Heat Transfer Enhancement Using NanoFluids- An Overview

There has been increasing interest in nanofluid and its use in heat transfer enhancement. Nanofluids are suspensions of nanoparticles in fluids that show significant enhancement of their properties at modest nanoparticle concentrations. Nanofluids are quasi single phase medium containing stable colloidal dispersion of ultrafine or nanometric metallic or ceramic particles in a given fluid. This article covers recent advances in the last decade by researchers in heat transfer enhancement with nanofluids as the working fluid. A brief overview has been presented to understand the evolution of this concept, possible mechanism of heat conduction by nanofluid and areas of application. In order to put the nanofluid heat transfer technologies into practice, fundamental studies are greatly needed to understand the physical mechanisms.