes from the hard evidence of the
performance of these fluids in convective environments.
The first question that arises in the convection of nanofluids
is, what is the fluid mechanics of nanofluids? This is important
because many colloidal and biological suspensions show strong
non-Newtonian behavior. Wang et al. [21] measured the viscosity of nanofluids by three methods and did not observe any
non-Newtonian effects. They found a 30% increase in viscosity
for the Al2 O3 -water nanofluid when compared with pure water
at 3% volume concentration of the particles. However, Pak and
Cho [74] measured the viscosity to be much higher. Choi et al.
[75] indicated that the discrepancy may be due to the electrostatic repulsion technique used, which may not be suitable for
11
Figure 7 Viscosity of Al2 O3 nanofluid at various temperatures and concentrations [76]. Reprinted with permission from Elsevier.
fluids that contained acids or bases. However, even here, it was

evident that the viscosity was independent of shear rate. Das
et al. [76] presented the viscosity at different particle concentrations that was measured by a rotating-disc method. Figure 7
shows the results, which clearly indicate that nanofluid behavior
is perfectly Newtonian.
Heat transfer studies under convective conditions are rather
scarce. Choi [12] presented a theoretical background for the
estimation of convection enhancement, which essentially means
a dramatic decrease of pumping power for a given heat transfer.
Xuan and Roetzel [77] were the first to indicate a mechanism for
heat transfer in nanofluids. They proposed thermal dispersion as
a major mechanism of heat transfer in flowing fluid, along with
the enhancement of nanofluid thermal conductivity. However,
no evidence was presented in its support.
Pak and Cho [74] presented the somewhat gloomy picture that
in nanofluids, even though the Nusselt number increases, the heat
transfer coefficient actually decreases by 312%. However, this
may be due to the large increase in viscosity they observed. On
the other hand, Eastman et al. [24] showed that with less than
1% volume fraction of CuO, the convection heat transfer rate
increased by more than 15% in water. The work of Putra et al.
[78] showed that natural convection in nanofluids deteriorated
with particle concentration and was less than that in the pure
fluid.
vol. 27 no. 10 2006
12
S. K. DAS ET AL.
Recently TiO2 water nanofluids were prepared at pH = 3

by Wen and Ding [79] through the dispersive method, and both
transient and steady heat transfer coefficients were obtained for
various concentrations of nanofluids under natural convective
conditions. Distilled water was used as the host liquid, and TiO2
constituted the nanoparticles. Agglomerates that formed were
broken by a high-shear homogenizer to produce stable nanofluids. The nanofluids were found to decrease the natural convective heat transfer coefficient; this deterioration increased with
nanoparticle concentration. The results differ from the numerical simulation by Khanafer et al. [80] for natural convective
heat transfer behavior of nanofluids in a two-dimensional horizontal enclosure. However the experimental results do agree
with the observations by Putra et al. [78], who also observed a
decreased natural convective heat transfer coefficient for aqueous CuO and Al2 O3 nanofluids inside a horizontal cylinder. They
asserted that the decrease was due to the effects of particle/fluid
slip and sedimentation of nanoparticles. Here, the authors suggest convection induced by concentration difference, particle
surface and particleparticle interactions, and modifications of
the dispersion properties as possible reasons for the deterioration in heat transfer. They added that the nanoparticles, if not
specially treated, will form a layer on the surface that might
significantly change surface properties. The agglomerates may
stick/sinter on the heating surface and generate a fouling effect.
Xuan and Li [81] found that heat transfer by forced convection
is enhanced in nanofluids. However, it appears that much of
this enhancement has to do with the type of nanoparticles used.
The few available convective studies were performed with oxide
nanoparticles that enhance conductivity only moderately while
increasing the viscosity at the same time. The real advantage
is expected in metallic nanofluids, which, because of a high
enhancement rate, require only a small volume fraction (< 1%)
that will keep viscosity almost unaffected but increase the heat
transfer.
Laminar heat transfer in the entrance region of a tube flow
that was using alumina water nanofluid was the focus of the
work by Wen and Ding [82]. Viscosity of the nanofluid was not
measured and was assumed to follow the Einstein equation. For
nanofluid that contained 1.6% nanoparticles by volume, the local
heat transfer coefficient at the entrance region was 41% higher
than that at the base fluid with the same flow rate. It was observed
that the enhancement is particularly significant in the entrance
region and decreases with axial distance. The thermal developing
length of nanofluids was greater than that of the pure base liquid
and increased with an increase in particle concentration. It was
also shown that the classical Shah equation [83] failed to predict
the heat transfer behavior of nanofluids. Particle migration [84]
was proposed as a reason for the enhancement, which led to a
nonuniform distribution of thermal conductivity and viscosity
field and reduced the thermal boundary layer thickness.
Convective heat transfer of suspensions of CNT nanofluids
in a laminar regime with a constant heat flux wall boundary was
investigated by the same authors [85]. When they measured the
thermal conductivity of CNT, they observed that the effective
thermal conductivity increased with an increasing temperature

