Application of Nanofluids in Thermal Design of compact heat exchanger

Compact heat exchangers have been widely used in various applications in thermal fluid systems including automotive thermal fluid systems. Radiators for engine cooling systems, evaporators and condensers for HVAC systems, oil coolers and inter coolers are typical examples that can be found in ground vehicles. Recent development of Nanotechnology brings out a new heat transfer coolant called ‘Nanofluids’ these fluids exhibit larger thermal properties than conventional coolants (water, Ethylene glycol, Engine oil etc.) due to the presence of suspended nanosized particles in then such as Al₂O₃, Cu, CuO, TiO₂ etc. In this paper a theoretical analysis was carried with ε - NTU rating method by using Al₂O₃ + H₂O Nanofluid as coolant on automobile flat tube plain fin compact heat exchanger and different characteristics are graphically presented.