E3S Web of Conferences 488, 02004 (2024) https://doi.org/10.

1051/e3sconf/202448802004
AMSET2023

Automotive Radiators: An Experimental Analysis

of Hybrid Nanocoolant
Hizanorhuda Zurghiba1*, Kumaran Kadirgama1,2,3, M. M. Noor1, R.A. Bakar1, and Semin4

1Faculty of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Pekan
26600, Pahang, Malaysia
2Almaaqal University, College of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Basra, 61003, Iraq
3Centre for Research in Advanced Fluid and Processes, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Pekan 26600,

Pahang, Malaysia
4Department of Marine Engineering, Faculty of Marine Technology, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh

Nopember, Surabaya Indonesia.

Abstract. A hybrid nanocoolant is a novel type of heat transfer

enhancement medium that has the potential to enhance the performance of
automotive radiators by improving heat transfer efficiency and heat
dissipation. The focus of the present work was to investigate the effect of
different hybrid nanocoolant mixing ratios on Reynolds number, Nusselt
number, Friction factor, heat transfer coefficient and convective heat transfer
on heat transfer performance. Single and its hybrid nanocoolant were tested
through a commercial-sized automotive radiator and a scaled-down
automotive radiator to determine its laminar convective heat transfer. The
nanocoolants are prepared with a fixed volume fraction of 0.01 vol% and for
hybrid nanocoolants, different ratios of CNC and CuO nanoparticles are
formulated. The studies utilised flow rates of 0.75, 1.00, and 1.25 LPM with
a radiator inlet liquid temperature of 80°C. The experimental results show
that the Reynolds number, Nusselt Number, heat transfer coefficient and
convective heat transfer are proportionally related to the volumetric flow
rate, while the friction factor decreases when there is an increase in the flow
rate. A scale-down radiator with a low-volume concentration of hybrid
nanofluids able to improve the heat transfer efficiency by 92.43% compared
to conventional fluids in a commercial-sized car radiator.

1 Introduction
In the industry of automotive engineering, the search for improved thermal management
strategies has become a top priority. As internal combustion engines and other vehicle
components continue to evolve, the demand for more effective cooling mechanisms
continues to increase. Higher cooling rates are necessary as a result of the increased thermal
loads driven on by the advancements in automobile technologies. The conventional
techniques used to increase the radiator's cooling rates are presently which were previously

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
E3S Web of Conferences 488, 02004 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202448802004
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pushed to their maximum limit which include additional fins, microchannels, and turbulators
[1,2]. Due to its exceptional capacity for high heat dissipation, reduced pumping power [3,4]
and low cost, nanocoolant are a promising alternative to be used in existing automotive
cooling medium and system. This paper investigates a novel approach to this problem: the
use of nanocoolants in automobile radiators. Using nanofluids, which are engineered
colloidal suspensions of nanoparticles in conventional coolants, as the primary focus, this
study explores the potential benefits and challenges of integrating nanocoolants into
automotive cooling systems. The ultimate objective of this research is to determine the
potential and limitations of single and hybrid nanocoolant applied in commercial sized and
reduced sized radiator.

2 Material and method

The two-step method proposed by Benedict et al. [5] and Hisham et al. [6] is the preferred
procedure for the production of metal oxide nanoparticles, with or without the inclusion of
plant-based extracted cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). This approach involves the dispersion
of commercially accessible nanopowders into a fluid based on ethylene glycol. Two types of
nanoparticles materials used in the present study are Cellulose Nanocrystal (CNC) and
Copper Oxide (CuO) in Ethylene Glycol (EG) based fluid.