and CNT concentration, and with a significantly greater dependence of the conductivity on temperature. At a given shear rate,
the viscosity of nanofluids increased with an increasing CNT
concentration and decreasing temperature. A clear shear thinning was also observed at all concentrations. The presence of
carbon nanotubes increased the convective heat transfer coefficient significantly, and the increase was more pronounced at
high CNT concentrations. It was observed that the convective
heat transfer coefficient at pH = 6 was slightly higher than that at
pH = 10.5. An observed maximum enhancement of 350% at Re
= 800 for 0.5 wt.% CNTs clearly reveals that the enhancement
of the convective heat transfer coefficient was much more dramatic than that purely due to the enhancement of effective thermal conductivity. Particle rearrangement, shear-induced thermal
conduction enhancement, a reduction of the thermal boundary
layer thickness due to the presence of nanoparticles, and the very
high aspect ratio of CNTs are proposed as possible mechanisms
of enhanced convective heat transfer.
The enhancement of the experimental convective heat transfer coefficient of graphite nanoparticles dispersed in liquid for
laminar flow in a horizontal tube heat exchanger was reported
by Yang et al. [86]. Nanoparticles from various sources were
used in this study and focused on an aspect ratio (l/d) of 0.02
(like a disc) because the addition of large-aspect-ratio particles
into a fluid may dramatically increase viscosity when compared
with the viscosity of single-phase fluids. In this study, two series
of nanofluids with different base fluids (commercial automatic
transmission fluid and a mixture of base oil) were used. The
experimental results illustrated that the heat transfer coefficient
increased with the Reynolds number and the particle volume
fraction and decreased with fluid temperature. The two graphite
nanoparticle sources at the same particle loading gave different
heat transfer coefficients, which suggested that particle shape,
morphology, or surface treatment were the cause of the difference. All of the experimental data were used to develop a new
heat transfer correlation for the prediction of the heat transfer
coefficient of laminar-flow nanofluids in a more convenient form
by modifying the Seider-Tate equation to incorporate two constants, a and b, to give the form,
= aReb
where
= Nu Pr1/3
L
D
1/3
(3)
b
w
0.14
and Re = Reynolds number, Nu = Nusselt number, Pr = Prandtl

