The Impact of Nano-fluid Concentration Used as an Engine Coolant on the Warm-up Timing

Running the industrial components at a proper temperature is always a big challenge for engineers. Internal combustion engines are among these components in which temperature plays a big role in their performance and emissions. With the development of new technology in the fields of ‘nano-materials’ and ‘nano-fluids’, it seems very promising to use this technology as a coolant in the internal combustion engines. In this study, a nano-fluid (Al۲O۳-Water/Ethylene Glycol (EG)) is used as an engine coolant along with an optimized heat exchanger to reduce the warm-up timing. The effect of nano-fluid concentration is considered here by using their corresponding governing equations, such as momentum and energy. The engine coolant thermal behavior calculation is carried out based on the lumped method. The obtained results indicated that using different percentage of nano-fluid mixtures (by volume), such as Al۲O۳- Water/EG as engine coolant enhances the heat transfer coefficient and reduces the warm-up timing which, in turn, results in reduced emissions and fuel consumption.