Experimental study of thermal conductivity of new mixtures for absorption cycles and the effect of the nanoparticles addition

Identifier:  TDX:1279

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX1279

Authors:  Cuenca Martínez, Yolanda

Abstract:
This study investigates the thermal conductivity of working fluids for absorption refrigeration cycles activated by solar energy or waste heat. A promising mixture is NH3+LiNO3. However, accurate thermophysical properties such as thermal conductivity are needed for adequate design, analysis and evaluation of such systems. Therefore, this property has been measured with ammonia mass fraction range from 0.3 to 0.6 and temperatures between 303.15 and 353.15 K. Results show low values in thermal conductivity, and it is known that low thermal conductivity is a primary limitation in the development of energy-efficient heat transfer fluids that are required in these systems. To overcome this limitation, the addition of water or carbon nanotubes to the binary mixture (NH3+LiNO3)was proposed. It has been seen that the addition of a third component indicates an enhancement in the effective thermal conductivity in both cases. Thermal conductivity measurements were carried on with the transient hot wire technique and two different devices were designed and built in this work. Uncertainty in the measurements was estimated to be less than 0.025 W•m-1•K-1. Finally, the experimental data was fitted with a comprehensive model based on the local composition concept and the effect of electrolytes.