Nano carbon materials for enhancing thermal transfer in fluids
First Claim
1. A fluid complex suitable for use as a heat transfer agent comprising a body of heat transfer fluid having suspended therein carbon nanoparticles comprised of carbon selected from carbon in the forms of sp2 type bonding and sp3 type bonding in a quantity sufficient to enhance the thermal conductivity of said fluid, as compared to the thermal conductivity of said heat transfer fluid per se.
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Abstract
A novel fluid heat transfer agent suitable for use in a closed heat transfer system, for example, wherein energy is transferred between an evaporator and a condenser in heat exchange relationship with the heat transfer agent that is caused to flow from one to the other. The novel heat transfer agent is a complex comprising a body of heat transfer fluid, for example, ethylene glycol or water, having suspended therein carbon nanoparticles in a quantity sufficient to enhance the thermal conductivity of the body of heat transfers fluid, per se. The carbon nanoparticles are selected from carbon in the form of sp2 type and sp3 type bonding and preferably comprise nanotubes or fullerenes and may have a coupling agent bonded thereto or enclosed therein when the nanotube or fullerene forms a hollow capsule. The coupling agent may be a polar organic group covalently bonded to the carbon nanoparticles and miscible in the fluid medium.
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56 Claims
- 1. A fluid complex suitable for use as a heat transfer agent comprising a body of heat transfer fluid having suspended therein carbon nanoparticles comprised of carbon selected from carbon in the forms of sp2 type bonding and sp3 type bonding in a quantity sufficient to enhance the thermal conductivity of said fluid, as compared to the thermal conductivity of said heat transfer fluid per se.
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2. In a method of transferring heat energy between thermally separated first and second bodies comprising flowing a fluid heat transfer agent in a closed path between said first and second bodies wherein successive portions of the heat transfer agent pass in heat exchange relationship with each of said first and second bodies whereby heat energy is transferred from the hotter of said bodies to the colder body when they are at different temperatures, the improvement wherein said heat transfer agent consists essentially of a fluid complex comprising a body of heat transfer fluid having suspended therein carbon nanoparticles comprised of carbon selected from carbon in the forms of sp2 bonding and sp3 type bonding in a quantity sufficient to enhance thermal conductivity of said fluid as compared to the thermal conductivity of said heat transfer fluid per se.
Specification