Energy Conversion and Management 96 (2015) 115123

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Improved transient heat transfer performance of ZnOpropylene glycol

nanouids for energy management
K.S. Suganthi, K.S. Rajan
Centre for Nanotechnology & Advanced Biomaterials (CeNTAB), School of Chemical & Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur 613401, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 6 December 2014
Accepted 21 February 2015

Keywords:
ZnOpropylene glycol
Transient heat transfer
Nanouid
Heat transfer rate ratio
Heat transfer coefcient

a b s t r a c t
Experiments were performed to study the transient heat transfer characteristics of probe-ultrasonicated,
surfactant-free, ZnOpropylene glycol (ZnOPG) nanouids under constant heat ux and constant bath
temperature conditions. Under constant heat ux conditions, ZnOPG nanouids exhibited linear
increase in heat removal rates with increasing nanoparticle concentration. An enhancement of 4.24%
in heat transfer rate was observed with 2 vol.% ZnOPG nanouid. The overall heat transfer coefcient
and nanouid-side heat transfer coefcient under constant bath temperature condition were found to
increase with increasing nanoparticle volume concentration. About 26% increase in coolant side heat
transfer coefcient was obtained with 2 vol.% ZnOPG nanouid under constant bath temperature condition which could be attributed to thermal conductivity enhancement as well as improved natural convection due to viscosity reduction. Our results indicate that the surfactant-free, ZnOPG nanouids
behave like liquid coolants but with improved thermal conductivity and specic heat and hence suitable
for energy management.
2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction
Nanouids have emerged as a new class of heat transfer uids
due to their enhanced thermal conductivity [14]. The dispersion
of nanoparticles in coolants such as water and aqueous glycol solutions alters their thermal conductivity, viscosity, density and specic heat. Extensive research has been carried out on the inuence of
particle shape [57], size [810], nanoparticle concentration [11
20], temperature [2129] on thermophysical properties of nanouids [2527,30]. Several theoretical and empirical models have been
developed for prediction of thermal conductivity and viscosity
enhancement in nanouids. In addition, heat transfer performance
of nanouids have been studied experimentally [4,3134] and
numerically [3538].
Considerable experimental data exist showcasing better heat
transfer capabilities of nanouids, in comparison to their respective base uids under constant heat ux [3945] and constant temperature [46,47] boundary conditions. Critical heat ux in pool
boiling is enhanced with the use of nanouids [4851].

Corresponding author at: Seshasayee Paper & Boards Chair Professor in

Chemical Engineering, Centre for Nanotechnology & Advanced Biomaterials
(CeNTAB), School of Chemical & Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur
613401, India. Tel.: +91 9790377951; fax: +91 4362 264120.
E-mail address: ksrajan@chem.sastra.edu (K.S. Rajan).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2015.02.069
0196-8904/ 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

While thermal conductivity enhancement in nanouids renders

them as preferred choice for thermal management, considerable
viscosity increase and possible reduction in specic heat require
attention. In certain cases, though the thermal conductivity
increased with increasing nanoparticle concentration, the heat
transfer coefcient exhibited a maxima at an intermediate
nanoparticle concentration [5254]. Hence, an optimum nanoparticle concentration was found to exist at which the heat transfer
coefcient was maximum [5254]. Nanoparticle aggregation at
higher nanoparticle concentrations was found to be detrimental
for heat transfer [34].
Most of the experiments on heat transfer in nanouids have
been performed with water-based nanouids [39,40,4347].
Despite the importance of glycols as coolants, there are only
relatively few heat transfer experiments using glycol-based
nanouids [55] including those using ZnOEG [51,56] and ZnO
EGwater nanouids [56]. However, no attempt was made to correlate heat transfer enhancement with thermal conductivity in the
work of Radhakrishnan et al. [55]. The evaluation of nanouids as
coolants under transient conditions is necessary, to estimate their
capability to provide rapid cooling.
To access the true potential of nanouids realized by their
enhanced thermo-physical properties, their heat transfer performance needs to be evaluated under conditions in which forced
convection is absent. Hence, evaluation of heat transfer