number, D = channel hydraulic diameter, L = channel length,
b = dynamic viscosity at bulk temperature, and w = dynamic
viscosity at wall temperature.
On the theoretical side, Goldstein et al. [87] proposed the
use of the Boussinesq equation for convection in nanofluids,
seeking to use nanofluids for Rayleigh-Bernard convection and
microwave irradiation in nanofluids. Khanafer et al. [80] performed a numerical study of buoyancy-driven heat transfer
vol. 27 no. 10 2006
S. K. DAS ET AL.
enhancement in a two-dimensional enclosure. The effective stagnant thermal conductivity [10] with an enhancement term due to
thermal dispersion in porous media was used for the modeling.
A wide range of numerical experiments with varying Grashof
number and volume fraction were performed. The results show
that nanofluids behave more like a fluid than a conventional
solid/fluid mixture. Kim et al. [88] analytically investigated convective instability driven by buoyancy and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids. They proposed a factor that describes the
effect of nanoparticle addition on the convective instability and
heat transfer characteristics of a base fluid. The results show
that as the density and heat capacity of nanoparticles increase
and the thermal conductivity and shape factor of nanoparticles
decrease, the convective motion in a nanofluid sets in easily.
Recently, Daungthongsuk and Wongwises [89] summarized
and reviewed the published articles that are pertinent to the
forced convective heat transfer of the nanofluids of both experimental and numerical investigations. Maiga et al. [90] numerically investigated the forced convective heat transfer of nanofluids. They considered local thermal equilibrium and assumed that
the nanofluid behaved as a conventional single-phase fluid with
properties evaluated as functions of those of the constituents,
knowing their respective concentrations. In their analysis, they
used the Hamilton-Crosser model [9] to model the effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid. The use of this model is highly
questionable because the model does not bring in the anomalous
thermal conductivity enhancement observed in experiments. In
another recent study, using a two-component, four-equation,
nonhomogeneous equilibrium model for convective transport,
Boungiorno et al. [91] conducted a numerical study of the turbulent heat transfer of nanofluids. In the model, the wall layer
consisted of two regions, both of which were considered: the
viscous sublayer and the turbulent sublayer. Viscosity and particle volume fraction were less in the viscous sublayer, whereas
conductivity in that region was greater. The heat transfer enhancement was explained mainly by a reduction in viscosity
within and the consequent thinning of the viscous sublayer, and
a new correlation was developed that agreed with existing experimental results.
BOILING IN NANOFLUIDS
Often, the results of heat transfer studies are in the direction opposite to what intuition might suggest. Encouraged by
the enhancement of thermal conductivity, Das et al. [76] used
nanofluids for boiling applications, but the results were negative.
The effect of nanofluids on boiling was deteriorating with oxide
nanoparticles suspension, as shown in Figure 8. In Figures 9a
and 9b, the nondimensional plot of boiling Reynolds number
versus boiling Nusselt number shows that the deterioration is
greater on a rough surface (Ra = 1.15 m) than on a smooth
surface (Ra = 0.4 m). While investigating the reason for this,
the investigators found that the nanoparticles plugged the microsized surface cavities, thus reducing the nucleation site density,
13
Figure 8 Pool boiling characteristic of nanofluids [76]. Reprinted with permission from Elsevier. Ra denotes the roughness parameter, (T w T s) is the
wall superheat, and q is the input heat flux.
the prime cause of deterioration of boiling. The deterioration increased with reducing diameter of narrow tubes [92], as shown
in Figure 10. However, the investigators indicated that, even
the deterioration can have a practical application in that it involves engineered fluids that will inhibit boiling or boil at a
preassigned surface temperature, a characteristic that may be
important for heat treatment or material processing. This predicted practical application proved to be correct when Tsai et al.
[93] used nanofluids in heat pipes to delay a boiling limit. However, the need to investigate whether suspended nanoparticles
can act as nucleation sites to provide homogeneous nucleation
in the situation when heating is done volumetrically with the
help of sources such as microwaves or LASERs still remains.
In another study, You et al. [94] measured the critical heat
flux (CHF) in the pool boiling of Al2 O3 water nanofluids. They
discovered an unprecedented phenomenon: a three-fold increase
in CHF over that of pure water at the mass fraction O (105 ).
The average size of departing bubbles increased and the bubble
frequency decreased significantly in nanofluids when compared
with those in pure water. Vassallo et al. [95] confirmed these
results in similar studies on SiO2 nanoparticles. They observed
a two- to three-fold increase in CHF, as shown in Figure 11.
vol. 27 no. 10 2006
14
S. K. DAS ET AL.
Figure 9 Nusselt number (Nu)Reynolds number (Re) plots for nanofluids on (a) smoother heater and (b) roughened heater [76]. Reprinted with permission
from Elsevier. Ra denotes the roughness parameter.
Later, Bang and Chang [96] observed similar phenomena during their pool boiling studies with wateralumina nanofluid. The
measured pool boiling curves of nanofluids saturated at 60 C
demonstrated that the CHF increased dramatically (a 200% increase) when compared with pure water; however, the nucleate
Figure 10 q T curves for nanofluids in tubes of various diameters [92].

