nanofluids

[relttem]

I am currently doing a lot of research dealing with the effects of nanofluids on heat transfer and was wondering if anyone else has used nanofluids as the cooling liquid in their liquid cooling systems? I currently have it in mine.

thanks

 

[rubix_1011]

Sounds very interesting...where can you find such a product and its information pages?

Edit: I realize there is a google...I just meant any site in particular...like the stuff you are using, etc?

 

[relttem]

We are looking into starting a company that will make this available. We contacted Toms hardware trying to get a review but haven't heard back. We are looking at some other places for reviews too.. keep an eye out for it. I was just curious if anyone was using it yet.

thanks

 

[fleakiller]

Well i did some reading it does look promising depending on whats in there,cost!, ambient differential wish reltem had more to and or toms

 

[Granite3]

OP, you got a spec sheet or anything?

I am on water, and would be interested in such a thing, price, lifecycle, etc prove ok.

 

[chaoticjoy1]

sound fun

 

[Guest]

what is nanofluid? does it offer any benefit from water? can it be used in standard water cooling loops?

come on please fill us in before you start asking about stuff most people don't know about

 

[relttem]

I will work on a spec sheet. We have been doing research based on different nanofluids flowing over a heated flat plate at local Reynold's numbers from 12,000 - 400,000. We have shown a 16% increase in the amount of heat transfer provided by the fluid. A nanofluid is a fluid that contains a small amount of nano-sized particles - for those of you that don't know. You can find a lot of info on the web and at MIT's engineering dept. My computer at the house has a water cooling unit on it, and the chip temp dropped almost exactly 16% when I put the nanofluids in. Still, we are going to wait to have some sites review it.

 

[rubix_1011]

I would be interested in testing in my watercooling loop, if it is as effective as you say it is. Any way to get my hands on this, or do I have to wait in line like everyone else...?

What information can you give, as in, what are the nanoparticulates used, does it accumulate in pumps, blocks, etc? I didn't know if there was a standard product used...

 

[relttem]

there is no standard used. We did a project for the air force looking into the benefits of adding nanoparticles to the heat transfer fluid. For those of you not aware, a nanometer is 10^-9. It takes 100 nanoparticles stacked to be as thick as a dollar bill - to give you an idea. Our density is too low to have any detrimental effects on the pump or pumping power.
But, as I mentioned, we are going to wait until some reviews come out. Soon.

 

[fleakiller]

Aprox how long do you think for the info?

 

[closed_deal]

I'm guessing the heat dissipation properties of nano fluids is similar to basic heatsinks ie. the more surface area (by the nano particles being so small) the more efficiently you can transfer heat?

 

[relttem]

I can't give a time-frame yet.

we found that it improves the convective coefficient. There is a heat balance -> Q(power in) = h(conv coeff)*A(area)*[Tout-Tin]..therefore, with h increasing you can increase the amount of Q and not have a change in the Tout.

 

[closed_deal]

I've just twigged after a third read through (it's late ), why use nano fluid as an additive when you could use as a replacement? Is it because it would transfer the heat quickly, but not be effective as water at dissipating it so end up just getting very hot?

*EDIT* Also as the fluid is smaller would it increase the chance of your water loop to leak?

 

[relttem]

the liquid has nanoparticles in it..it wouldn't be an additive. You would use it in replacement of the liquid in the system now. Plus, you have to be careful of how much of the nanoparticles you mix into the liquid. You can't just dump some in and hope for the best..too much and you'll run into pumping issues..too little and nothing will happen. We would supply a total replacement for the liquid in the system now.
Your conv-coeff is increasing..that works on both sides of the system; the heater block and the radiator.
The fluid isn't smaller..if you hook your system up correctly it won't leak..if it leaks with nanofluids it will/would like with water.

 

[rubix_1011]

Send me a sample.

 

[closed_deal]

Would the 16% decrease in temperature over standard water be represented in the price per litre or will we be paying for the 'tech' as well? I for example wouldn't mind paying maximum £15 per bottle taking into account my system uses almost 2 litre's in a 2 meter loop, if it needed a 6 monthly refresh.

How often would it need to be replaced? 6 monthly would be minimum, yearly would be ideal?

Is the combined fluid non conductive/ anti stain for that rare leak so we can recover/clean our systems to the original state?

Is it anti corrosive ie mixed metal water blocks etc in the loop?

Would it go stagnant if say the computer wasn't switched on for over two weeks? Again don't know the specifics, but over time would the fluids separate if left stagnant?

Can't really think of anything else to ask that others haven't... Tiz asking quite alot, but I'd personally like to know and as my Great Grandad told me as a child looking aimlessly at sweet's in the window, 'if you don't ask you don't get' .

 

[Guest]

sounds very neat now that I know a little bit more about it...

I want some!!!

 

[VDF]

Curious if you have done any reliability testing with your fluids and pumps. One of the big issues with water is calcium & copper scavaging on the impeller blades eventually causing failure. Having zillions of nano particles floating around I'm thinking that they may start collecting, over time, on the impellers or on the sides of the vessel. Also, is this stuff RoHas compliant? How do you dispose of it, is it toxic? What happens in a leak event, is the MOBO a complete write off? If the stuff evaporates after a spill, what happens to the nano particles? Do they enter the atmosphere? Is that toxic to breath? You can pump mercury through a loop and get great thermal transfer but you'd probably not want to do that.

 

[relttem]

We have MSDS sheets for the nanofluids. It is not toxic, but I wouldn't drink it. As for pump degradation etc, we have done pump power studies which is related to the density of the fluid, which would indicate how coarse it is. There has been research done on the scouring effects of the nanofluids, which have shown none. Our density does change, but not to the extent to which any pump damage impeller damage occurs, nor to the amount of power required to pump it. If you add a lot of the particles to the liquid and your density is high, then you will have problems. That was part of the research; to find the optimum concentration. When it evaporates the particles do not go into the atmosphere, you would simply have to clean the MoBo off with a rag - like cleaning up any liquid spill. Of course, there is a lot of common sense involved; you don't want to inject it into your veins, or boil it in a pan and breathe in the vapor, drink it, snort it, feed it to your pets, pour it in your fish tank etc etc..just like with antifreeze.

 

[Shadow703793]

Cool work. I wish I did this for my science fair project.

 

[relttem]

uses almost 2 litre's in a 2 meter loop, if it needed a 6 monthly refresh.

2 litres?..

 

[closed_deal]

yeah my loop and res holds just under 2 litre's... isn't that normal??

 

[relttem]

Mine holds about 20oz..not even half a liter..

 

[closed_deal]

hmmm... I have 2 meter's of 3/8 tubing connected to one PA 120.3 Rad, one PA 120.1 Rad, two 3870 full cover water blocks a 5 1/4 drive bay res and a EK Supreme cpu waterblock. The res alone hold 500ml... so i don't think i'm to far off average .