Introducing a new correlation for nano fluids thermal conductivity

Thermal conductivity of Nano fluids is one of the most important properties in heat transfer processes. Many theoretical, analytical, and empirical correlations have been presented for estimating thermal conductivity of Nano fluids. In this study, 434 experimental data used in Al2O3-Water, Al2O3-EG, Al2O3-Water-EG, TiO2-Water, and TiO2-EG systems. Then, by employing these data, the ability of existing correlations for estimating thermal conductivities of Nano fluids were investigated. The results showed that the Patel et al. correlation (R2=0.94), and Minsta et al. correlation (R2=0.9) are the best equations. Finally by combining the two correlations, a new correlation was introduced. The new correlation showed the notable agreement with experimental results (R2=0.9718) in comparison with others.