2.1 Nanocoolant preparation

In this study, the utilisation of Copper Oxide nanoparticles with an average particle size of
40 nm and a purity of 99% (purchased from US Research Nanomaterials Inc.) and CNC
nanoparticles with a crystal length ranging from 100-100 nm and a crystal diameter ranging
from 9-14 nm (purchased Blue Goose Bio Refinerie Inc) is explored for the preparation of
the nanocoolant samples under investigation. The study focuses on the preparation of a
nanocoolant with a fixed volume concentration of 0.01vol%, examining the two single
nanocoolants (CNC and CuO) and its three hybrid nanocoolants with varying ratios of CNC
to CuO at 90:10, 80:20, and 70:30 in ethylene glycol (EG) as the base fluid.

2.2 Experimental setup

This study presents the experimental test rig utilised, as depicted in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. The
study investigates the components of a system, including a storage tank, water pump, heating
elements, control system utilising an Arduino programme, flow metre, fan, two automobile
radiators of different sizes (standard commercial size and reduced size), a K-type
thermocouple, and flow lines. The heating and transfer process of hybrid nanofluids in a
water tank is facilitated by a 2000W induction heater, with the Arduino control system
automatically opening valves upon reaching the desired temperature, allowing for direct
pumping of the nanofluids into the radiator. The material connection of the piping in the
studied system should possess minimal heat transfer resistance and high resistance to
abrasion caused by nanoparticles in order to facilitate accurate heat transfer measurement. In
this study, the temperature measurements at the inlet and outlet of the radiator are obtained
using K-Type Thermocouples. The utilisation of eight K-Type thermocouples fixed at the
inlet, outlet and walls of the radiator and the subsequent calculation of average temperature
readings serve as the basis for analysis.
The proper maintenance and preparation of the apparatus, including cleaning, refilling,
and rerunning with ethylene glycol, is essential before introducing a new mixture of
nanofluids. The utilisation and testing of each mixture of nanocoolant/ethylene glycol will

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be conducted once the system reaches a steady state. In this study, the inlet temperature of
the coolant is maintained at 80°C for all the experiment and the flow rate is varied at 0.75,
1.00 and 1.25 LPM.

Fig. 1. Test rig of reduced size radiator.

Fig. 2. Test rig of standard commercial size radiator (cs).

2.3 Numerical parameter

In the present heat transfer analysis, the equations below are taken into consideration.
Equation (1) which determined the Reynolds Number (Re) and Equation (2) to calculate the
Nusselt number (Nu). The experimental values of friction factor were calculated using for
laminar flow with NRe ≤ 2000. The friction factor, f as in Equation (3) for laminar flow is
calculated using eq. which was correlated by Darcy-Weisbach. The heat transfer coefficient
can be evaluated by Equation (4). The geometrical characteristic of the reduce sized radiator
are listed in Table 1.
𝜌𝐷ℎ 𝑢
𝑅𝑒 = (1)
𝜇

ℎ𝑒𝑥𝑝 𝐷ℎ
𝑁𝑢 = (2)
𝑘

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64
F= (3)
𝑅𝑒

𝑚̇𝐶𝑝 (𝑇𝑖𝑛 − 𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡 )

ℎ𝑒𝑥𝑝 = (4)
𝐴𝑠 (𝑇𝑏 − 𝑇𝑠 )

Table 1. Geometrical characteristics of the reduce size radiator.

Feature Notation Configuration

Radiator length lrad 123 mm

Radiator height hrad 320 mm

Radiator width wrad 36 mm

ltube 2.2 mm
Tube length
htube 25 mm
Tube height
wtube 2 mm
Tube width
Dhtube 3.73x10-3 m
Tube hydraulic diameter
ntube 16
Number of tubes
The cross-sectional area of each Ac 3.542 mm
tube
The surface area of each tube As 11570 mm2

Weight W 800 g

3 Results and discussion

The experiments were conducted by varying volume concentrations and flow rate, control
entry temperatures, and utilising two different sizes of radiator. This study experimental
investigate the Reynolds Number, Nusselt Number and friction factor of a low concentration
single and hybrid nanocoolant of CNC and CuO. The findings obtained from the current
study are presented as follows.

