M. Eftekhar, A. Keshavarz, A. Ghasemian, J. Mahdavinia,
Volume 3, Issue 1 (3-2013)
Abstract
Running the industrial components at a proper temperature is always a big challenge for engineers. Internal
combustion engines are among these components in which temperature plays a big role in their
performance and emissions. With the development of new technology in the fields of ‘nano-materials’ and
‘nano-fluids’, it seems very promising to use this technology as a coolant in the internal combustion
engines. In this study, a nano-fluid (Al2O3-Water/Ethylene Glycol (EG)) is used as an engine coolant along
with an optimized heat exchanger to reduce the warm-up timing. The effect of nano-fluid concentration is
considered here by using their corresponding governing equations, such as momentum and energy. The
engine coolant thermal behavior calculation is carried out based on the lumped method. The obtained
results indicated that using different percentage of nano-fluid mixtures (by volume), such as Al2O3-
Water/EG as engine coolant enhances the heat transfer coefficient and reduces the warm-up timing which,
in turn, results in reduced emissions and fuel consumption.
