Thermal and Rheological Behavior of Hybrid Nanofluids Containing Diamond and Boron Nitride in Thermal Oil for Cooling Applications

Recent advances have shown the beneficial impact of adding nanoparticles to thermal oil. Diamond and boron nitride nanoparticles have superior thermal conductivity and excellent thermal and optical properties. In the current study, thermal conductivity, specific heat, and rheological behavior of diamond and boron nitride-based hybrid nanofluids in thermal oil are experimentally investigated for 0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, and 0.6% weight concentrations and a wide range of temperatures. The proportion between diamond and boron nitride utilized in the study is 1:1. A two-step method is applied to prepare stable hybrid nanofluids. The obtained data indicate that the hybrid nanofluids' thermal conductivity and specific heat enhance with increasing temperature and weight concentration. Almost 37.4% and 48.1% enhancement is observed in the thermal conductivity and specific heat, respectively, at 65 °C and 0.6% weight concentration. Thermal oil-based hybrid nanofluids display Newtonian behavior at low shear rates and an inverse relationship with temperature. Shear-thinning non-Newtonian behavior is observed at high shear rates and temperatures. A maximum increase in viscosity up to 22.0% is observed at 65 °C and 0.6% wt. concentration. The relative change indicates that all investigated properties have a significant impact, where the increasing trend of thermal conductivity and specific heat with increasing temperature and weight concentration of thermal oil-based hybrid nanofluids make them suitable for high-temperature heat transfer applications.