Reprinted with permission from Elsevier. (T w T s) denotes the wall superheat
and q is the input heat flux.
boiling heat transfer coefficients appeared to be approximately

the same.
In yet another experimental study on a smooth horizontal surface with aluminawater nanofluid, Bang and Chang [97] found
Figure 11 Critical heat-flux increase in nanofluids [95]. Reprinted with permission from Elsevier.
vol. 27 no. 10 2006
S. K. DAS ET AL.
that the heat transfer performance of these nanofluids is poor

when compared with pure water in natural convection and nucleate boiling. This finding is consistent with the observations
of Das et al. [76], who reported that in the case of nanofluids, the
natural convection stage continues relatively longer and nucleate
boiling is delayed, or a higher superheat of the boiling surface is
needed for boiling. On the other hand, CHF has been enhanced
in not only horizontal but also vertical pool boiling. The change
of CHF was proposed to be due to a possible surface coating effect that would change the nucleation site density. The enhancement of the observed CHF is much lower than that observed
by Vassallo et al. [94]. Suggested possible reasons for this finding were that the nanofluids and heated surface geometries used
were different. Bang and Chang [97] conducted experiments
that confirmed the existence of a liquid film that separated a
vapor bubble from the heated solid surface. Alumina nanofluid
was used as a colored fluid to distinguish between the liquid
phase and the vapor phase in a complex boiling environment.
They showed that a liquid film under a massive vapor bubble
adheres to a heated solid surface and observed that the liquid
film gets trapped in a dynamic coalescence environment of nucleate bubbles, which grow and depart continuously from the
heated surface. However, so far, no study on boiling of metallic
nanofluids or flow boiling of nanofluids is available.
APPLICATIONS OF NANOFLUIDS
While applying nanofluids for commercial cooling, Tzeng
et al. [98] studied the effect of nanofluids when used as engine
coolants. CuO (4.4% wt) and Al2 O3 (4.4% wt) nanoparticles and
antifoam were individually mixed with automatic transmission
oil. The experimental platform was a real-time four-wheel-drive
(4WD) transmission system. The experimental results showed
that, under the similar conditions, antifoamoil provided the
highest temperature distribution in rotary blade coupling and,
accordingly, the worst heat transfer effect, and CuOoil provided
the lowest temperature distribution both at high and low rotating
speed and, accordingly, the best heat transfer effect.
Gosselin and Silva [99] explored the optimization of particle
fraction for maximizing the thermal performance of nanofluid
flows under appropriate constraints. They argued that when few
particles are present, the heat transfer rate that is achieved is
small, whereas too many particles lead to large shear stresses
and large required pumping power. This competition reveals a
trade-off opportunity to maximize the heat transfer rate at constant pumping power by selecting the appropriate amount of
particles. Using nanofluids as coolants, Chein and Huang [100]
numerically considered silicon microchannel heat sink performance. The nanofluid was a mixture of pure water and nanoscale
Cu particles at various volume fractions. Due to the increased
thermal conductivity and thermal dispersion effects, they found
that performance was greatly improved when nanofluids were
used as the coolant. In addition, they observed that the presence
of nanoparticles in the fluid did not produce any extra presheat transfer engineering
15
sure drop because of small particle size and low particle volume
fraction.
Koo and Kleinstreuer [101] numerically investigated the conjugate heat transfer problem for microheat sinks considering
two types of nanofluids (i.e., CuO nanospheres at low volume
concentrations in water and in ethylene glycol). The effect of
Brownian motion on the effective fluid viscosity was considered and found to be less significant than that on the effective
thermal conductivity. Based on the studies, they suggested that
high Prandtl number fluids and thermal conductivity nanoparticles be used to attain better microchannel heat transfer. They
suggested that to minimize particleparticle and particlewall
interactions, particles with a dielectric constant close to that of
the base fluid and a wall material such that particlewall attraction is minimized should be selected.
REMARKS AND FUTURE DIRECTION

