Viscosity of CuO Nanofluid Due to Nanoparticles Size and Concentration

Abstract

Past studies showed that varying nanoparticles size could affect several properties of nanofluids. This could lead to significant change of hydro-thermal performance in various applications. In the present study, the effect of copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticle size on the viscosity of nanofluid was investigated under different working temperature and concentration. Base fluid consists of equal amount of distilled water and ethylene glycol. It was found that the addition of 0.05 vol.% CuO into base fluid caused increment of viscosity by 11.8% and 7.27%. On the other side, particle size effect was found to be insignificant on the viscosity of nanofluids at low concentration of CuO nanoparticles (0.025 vol.%). Lastly, the viscosity measured in the present study was predictable by two correlations proposed in past studies and only slight deviation was observed.