Effective thermal conductivity and rheological characteristics of ethylene glycol-based nanofluids with single-walled carbon nanohorn inclusions

In this study, we report the effective thermal conductivity and rheological behavior of ethylene glycol with single-walled carbon nanohorn inclusions. The thermal conductivity and viscosity was found to increase with respect to nanohorn loading. Maximum thermal conductivity enhancement of ∼11% at a nanohorn loading of 1.5 vol% was obtained in this study. The viscosity of nanofluids increase with respect to nanohorn loading and decreases with respect to shear rate which indicates the non-Newtonian shear thinning behavior at higher nanohorn loading. Finally, the effectiveness of nanofluids was calculated for laminar and turbulent regions to predict the heat transfer performance and favorability of these nanofluids. The present nanofluids are favorable upto 0.1 vol% in the laminar region. However, these nanofluids are not favorable for turbulent region and loadings beyond 0.1 vol% due to higher viscosity enhancement.