Performance investigation of automobile radiator operated with ZnFe2O4 nano fluid based coolant

Abstract

The cooling system of an Automobile plays an important role in its performance, consists of two main parts, known as radiator and fan. Improving thermal efficiency of engine leads to increase the engine's performance, decline the fuel consumption and decrease the pollution emissions. Water and ethylene glycol as conventional coolants have been widely used in radiators of an automotive industry for many years. These heat transfer fluids offer low thermal conductivity. With the advancement of nanotechnology, the new generation of heat transfer fluids called, "nanofluids" have been developed and researchers found that these fluids offer higher thermal conductivity compared to that of conventional coolants. This study focused on the preparation of Zinc based nanofluids (ZnFe2O4) using chemical co-precipitation method and its application in an automotive cooling system along with mixture of ethylene glycol and water (50:50). Relevant input data, nanofluids properties and empirical correlations were obtained from literatures to investigate the heat transfer enhancement of an automotive car radiator operated with nano fluid-based coolants. It was observed that, overall heat transfer coefficient and heat transfer rate in engine cooling system increased with the usage of nanofluids (with ethylene glycol the base-fluid) compared to ethylene glycol (i.e. base-fluid) alone. It is observed that, about 78% of heat transfer enhancement could be achieved with the addition of 1% ZnFe2O4 particles in a base fluid at the Reynolds number of 84.4×103 and 39.5×103 for air and coolant respectively.