Estimation and experimental study of the density and specific heat for alumina nanofluid

This study analyses the density and specific heat of alumina (Al2O3)/water nanofluid to determine the feasibility of relative calculations. The Al2O3/water nanofluid was produced by the direct-synthesis method with cationic chitosan dispersant served as the experimental sample, and was dispersed into three concentrations of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 wt.%. This experiment measures the density and specific heat of nanofluid with weight fractions and sample temperatures with a liquid density meter and a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). To assess the availability of these equations, it then compares the experimental data with the calculated results according to the concepts of mixing theory and statistical mechanism. Comparing the calculated results of density and specific heat with the experimental data, the deviation of density fell within the range of −1.50% to 0.06% and 0.25% to 2.53%, whereas the deviation of specific heat fell within the range of −0.07% to 5.88% and −0.35% to 4.94%, respectively. Calculated results of density and specific heat show a trend of greater deviation with an increased concentration of nanofluid. However, two kinds of density and specific heat of the calculated results fall within an acceptable deviation range in this study.