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K.S. Suganthi, K.S. Rajan / Energy Conversion and Management 96 (2015) 115123

Nomenclature
A
b
C
cp
D
dT0
Gr
h
k
m
n
Nu
Pr
Q
Ra
T
t
Tw
U
Ux

area of heat transfer (m2)

slope in Eq. (9) (s1)
constant in Eq. (14)
specic heat (J/kg K)
diameter of sample holder (m)
temperature difference between wall and test uid (C)
Grashof number
coolant side heat transfer coefcient (W/m2 K)
thermal conductivity (W/mK)
mass (kg)
exponent in Eq. (14)
Nusselt number
Prandtl number
amount of heat transferred (W)
Rayleigh number
temperature of bath liquid (C)
temperature of test uid (C)
wall temperature (C)
overall heat transfer coefcient (W/m2 K)
uncertainty in the measurement of variable x (in Eq. (1))

performance at non-ow conditions will highlight the effect of

improved transport properties of nanouids alone on the heat
absorption behavior of nanouids. It is pertinent to note that
majority of heat transfer studies on nanouids have been carried
out under forced convection. Our earlier work on ZnOethylene
glycol and ZnOethylene glycolwater nanouids dealt with transient heat transfer performance under constant heat ux conditions only, while their performance under constant bath
temperature conditions was not studied [56]. There are no reported work on testing of heat transfer performance of ZnOPG
nanouids. In this work, ZnOPG nanouids of different nanoparticle volume concentrations (0.252 vol.%) have been prepared. The
transient heat transfer performance of ZnOPG nanouids upon
exposure to constant heat ux and constant bath temperature
has been studied. The performance of ZnOPG nanouids has been
compared with that of pure propylene glycol on the basis of
enhancements in convective heat transfer coefcient and heat
transfer rate. Our work of this is the rst attempt to study the heat
transfer performance of ZnOPG nanouids.
2. Materials and methods
ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized using room temperature
chemical precipitation method as reported in our earlier works
[24,57]. The morphological and crystallographic information of
synthesized ZnO powder were obtained using scanning electron
microscope (JSM 6701F, JEOL, Japan) and powder X-ray diffractometer (D8Focus, Bruker, Germany) respectively. ZnOPG
nanouids were formulated using probe ultrasonication and without addition of any surfactant [44]. Viscosity and thermal conductivity of the samples were measured using a rotational viscometer
(LVDV II + Pro, Brookeld Engineering, USA) and thermal property
meter (KD2 Pro, Decagon devices, USA) respectively as elaborated
in our earlier works [58,59].
Heat transfer performance of ZnOPG nanouids was assessed
using two different transient heat transfer experiments: (i) constant heat ux and (ii) constant bath temperature experiments.
The schematic representations of both the experimental setups
are shown in Fig. 1.
A cylindrical stainless steel sample holder, heating lament
wound around the sample holder and a dimmerstat to regulate

V
DT0

volume of the test uid (m3)

temperature difference between bath liquid and test
uid (C)

Greek symbols
h
time (s)
u
nanoparticle volume concentration
l
viscosity (mPa s)
q
density (kg/m3)
Subscripts
bf
base uid
c
coolant
f
nal
i
initial
i
inner (in Eqs. (13) and (18))
nf
nanouid
o
outer
r
relative/ratio

