A study on the effect of using palm oil as a base fluid for nanocoolants.

Viscosity is an inherent property of a material and is an important consideration in heat transfer applications. Furthermore, the convective heat transfer coefficient is also influenced by viscosity. However, based on reviews of nanofluid literatures available, it was found that there were limited work and research done on the viscosity of nanofluid despite its importance. Therefore, this research endeavours to contribute to the field of nanofluids in terms of viscosity studies whereby the objective of this research was to study the effect of using palm oil as base fluid on the viscosities of nanofluids added with 1%, 2% and 3% of aluminium oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles. The viscosity measurements were performed using the falling sphere method which had been previously validated. The results showed that the viscosities of the base fluids improved with the addition of nanoparticles. It also showed that the viscosity reduces with increase in temperature but increases with increase in concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]