Improving heat transfer of stabilised thermal oil-based tin nanofluids using biosurfactant and molecular layer deposition

The development of advanced heat transfer fluids (HTF) with enhanced heat transfer properties has been identified as a key target to increase the efficiency of industrial processes. In this work, heat transfer performance improvements of a novel nanofluid, consisting of metallic nanoparticles dispersed in a commercial thermal oil, were investigated. Nanofluids combining tin nanoparticles (1 mass %) with Therminol 66 (TH66) were synthesised using the two step-method and experimentally analysed. The effectiveness of biosurfactant addition and nanoparticle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nanocoating for high temperature nanofluid stabilisation were independently investigated. The PET nanoscale coatings were grown by molecular layer deposition, which has been used for the first time in this field. The thermal conductivity, dynamic viscosity and specific heat capacity of the stable, oil-based nanofluids were characterised at high temperatures, and the results were compared and in good agreement with models found in the relevant literature. Finally, the heat transfer performance of the nanofluids with respect to their base fluids was evaluated, employing empirical values for the thermophysical properties of the involved materials. In this way, increments of the heat transfer coefficients up to 9.3% at 140 °C, relevant to industrial applications were obtained.