power supply constitute the experimental setup for constant heat

ux transient heat transfer studies. The sample holder was insulated to avoid heat losses. In a typical constant heat ux experiment, a
constant volume of the test uid was placed in the sample holder.
A constant AC power supply (10 V) was supplied via the nichrome
wire wound around the sample reservoir. The increase in test uid
temperature was measured at periodic intervals using a J-type
thermocouple over a time period of 20 min. The actual power supplied to the test section was 2 W, which was calculated using
Q actual V  I.
A sample holder, a temperature controlled oil bath and a J-type
thermocouple connected to a temperature indicator comprise the
constant bath temperature experimental setup. In a typical constant bath temperature experiment, sample container with a constant volume of test uid was immersed in oil bath (TC-502,
Brookeld Engineering, USA) maintained at a constant temperature (60 C). Temperature increase of the test uid was measured using a J-type thermocouple for a period of 20 min.
Standard tolerance of J-type thermocouple used for temperature
measurements is 0.75%. The test section was visually inspected
for the presence of particles after transferring the nanouids from
the test section. There were no such particle settling testifying the
colloidal stability of the nanouids.
The specications of the measuring systems/equipment used in
the experiments are provided in Table 1.
All the experiments were repeated at least three times and the
respective standard error of the mean was taken as uncertainty in
measurement of Q, h and b. Uncertainties for relative parameters
(Qr, hr and br) were calculated using the following formula

v
!2
u  2
u U
xnf
nf
t
Ux
U bf 2
xbf
xbf

where Ux is standard error of the mean of respective measurements

of variable x, where x may be Q, h, b or U.
3. Data reduction
The shielded thermocouple used for temperature measurement
has a relatively larger diameter (5.3 mm) and hence measures the
temperature over a large cross section of the test uid. Considering

K.S. Suganthi, K.S. Rajan / Energy Conversion and Management 96 (2015) 115123

117

(a)
Temperature sensor
Temperature
indicator

AC power supply

Heating coil

(b)

Insulation

Temperature sensor

Temperature
indicator

Temperature
controller

Sample holder

Temperature
controlled oil bath

Fig. 1. Experimental setup for (a) constant heat ux and (b) constant bath temperature experiments.

Table 1
Specications of the measuring systems/equipment used in the experiments.
Equipment

Specications

Stainless steel sample holder

(constant heat ux
boundary condition)
Aluminum sample holder
(constant temperature
boundary condition)
Dimmerstat (Automatic
Electric Ltd., India)
Thermocouple
Temperature indicator
(Microsensors, India)

Height 5.2 cm, inner diameter 1.9 cm,

outer diameter 2.1 cm
Height 7 cm, inner diameter 1.9 cm,
outer diameter 2.1 cm
Maximum load: 8 Amps; Input: 240 V,
50/60 Hz; Type: AC
Type-J; Tolerance 0.75%
Type-J; Range 0199.9 C

the smaller dimension of test section and relatively larger diameter

of thermocouple used for temperature measurement, it can be
assumed that the temperature measured is representative of the
entire test uid, enabling the use of lumped parameter approach.

The data analysis are based on the following assumptions

1. Specic heat of nanouids can be predicted using correlation based on liquid-particle mixture theory [6063].
2. Nanouids were colloidally stable with no particle
deposition.
3. Nanouids were incompressible.
4. Negligible radiation losses compared to other modes of heat
transfer.
3.1. Constant heat ux experiments
Heat transfer performance of ZnOPG nanouids was assessed
using heat transfer rate (Q) and heat transfer rate ratio (Qr).
The amount of heat transferred (Q) was calculated using the following formula

Q mcp

dt
dt
V qcp
dh
dh

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K.S. Suganthi, K.S. Rajan / Energy Conversion and Management 96 (2015) 115123

where V is volume of uid, q, cp and t are density, specic heat

and temperature of the test uid.
(qcp) of the test uid was calculated using the following formula
[61]

qcp nf /qcp nanoparticle 1  /qcp bf

dt/dh was calculated as follows:

dt tf  t i

dh
Dh

where ti and tf are initial and nal temperatures of test uid and Dh
is the time difference. Q was calculated taking a constant ti and Dh
for all test uids.
To evaluate the heat transfer performance of nanouids relative
to base uid, Qr was calculated using the following formula

