ON THE CALORIMETRY OF NANOFLUIDS

Ralf Raud

Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Sendova, Mariana

Keywords

Nanoparticles, Calorimetry, Nanofluids, Physics Experiments

Area of Concentration

Physics

Abstract

The experimental determination of the specific heat capacity (cp) of alumina and titania based nanofluids is reported. The results validate using the heat capacity of the nanoparticles and the heat capacity of the base fluid in the same proportion as their masses, Model A, as the correct way of predicting the specific heat of nanofluids. A TA Instruments Q20 Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) was used to discover that the cp of the nanofluid decreased as concentration of the nanoparticles increased. The experimentally determined cp matched the results of similar experiments as reported in the literature. The validity of using the heat capacities of the nanoparticles and base fluid in proportion to their volumetric concentration, Model B, is discussed. In addition, the latent heat of fusion is reported. The data indicated the nanofluid latent heat is inversely proportional to the nanoparticle concentration.

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