Effect of CuO Nanolubricant on R134a Pool Boiling Heat Transfer with Extensive Measurement and Analysis Details

Published

October 1, 2007

Author(s)

Mark A. Kedzierski

Abstract

This paper quantifies the influence of CuO nanoparticles on the boiling performance of R134a/polyolester mixtures on a roughened, horizontal, flat surface. Nanofluids are liquids that contain dispersed nano-size particles. A lubricant based nanofluid (nanolubricant) was made with a synthetic ester and 30 nm diameter CuO particles stably suspended in the mixture to a 1 % volume fraction. For the 0.5 % nanolubricant mass fraction, the nanoparticles caused a heat transfer enhancement relative to the heat transfer of pure R134a/polyolester (99.5/0.5) of between 50 % and 275 %. A smaller enhancement was observed for the R134a/nanolubricant (99/1) mixture, which had a heat flux that was on average 19 % larger than that of the R134a/polyolester (99/1) mixture. Further increase in the nanolubricant mass fraction to 2 % resulted in a still smaller boiling heat transfer improvement of approximately 12 % on average. Consequently, significant refrigerant/lubricant boiling heat transfer enhancements are possible with nanoparticles. Thermal conductivity measurements and a refrigerant\lubricant mixture pool-boiling model were used to suggest that increased thermal conductivity is responsible for only a small portion of the heat transfer enhancement due to nanoparticles. Further research with nanolubricants and refrigerants are required to establish

Citation

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) - 7454

Report Number

7454

NIST Pub Series

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/nist.ir.7454

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Keywords

additives, boiling, copper (II) oxide, enhanced heat transfer, nanotechnology, refrigerants, refrigerant/lubricant mixtures

Citation

Kedzierski, M. (2007), Effect of CuO Nanolubricant on R134a Pool Boiling Heat Transfer with Extensive Measurement and Analysis Details, NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/nist.ir.7454, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=905188 (Accessed May 23, 2026)

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