Calculation of the thermal conductivity of nanofluids containing nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes
Jurij Avsec, Maks Oblak
A mathematical model for the calculation of thermal conductivity of nanofluids containing nanoparticles and nanotubes on the basis of statistical mechanics is presented. This appears to be the first such attempt published in the scientific literature. We focus on the influence of the liquid layer structure around nanoparticles as the reason for enhancement of the thermal conductivity of nanofluids. Analytical results of both the current analysis and statistical mechanics are compared with experimental data reported in the scientific literature, which show good agreement.