Qr

Q nf
Q bf

The rate of heat transfer in constant wall temperature conditions can be related to overall heat transfer coefcient (U) and temperature of bath liquid and test uid using lumped parameter
approach as:

dt
UATh  th
dh

Substituting m = qV, Eq. (6) becomes

dt
UA

dh
Th  th qVcp

t h2

t h1

dt
UA

T  th qVcp

q2 cp
lk

1=4
16
cp =l0:25

17
0

Substituting Eq. (17) in Eq. (13) for test uid and bath uid, dT was
calculated as follows:

dh

h1

1
dT 0

10

Slope ratio (br) and overall heat transfer coefcient ratio (Ur) were
calculated using the following formulae

hnf
Ur
hbf

15

h2

inversely proportional to the mass and specic heat of the body

immersed in the bath. Larger the value of b, shorter is the time
required for the body (test uid) to approach the bath temperature
[64].
The overall heat transfer coefcient was calculated from b as
follows:

bnf
bbf

Nu 0:59Ra1=4

0:75

br

Considering the thermo-physical properties of test uids (PG and

ZnOPG), dimensions of test section and temperature ranges, the
Rayleigh number was found to lie in the range of 104109, for which
case the values of C and n in Eq. (14) are 0.59 and 1/4 respectively
[64].
Therefore,

haq0:5 k

where U is overall heat transfer coefcient, which is reciprocal of

total thermal resistance. Heat transfer resistance in test uid, heat
transfer resistance in hot uid bath and conductive resistance in
wall comprise total thermal resistance.
b in Eq. (9) can be obtained as slope of straight line between
Tt 
h
ln Tth1 and h2h1. b is proportional to the surface area and

bqVcp
A

14



T  t h1
UA

ln
h  h bh2  h1
T  t h2
qVcp 2 1

13

There was no inuence of forced convection due to the absence of

mechanical stirring/pumping of test uid during the experiments.
Hence, the heat transfer to the test uid involves only conduction
and natural convection.
Nusselt number in natural convection is related to Rayleigh
number (Ra = Gr  Pr) as follows [64]:

Nua

Integrating Eq. (7) with limits as h = h1, t = th1 and h = h2, t = th2 with
bath temperature (T) being constant,

1=hi
DT 0
1=hi Di =D0 h0

dT 0

Nu CGr  Prn C Ran

3.2. Constant bath temperature experiments

Q mcp

br and Ur are different as (qcp) changes with nanoparticle

concentration.
The wall temperature (Tw) can be estimated by calculating the
individual resistances and splitting total temperature drop (DT0 )
into individual temperature drops [65]. The wall resistance was
neglected in estimation of Tw. The temperature difference between
0
wall and test uid temperature (dT ) is related to temperature dif0
ference between bath liquid and test uid (DT ) as

11

12

0:25 o

q0:5 k0:75 cp =l

n
0:25 o
0:75 
1= q0:5 k
c p =l

test fluid

test fluid

0
n
0:25 o DT
0:75 
Di =D0 q0:5 k
c p =l
oil

18
The wall temperature (Tw) of sample holder immersed in the oil
bath was calculated at a regular time interval as follows:

T w t dT 0

19

Also,


Q UA DT 0 hA dT 0

20

Neglecting changes in area due to thin wall of sample container, we

may write Eq. (20) as


U DT 0 h dT 0

21

UT  t hT w  t

22

where T, t and Tw are bath, test uid and wall temperatures respectively. (T  t) and (Tw  t) used in Eq. (22) were calculated at regular
time intervals and averaged to determine T  t and T w  t
respectively.
Coolant side heat transfer coefcient (h) was calculated as
follows:

hU

T t
Tw  t

!
23

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K.S. Suganthi, K.S. Rajan / Energy Conversion and Management 96 (2015) 115123
0.9

(a)
(a)

Amount of heat transferred, Q (W)

0.85
y = 0.0172x + 0.715
R = 0.9776

0.8
0.75
0.7
0.65
0.6
0.55
0.5
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Nanoparticle volume concentration (%)

1.2

(b)

9000
101

(b)

1.1

y = 0.0216x + 1
R = 0.9826

7000
6000
5000

Qr

100

002

4000

0.9

110

Intensity (counts)

8000

102

3000
2000

0.8

1000
0.7

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

0.5

1.5

2.5

Nanoparticle volume concentration (%)

2 theta (degrees)
Fig. 3. Inuence of nanoparticle volume concentration (a) Q (b) Qr.
Fig. 2. (a) Scanning electron micrograph of synthesized ZnO nanoparticles (b) X-ray
diffractogram of synthesized ZnO nanoparticles.