The present review gives a comprehensive overview of the
fascinating research progress made in the area of nanofluids.
The previous review by Eastman et al. [102] gives a good idea
about nanotubes and role of the contact resistance in the thermal transport of nanofluids, besides addressing the issues about
thermal conductivity and other properties of nanofluids. However, in recent times, the number of papers published in the area
of nanofluids has increased exponentially, and a clearer picture about the future direction of research in this area can be
depicted at this point of time. The first major conclusion that
can be drawn from the reviewed studies is that nanofluids show
great promise for use in cooling and related technologies. Oxide
nanoparticle-based nanofluids are relatively less promising in
the enhancement of thermal conductivity of fluids. Also the enhancement diminishes rapidly with the increase in particle size.
Metallic nanoparticles seem to enhance thermal conductivity
anomalously, with very large enhancement at very low volume
fraction. This finding opens the prospect of increasing thermal
conductivity enhancement without making large changes in viscosity, which can erode the gain in convective conditions. On the
other hand, maximum enhancement (160%) with 1% volume
fraction was observed with multi-walled carbon nanotubes dispersed in engine oil. This type of nanofluid shows unexplained
nonlinear enhancement. Thus, the future direction should be to
first standardize a technology to measure the conductivity of
nanofluids. Next, major attention should be given to the acquisition of extensive data with controlled parameter variation. Until
now, only few ceramics (Al2 O3 , CuO, TiO2 , SiC, and SiO2 ) and
a few metallic particles (Cu, Fe, Au, and Ag) have been studied
in differing concentration ranges. Most importantly, particle size
must be studied.
From the theoretical perspective, the mechanism of thermal
conductivity enhancement is still unclear. Many attempts to
identify and model this mechanism have been carried out with
only very limited success. Quite a few studies analyze the same
type of particle clustering by fractal dimensions. Liquid layering
vol. 27 no. 10 2006
16
S. K. DAS ET AL.
studies that assume a liquid shell around the particles that behave
like solids have also been performed. The predictions, however,
were matched with adjustable parameters of shell thickness and
shell conductivity that are questionable. Some of the studies
modeled both oxide nanofluids and carbon nanotube nanofluids.
These studies are commendable. The efforts to include particle
motion in the form of Brownian motion appear to be controversial, and these efforts need to be revisited, particularly with
respect to temperature effect. A very encouraging concept is
the nano-convection of fluid around the particles due to their
motion. In this concept, the particles transport some amount of
heat with them and contribute to the total heat transfer through
agitation in the liquid. From a physical point of view, this phenomenon seems to be a potential explanation for the behavior of
nanofluids. It is important that any model that is developed in the
future be tested against much more data on ceramic-, metallic-,
and nanotube-based nanofluids, and with respect to temperature
rather than the present practice of testing with a limited range of
measurements. Also, if the model contains adjustable parameters, their values should be justified by the physics of the problem
rather than by simple empirical treatment.
Finally, studies on the convective energy transport of nanofluids, both with and without phase change, have just begun. Experimental work in the convective heat transfer of nanofluids
is still scarce. Many issues, such as thermal conductivity, the
Brownian motion of particles, particle migration, and variable
property change with temperature, must be carefully considered
while modeling convection. Boiling heat transfer seems to be
affected by the plugging of nucleation sites, but critical heat flux
seems to be enormously enhanced; the physical phenomenon
behind this is unclear. However, all of the convective studies
have been performed with oxide particles, and it should be interesting to know the energy transport with low-concentration
nanofluids with metallic particles as well as additional effects,
such as the application of microwaves. Future convective studies
should first be performed with metallic nanoparticles in standard
geometries to consider heat transfer enhancement, transition to
turbulence, and hydraulic behavior. The studies can then be expanded to include complex geometries and methods of computational modeling. Application-oriented research in nanofluids
is in its infancy and is expected to grow at a faster rate in the
foreseeable future; only this will define the future of nanofluids
and its present promises.
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Sarit Kumar Das is a professor of the mechanical engineering department at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India. He received his M.E. and Ph.D.
degrees from Jadavpur University and Sambalpur
University, India, in 1986 and 1994, respectively. He
carried out post-doctoral research at the University of
Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg. He has published
about 100 research papers in international journals
and conferences and two textbooks. He had been a
visiting professor at the Helmut Schmidt University,
Hamburg and University of Lund, Sweden. He is a member of the editorial
board of International Journal of the Heat Exchangers and Journal of Heat
Transfer Engineering. His research interests include heat exchangers, two-phase
heat transfer, heat transfer in nano-fluids, transport in fuel cells, jet instabilities,
porous media, and computational fluid dynamics. He is the recipient of DAAD
and Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship of Germany. He is also the recipient
of the K. N. Seetharamu 2006 award for research from the Indian Society for
Heat and Mass Transfer.
Stephen U.S. Choi joined Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in 1983 and has conducted research in
advanced fluids. He proposed the concept of nanofluids in 1993 and has led the nanofluids team to develop
stable nanofluids that showed high thermal conductivities. He currently serves as the principal investigator
of the nanofluids team. His pioneering work created
a new, active area of interdisciplinary research in the
field of nanoscale thermal sciences. The nanofluid
work was recognized as one of the top research accomplishments in the Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences Office in
2002. Prior to ANL, he was a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. He
received his B.S. from the Seoul National University in Korea, his M.S. from the
University of Texas at Austin, and his Ph.D. from the University of California,
Berkeley, all in mechanical engineering. Recently, he received the University
of Chicago Distinguished Performance Award for pioneering scientific achievements and outstanding leadership in nanofluid research. He is author or co-author
of more than 100 technical publications and holds three U.S. patents.
Hrishikesh E. Patel is a Ph.D. student in the Heat
Transfer and Thermal Power Laboratory, Department
of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India. He received his Masters degree from the same institute in 2003 and Bachelors degree from Government Engineering College,
Aurangabad, India in 2000. Currently, he is working
on the experimental and theoretical analysis of the
thermal behavior of nanofluids.
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Heat Transfer in NanofluidsA Review

