Thermal conductivity of nanofluids and size distribution of nanoparticles by Monte Carlo simulations

Nanofluids, a class of solid–liquid suspensions, have received an increasing attention and studied intensively because of their anomalously high thermal conductivites at low nanoparticle concentration. Based on the fractal character of nanoparticles in nanofluids, the probability model for nanoparticle’s sizes and the effective thermal conductivity model are derived, in which the effect of the microconvection due to the Brownian motion of nanoparticles in the fluids is taken into account. The proposed model is expressed as a function of the thermal conductivities of the base fluid and the nanoparticles, the volume fraction, fractal dimension for particles, the size of nanoparticles, and the temperature, as well as random number. This model has the characters of both analytical and numerical solutions. The Monte Carlo simulations combined with the fractal geometry theory are performed. The predictions by the present Monte Carlo simulations are shown in good accord with the existing experimental data.