Investigation of base fluid and nano fluid used for refrigeration / air-conditioning of small space

Abstract

This study examines the development of cooling system having a heat exchanger made of copper tubes for cooling electric vehicle (EV) car battery system and the effects of base fluid and nano-fluid (as coolants) channeling inside the heat exchanger to transfer heat between the compartment of the electric vehicle car and the heat exchanger. The nano-fluid (CuO / distilled water) can be prepared by dispersing nanoparticles (CuO) in base fluid (distilled water). Nominal diameters of 50 nm were volume concentration of 0.27 Vol. % at batteries’ compartment temperature was used for these investigations. The analysis shows that the cooling system adopted using nano-fluid (CuO / distilled water) has advantages in improving the heat transfer coefficient by 61.89 % compared to that using base fluid (distilled water) and also resulting in higher Nusselt number. This results in reducing the electric power loss in the form of thermal energy from batteries. This led to increase in the efficiency of the electric vehicle (EV) car battery. Hence, it improved the performance of the electric vehicle (EV) car and its battery lifetime.