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Date: 22 January 2016, At: 00:17

Heat Transfer Engineering, 27(10):319, 2006

Heat Transfer in Nanofluids

Energy Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA

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THE RATIONALE BEHIND NANOFLUIDS

from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) through the seminal

if one can multiply the conductivity by a factor of three,

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Often, nature proves to be more exciting than imagination.

SYNTHESIS AND PREPARATION OF NANOPARTICLES

inert-gas condensation (IGC) process [18, 21] that produced

THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY ENHANCEMENT

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conductivity of solid particles, n = shape factor (for sphere =

whereas the Hamilton-Crosser [9] model reads as

heat transfer engineering

vol. 27 no. 10 2006

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measured the nanofluids with ethylene glycol and engine oil

Figure 3 Thermal conductivity enhancement for various nanofluids [22].

silver nanofluids. It clearly showed that even though silver is

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Figure 4 Enhancement of the thermal conductivity of MWNT vs. volume

of enhancement and the nonlinear behavior is yet to be explained,

One important contribution on nanofluids was the discovery

Figure 5 Enhancement in the thermal conductivity of copper oxide-water

vol. 27 no. 10 2006

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Figure 6 Enhancement in the thermal conductivity of aluminum oxide-water

valid for a wide range of concentrations. In general, Maxwells

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particle concentration, and calculated as indicated by Schwartz

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fluids that contained acids or bases. However, even here, it was

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Recently TiO2 water nanofluids were prepared at pH = 3

thermal conductivity increased with an increasing temperature

and Re = Reynolds number, Nu = Nusselt number, Pr = Prandtl

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Figure 10 q T curves for nanofluids in tubes of various diameters [92].

heat transfer engineering

boiling heat transfer coefficients appeared to be approximately

vol. 27 no. 10 2006

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that the heat transfer performance of these nanofluids is poor

REMARKS AND FUTURE DIRECTION

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heat transfer engineering