Diamond Nanofluids: Microstructural Analysis and Heat Transfer Study

Abstract

Nanofluids are suspensions of ultra-fine nanoparticles or tubes resulting in the nanofluids having thermal conductivities significantly higher than those of the conventional base fluid alone. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the thermo-physical properties, including thermal conductivity, viscosity, electrical conductivity and above all, convective heat transfer coefficient, of de-aggregated and fully functionalized diamond nanofluids. The microstructural characterization of nanodiamond powder has been done using X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Results suggest that there is an optimum point at which maximum thermal enhancement is obtained with few adverse effects from risen viscosity. The results also indicate up to a 27% enhancement in the heat transfer coefficient of the nanofluid with a particle loading of only 0.05 wt.%.

Acknowledgments

The authors also wish to thank Dr. Lino Costa, a Research Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Department of the University of Tennessee Space Institute, for his expertise and contributions in processing and fluid characterization and Dr. Reza Mirshekari for his contribution in drawing microstructural characterization charts.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Industrial Assessment Center, Center for Manufacturing Research, and Center for Energy Research at Tennessee Technological University.

Notes on contributors

Farzin Mashali

Farzin Mashali is a Master of Science student at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, TN, USA, working under supervision of Dr. Languri. He received his Chemical Engineering B.Sc. Degree in 2015 from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran. His research is focused on thermal characterization of functionalized nanodiamond fluids.

Ethan M. Languri

Ethan Languri is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and also serves as the Associate Director of the Industrial Assessment Center at Tennessee Tech University. He is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of Tennessee. He earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. both from Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Iran in 2005, and 2007, respectively. Later, he received his Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. in 2011 from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA. His Ph.D. was followed by two Postdoctoral Fellow appointments at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Texas A&M University. Later, he worked as a Senior Mechanical Engineer at Applied Research Associates in Panama City, Florida for about three years. His current research interests include heat transfer fluids, thermal energy storage and conversion systems, and efficiency enhancement in industrial systems.

Jim Davidson

Jim Davidson has a Ph.D. in Material Science from Columbia University and is Principal Engineer and President of International Femtoscience, Inc., Nashville, TN. He was a Professor and the Director of Vanderbilt University Microelectronics Laboratory, and is now Professor Emeritus at Vanderbilt University. He is the Fellow of the Electrochemical Society and an invited speaker for the Role of Carbon in Future Electronics. He is also a member of the Hooke Committee and Royal Society at the Royal Society, London. Formerly, he was a Manager of Advanced Process Development, Director of Product Assurance at Harris Semiconductor, Inc., and Vice President of Operations at InSouth Microsystems Corp.

David Kerns

David V. Kerns, Jr. has a Ph.D. from Florida State Univeersity and is Principal Engineer and CEO of International FemtoScience, Inc. He was a co-founder and officer of other technology companies, including a company which developed the first commercial MEMS accelerometer. He previously was a Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University and as Electrical Engineering Department Chair, Associate Dean and Acting Dean of Engineering; currently he is Adjoint Professor. He was in administrative and faculty positions at several other universities, including Founding Provost of Olin College. He was a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories and has received awards such as the National Academy of Engineering Gordon Prize in 2013. He holds 13 patents, is a Fellow of the IEEE, has authored or coauthored numerous publications and two textbooks.