Table 2
Thermal conductivities, viscosities and volumetric specic heat of ZnOPG nanouids
and propylene glycol.
Nanoparticle
volume
concentration
(%)

Thermal
conductivity
(W/mK)

Viscosity
(mPa s)

Thermal
conductivity
ratio (kr)

qcp

0
0.25
0.5
1
1.5
2

0.199 0
0.205 0
0.212 0.001
0.221 0
0.231 0
0.244 0

40.7 0.1
37.6 0
33.57 0.25
31.97 0.31
28.93 0.15
26.77 0.45

1
1.03
1.065
1.11
1.16
1.226

2,600,000
2,600,429
2,600,858
2,601,716
2,602,574
2,603,432

calculated
using Eq. (3)
(J/m3 K)

Coolant side relative heat transfer coefcient denoted by hr was calculated as follows to compare the heat transfer performance of
ZnOPG nanouids with that of pure propylene glycol:

hr

hnf
hbf

ZnO nanoparticles were highly crystalline with hexagonal wurtzite

phase (PCPDFWIN Card No. 89-1397) (Fig. 2b). Crystallite size of
the ZnO nanoparticles calculated using Scherrer formula was
32.4 nm. Crystallite size calculated from X-ray diffractogram and
primary particle size from electron micrograph were well in accordance with each other.
It may be recalled that ZnOPG nanouids were prepared by
probe ultrasonication for a predetermined period calculated using
optimum ultrasonication energy [58]. ZnOPG nanouids possessed higher thermal conductivity and lower viscosity in comparison to that of the base uid. Layering of propylene glycol
molecules over ZnO nanoparticles and perturbations in native
hydrogen bonding network of propylene glycol molecules served
as the rationale behind the higher thermal conductivity and lower
viscosity of ZnOPG nanouids as elaborately reported in our earlier works [58,59,66]. Thermal conductivities and viscosities of
ZnOPG nanouids measured at 28 C and qcp as calculated using
Eq. (3) are given in Table 2. Thermal conductivity ratio (kr) is the
ratio of thermal conductivity of nanouid to that of base uid.

24

4. Results and discussion

ZnO nanopowder synthesized using room temperature chemical precipitation method was found to possess spherical morphology with particle size ranging from 25 to 40 nm (Fig. 2a).

4.1. Constant heat ux experiments

4.1.1. Inuence of nanoparticle volume concentration on Q and Qr
under constant heat ux conditions
Fig. 3(a) depicts the amount of heat transferred to the base uid
(u = 0) and different concentrations of nanouids (u = 0.252) calculated using Eqs. (2)(5). A linear increase in amount of heat

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K.S. Suganthi, K.S. Rajan / Energy Conversion and Management 96 (2015) 115123
1.2

(a)
y = 0.0429x + 1
R = 0.9589

1.15

br

1.1

1.05

0.95

0.9
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Nanoparticle volume concentration (%)

1.2

(b)
1.15
y = 0.0436x + 1
R = 0.9603

Ur

1.1

1.05

0.95

0.9
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Nanoparticle volume concentration (%)

Fig. 4. Inuence of nanoparticle volume concentration on (a) br (b) Ur.

