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Natural convection of silica–water nanofluids based on experimental measured thermophysical properties: critical analysis

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Abstract

An experimental and numerical study was performed to investigate the effect of different formulas for nanofluid thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity on natural convective heat transfer. It was found that the heat transfer across the enclosure using different models can be enhanced or deteriorated with respect to the base fluid. Also, it was found that the inconsistencies in the reported thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity from different research groups are mainly due to the characterization of the nanofluid, including determination of colloidal stability and particle size, (i.e., aggregates size) within nanofluid.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, University of Boumerdes, Boumerdes, Algeria

    Zoubida Haddad

  2. CNRS, IUSTI UMR 7343, Aix-Marseille University, 13453, Marseille, France

    Zoubida Haddad, Chérifa Abid & O. Rahli

  3. Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    A. A. Mohamad & S. Bawazer

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  1. Zoubida Haddad
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  2. Chérifa Abid
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Correspondence to Zoubida Haddad.

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Haddad, Z., Abid, C., Mohamad, A.A. et al. Natural convection of silica–water nanofluids based on experimental measured thermophysical properties: critical analysis. Heat Mass Transfer 52, 1649–1663 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-015-1682-4

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