This article reports on the International Nanofluid Property Benchmark Exercise, or INPBE, in which the thermal conductivity of identical samples of colloidally stable dispersions of nanoparticles or “nanofluids,” was measured by over 30 organizations worldwide, using a variety of experimental approaches, including the transient hot wire method, steady-state methods, and optical methods. The nanofluids tested in the exercise were comprised of aqueous and nonaqueous basefluids, metal and metal oxide particles, near-spherical and elongated particles, at low and high particle concentrations. The data analysis reveals that the data from most organizations lie within a relatively narrow band (±10% or less) about the sample average with only few outliers. The thermal conductivity of the nanofluids was found to increase with particle concentration and aspect ratio, as expected from classical theory. There are (small) systematic differences in the absolute values of the nanofluid thermal conductivity among the various experimental approaches; however, such differences tend to disappear when the data are normalized to the measured thermal conductivity of the basefluid. The effective medium theory developed for dispersed particles by Maxwell in 1881 and recently generalized by Nan et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 81, 6692 (1997)], was found to be in good agreement with the experimental data, suggesting that no anomalous enhancement of thermal conductivity was achieved in the nanofluids tested in this exercise.

A Benchmark Study on the Thermal Conductivity of Nanofluids

Thermal energy storage (TES) for industrial waste heat (IWH) recovery: A review

Bifunctional Au@TiO2 core–shell nanoparticle films for clean water generation by photocatalysis and solar evaporation

Experimental investigation of the heat and mass transfer between air and liquid desiccant in a cross-flow regenerator

Exergy and exergoeconomic evaluation of hydrogen and distilled water production via combination of PEM electrolyzer, RO desalination unit and geothermal driven dual fluid ORC

The effect of inlet parameters on the performance of packed tower-regenerator

Development of a desalination system driven by solar energy and low grade waste heat

Augmented heat and mass transfer effect on performance of a solar still using porous absorber: Experimental investigation and exergetic analysis

Enhancement of a solar still performance by inclusion the basalt stones as a porous sensible absorber: Experimental study and thermo-economic analysis

Enhancing forced convection heat transfer from multiple protruding heat sources simulating electronic components in a horizontal channel by passive cooling

G.I. Sultan

Papers

The effect of inlet parameters on the performance of packed tower-regenerator

Development of a desalination system driven by solar energy and low grade waste heat

Augmented heat and mass transfer effect on performance of a solar still using porous absorber: Experimental investigation and exergetic analysis

Enhancement of a solar still performance by inclusion the basalt stones as a porous sensible absorber: Experimental study and thermo-economic analysis

Enhancing forced convection heat transfer from multiple protruding heat sources simulating electronic components in a horizontal channel by passive cooling