Thermal Properties of the Mixed n-Octadecane/Cu Nanoparticle Nanofluids during Phase Transition: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Abstract

Paraffin based nanofluids are widely used as thermal energy storage materials and hold many applications in the energy industry. In this work, equilibrium and nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations are employed to study the thermal properties of the mixed nanofluids of n-octadecane and Cu nanoparticles during phase transition. Four different nanofluids systems with different mass ratios between the n-octadecane and Cu nanoparticles have been studied and the results show that Cu nanoparticles can improve the thermal properties of n-octadecane. The melting point, heat capacity and thermal conductivity of the mixed systems are decreased with the increasing of the mass ratio of n-octadecane.

Keywords

• n-octadecane
• Cu nanoparticle
• phase transition
• thermal conductivity
• molecular dynamics simulation