3.1 Friction factor

The effect of nanoparticle flow rate on the friction factor is shown in Figure 3, the friction
factor decreased with the increase of flow rate. Similar results have been documented in
various studies for laminar conditions [7-9]. It can be seen that the friction factor value
distribution for all nanocoolant in commercial size and down scale size are almost equally
equivalent. The highest friction factor was EG for both radiators. A larger friction factor leads
to a greater pressure drop across the radiator, which makes the fluid work harder to move
through the radiator. The fluid flow rate may be reduced as a result, which may lower the
radiator's ability to transmit heat and its general efficiency. The friction factor for reduced
size and commercial size radiator are found to be equal.

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Fig. 3. Friction factor of nanocoolant at 0.75,1.00 and 1.25 LPM.

3.2 Reynolds and Nusselt Number

The dimensionless parameters of Reynolds number and Nusselt number are presented in
Fig. 4.

(a) 0.75 LPM (b) 1.00 LPM

(c)1.25 LPM
Fig. 4. The effect of flow rate on Re and Nu number.
Fig. 4 illustrates the influence of various flow rate on Re and Nu number for the nanocoolants
at 0.75, 1.00 and 1.25 LPM. An increase of 66% is observed in Re as the flow rate increases
from 0.75 to 1.00 LPM for all nanocoolant including the base fluid. Nu number increased as
the flow rate increase, and this is consistent with the published research findings [8,10]. The

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highest values of Nusselt number found at pure EG followed by single CNC nanocoolant and
hybrid nanocoolant of ratio 80:20 for commercial size radiator. The improvement in Nu is
caused by an increase in attributes including density, thermal conductivity, and heat transport
caused by the addition of nanoparticles in water and random collisions of nanoparticles.

Fig. 5. Variation of heat transfer coeffifceint with flow rate for Single and Hybrid Nanocoolant.
Fig. 5 shows the relationship between the heat transfer coefficient and the flow rate of
nano coolants. The highest heat transfer coefficient was observed at a flow rate of 1.25 LPM,
where the CuO nano coolant exhibited a heat transfer coefficient of 250.05 W/mᵒC. In
comparison, the hybrid coolant with an 80:20 ratio achieved a slightly lower value of 249.4
W/mᵒC. The heat transfer coefficient values for the 80:20 ratio at flow rates of 0.75 LPM and
1.00 LPM were determined to be 149.64 W/mᵒC and 199.52 W/mᵒC, respectively. In a similar
manner, the heat transfer coefficient values for CuO were determined to be 150.03 W/mᵒC
and 250 W/mᵒC at the same flow rate. The study of heat transfer properties for individual
CuO and its hybrid material, with a composition ratio of 80:20, demonstrates a significant
improvement in the heat transfer coefficient with increasing flow rate. This observed trend
remains consistent to all nano coolants under investigation. Heat transfer coefficient
enhancement for base fluid in reduced size radiator compared to the commercial size is 51%,
90% and 52% at 0.75LPM, 1.00 LPM and 1.25LPM respectively.

4 Conclusion
This paper provides a discussion of the Reynolds and Nusselt Numbers, friction factor and
heat transfer coefficient in relation to the heat transfer performance of two distinct sizes of
an automotive radiator. The findings of this study indicate that the impact of using a hybrid
coolant consisting of CNC and CuO nanoparticles is particularly significant when operating
at low Nusselt numbers in a reduced siza of an automotive radiator. The heat transfer rate of
a single CuO nanocoolant exhibited a significant enhancement of 139.92%. Similarly, a
hybrid nanocoolant with an 80:20 ratio for both radiator demonstrated heat transfer rate
enhancements of 92.43% and 75.15% at a flow rate of 0.75 LPM, exceeding the performance
of other hybrid nanocoolants.

The authors would like to be obliged to Universiti Malaysia Pahang (www.ump.edu.my) to provide
financial and laboratory through the research project of RDU223018 and PGRS220391.

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