Simulation of Particle Property Effects in Energy Transport in Brownian Motion

The change in particle concentration and heat transfer in a slot filled with a nano-fluid is computed using a 2-fluid model. The slot has a width L of 5000 micron slot with a 30 K temperature differential. The working fluid is glycerine. The nano-particle materials used are aluminum oxide, copper, silicon oxide, and titanium oxide. The particle diameter is 5 nm, and a volumetric particle concentrations ϕ of 0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.015, and 0.02 are used. Simulation of the transport equations shows that the change in volumetric concentration across the slot is approximately 5% of the total volumetric concentration, and does not change based on the particle material for the four materials selected. The calculated heat transfer in the slot changes by up to 35%, and is dependent on the nano-particle material and concentration. These results show that the significance of nano-particle material in nano-fluid effectiveness is a result of the varying specific heat of the particles.