Thermal performance comparison of closed loop pulsating heat pipe with DI water and Al2O3/DI nanofluid.

Pulsating heat pipe (PHP) has been a research interest in the areas of thermal management in various engineering applications such as electronics cooling. The present work focuses on thermal performance improvement of a PHP by experimentally studying the effects of thermal parameters such as type of working fluids (nanofluid and deionised water), temperature range, and filling ratios on thermal resistance of the PHP. Experimental studies are conducted to measure thermal resistance of a closed loop pulsating heat pipe (CLPHP) having five turns, and the preparation method of Al₂O₃ (Aluminium Oxide) nanoparticles are also presented. The working fluids in the present work are DI (deionised) water and Al₂O₃/DI nanofluid with a surfactant, and experiments are performed for different filling ratios of the working fluid in the CLPHP. The variation of thermal resistance of CLPHP with pressure and time are presented and discussed. It is observed that the thermal resistance was minimum with 60% of filling ratio of Al₂O₃/DI water nanofluid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]