transferred (Q) with increasing ZnO nanoparticle volume concentration is evident from Fig. 3(a).
It is evident from Table 2 and as reported earlier [59], that the
thermal conductivity of ZnOPG nanouids increased linearly with
increasing nanoparticle concentration [59] and 2 vol.% ZnOPG dispersion showed 23% increase in thermal conductivity over that of
PG (Table 2). Viscosity of ZnO - PG nanouids decreased with
increasing nanoparticle volume concentration and qcp increased
with increasing nanoparticle volume concentration (Table 2). The
trend of variation of thermophysical properties of ZnOPG nanouids with increasing nanoparticle volume concentration is expected
to result in increase in heat transfer coefcient (inline with Eq.
(17)) and hence higher heat removal rates. This is also reected
as increase in Qr with increasing nanoparticle volume concentration (Fig. 3b). However, enhancement in Q at 2 vol.% nanoparticle
volume concentration was only 4.24%. Increase in Qr of ZnOPG
nanouids in relative to base uid during the transient heat transfer experiments did not reect the improved thermophysical properties of ZnOPG dispersions. This observation could be explained
as follows.
The wall temperature is dependent on the difference between
the rate of heat supply to the wall and rate of heat removal by
the uid. Under constant heat ux conditions, the rate of heat supply to wall is constant. Hence, higher wall temperatures prevail if
the rate of heat removal is lower during the initial period of cooling. The base uids have relatively inferior thermal properties than
that of the nanouids. Hence, the rate of cooling using base uid is

lower during the initial period of cooling. During subsequent time

periods, the wall temperature will be higher, which increases the
driving force. Hence, though the transport properties of nanouids
are better than that of the base uid, the inuence is not completely felt as a result of increase in time-dependent driving force, when
base uids are used as the coolants. The results reported here are
averaged for a period of 20 min. During this time interval, there
could have been several periods, during which the wall temperature while cooling with base uid was higher than that cooled
by nanouids. This higher driving force for base uid would have
partly compensated for its relatively inferior thermal properties.
Hence, when calculated in terms of heat transfer ratio, the nal
heat transfer ratio is obtained as a tradeoff between improvement
in thermal properties and driving force decrease. This explains the
minimal increase in heat transfer ratio irrespective of the improvement in transport properties. This aspect requires further investigation wherein the temporal variation of the wall temperature
must also be studied.
The thermal conductivity of ZnOPG dispersions is inuenced
by both liquid layering and Brownian motion of nanoparticles
[59]. Liquid layering is the dominant thermal conductivity
enhancement mechanism at lower temperatures whereas
Brownian motion of nanoparticles led to higher thermal conductivity at higher temperatures. Since the temperature of the test uids ranged from 30 to 50 C, microconvection induced by
Brownian motion of nanoparticles contributed to increase in
amount of heat transferred to nanouids in comparison with base
uid. Magnitude of microconvection like effects hastened by
Brownian motion increased with increasing number of ZnO
nanoparticles
i.e.
increasing ZnO
nanoparticle
volume
concentration.
Viscosity of ZnOPG nanouids were lower than that of pure PG
and the magnitude of viscosity reduction increased with increasing
nanoparticle volume concentration. This was due to the favorable
interactions between hydrophilic ZnO nanoparticles and propylene
glycol molecules which resulted in perturbations of native hydrogen bonding network of propylene glycol and subsequent reduction in viscosity of dispersions [58]. Reduction in viscosity of the
ZnOPG dispersions is expected to amplify natural convection
effects. Since viscosity of ZnOPG dispersions reduced with
increasing nanoparticle concentration, heat transfer through natural convection was also expected to increase with increasing particle volume fraction.

4.2. Constant bath temperature experiments

4.2.1. Inuence of nanoparticle volume concentration on br and Ur
Fig. 4(a) shows linear increase in br with increasing nanoparticle volume concentration of ZnOPG nanouids. It may be recalled
that larger the value of b, lesser is the time required by the test
uid to reach bath temperature (i.e.) larger the value of b, higher
is the heat transfer capability of the test uid. ZnOPG nanouids
had br values greater than unity which indicated that ZnOPG
nanouids had higher heat transfer capability when compared to
that of pure PG. Also, increasing br values with increasing
nanoparticle volume concentration indicates that the heat absorption capacity of ZnOPG nanouids increased linearly with increasing nanoparticle volume concentration.
Increasing the concentration of ZnO nanoparticle in ZnOPG
dispersions resulted in linear increase of Ur (Fig. 4b). Higher heat
transfer coefcients of ZnOPG dispersions compared to that of
propylene glycol indicate higher heat transferring capability of
ZnOPG dispersions. However, the improvement in thermal properties of ZnOPG dispersions and reduction in nanouid viscosity
have not been completely manifested in Ur enhancement. This

K.S. Suganthi, K.S. Rajan / Energy Conversion and Management 96 (2015) 115123

than that of pure propylene glycol during transient heat transfer

experiments with both constant heat ux and constant bath temperature conditions. Improved thermal properties and lower viscosities of ZnOPG nanouids amplied their heat absorption
capabilities through improved conduction and natural convection.
Under constant heat ux conditions, the enhanced thermophysical properties of nanouids were not completely realized as
enhancement in their heat transfer rate. However, under constant
temperature conditions, the enhancement in nanouid-side heat
transfer coefcient was little lower than that of predicted from
transport property enhancement. As there were no phase separation or nanoparticle deposition during and after heat transfer
experiments, ZnOPG nanouids acted akin to a single phase liquid
with improved thermal properties.

1.3
y = 0.1309x + 1
R = 0.998

1.25
1.2
1.15

hr

121

1.1
1.05
1
0.95
0.9
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Acknowledgements

Nanoparticle volume concentration (%)

Fig. 5. Inuence of nanoparticle volume concentration on coolant side relative heat
transfer coefcient (hr).

might be attributed to the fact that nanouids used in the test section improved the coolant side heat transfer coefcient only.
4.2.2. Inuence of nanoparticle volume concentration on coolant side
relative heat transfer coefcient (hr)
Fig. 5 shows the variation of coolant side relative heat transfer
coefcient as a function of nanoparticle volume concentration.
Coolant side relative heat transfer coefcient increased linearly
with increasing nanoparticle volume concentration. An enhancement of 25.6% in heat transfer coefcient has been observed for
2 vol.% ZnOPG nanouid. Since the test uid was neither pumped
nor agitated in the transient heat transfer experiments performed
in this study, heat transfer is only by natural convection and conduction. The heat transfer coefcient ratio (hr) for natural convection condition can be predicted using the following equation,
obtained by utilizing Eq. (17) separately for nanouid and base
uid.

hr

qnf
qbf

!0:5  0:75
!0:25
cpnf
knf
kbf
cpbf

lbf
lnf

!0:25
25

The experimentally observed heat transfer coefcient ratio for

2 vol.% ZnOPG nanouid (1.26) is little lower than that of predicted
heat transfer coefcient ratio (1.34) using Eq. (25).
It may also be recollected that earlier heat transfer experiments
have been reported extensively for water-based nanouids
[39,40,4347] and there are only few reports on glycol based
nanouids. Majority of heat transfer studies on nanouids have
been carried out under forced convection. There are no reports
on experimental studies of transient heat transfer using ZnOPG
nanouids to the best of the authors knowledge. However, an
experimental study on natural convective heat transfer using
TiO2water nanouids [67] had been reported. Convective heat
transfer coefcient of TiO2water nanouids were lower than that
of water which was attributed to higher viscosity enhancement
compared to thermal conductivity enhancement.
5. Conclusions
ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized using Zinc nitrate hexahydrate as precursor and characterized using electron microscopy
and X-ray crystallography. ZnOPG nanouids with nanoparticle
volume concentration varying over a range of 0.252 vol.% were
prepared with the aid of probe ultrasonication without any surfactant. ZnOPG nanouids showed higher heat transfer performance

This work is supported by (i) INSPIRE fellowship (Reg. No:

IF110312) of Department of Science and Technology (DST), India.
(ii) PG teaching Grant No.: SR/NM/PG-16/2007 of Nano Mission
Council, Department of Science & Technology (DST), India (iii)
Grant No.: SR/FT/ET-061/2008, DST, India and (iv) Research &
Modernization Project #1, SASTRA University, India. The authors
thank SASTRA University for the infrastructural support extended
during the work.
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