Cambridge Viscosity Blog

CVI Supports R&D for the Use of Nanoparticles in Heat Transfer Fluids

Nov 11, 2020 4:08:10 PM / by Patrick Riley

Quote from Ice Dragon CoolingIt’s always interesting to see how our customers use the Cambridge Viscosity viscometers to support product development and continuous improvement. Our customers monitor viscosity in thousands of unique applications they develop pharmaceuticals that improve quality of life, they test engine oils to make sure cars and airplanes operate more efficiently and heavy marine fuel so shipping companies to achieve proper fuel efficiency. They monitor the viscosity of coatings, to create high-quality lenses of all types. And, in the oil and gas industries, our viscometers provide the data necessary to understand the makeup of the raw material, so it can be handled and processed appropriately.

While we definitely see our viscometers being used in a wide range of industries and applications, it’s the tremendous amount of innovation and creativity that remains consistent among our customers.

For example, Ice Dragon Cooling, based in South Carolina, USA, uses the ViscoLab 4000 for research and development for the use of nanoparticles in heat transfer fluids. They’ve been working with nanofluids for 10 years, but their latest innovation involves developing a new product for hydronic HVAC systems. HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) is the process of controlling and conditioning an indoor space. A hydronic HVAC system uses water as the primary fluid to transfer energy to maintain a specific indoor temperature.  In buildings with massive hydronic HVAC units – such as universities and military bases – it takes a tremendous amount of energy to heat or cool the water and pump it through the system to achieve the desired indoor temperature.

Ice Dragon is using nanoparticles to thermally enhance the water in the system, to reduce the carbon footprint of the entire process and realized tremendous energy savings, which could be between 5-8% annually. In large HVAC systems, that 5-8% could translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

Nanoparticles, however, increase the viscosity of the water. This is where the ViscoLab 4000 comes into play. Ice Dragon Cooling was looking for a laboratory viscometer that would be accurate and reliable.  They needed a system that would be simple to use and could measure with a small sample size of less than 2 ml.  They looked at several technologies and found the ViscoLab 4000 to be a great fit for their application.

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Ice Dragon has been experimenting with different sizes, shapes, and amounts of nanoparticles, to assess their impact on the viscosity of the water. The hydronic HVAC systems were designed to be used with normal water, and when you insert a liquid that is more viscous, it impacts the efficiency of the unit. The pumps need to work harder and the overall performance of the equipment declines. Even if the pumping is only 1-1.5% of the energy usage in the system, degradation still reduces energy savings over time.

Ice Dragon uses the ViscoLab 4000 to monitor the viscosity of the liquid as they make changes throughout the development process. Their goal is to keep the viscosity as low as possible, while keeping the thermal conductivity as high as possible. This means they must be aware of viscosity changes. The need to have good particle movement for heat transfer, and to make sure they don’t increase the strain on the pump system. These nanoparticle-infused liquids may be in an HVAC unit for as long as 25 years. The liquid needs to be robust, and it needs to be able to stay well mixed to avoid settlement. The ViscoLab 4000 provides the data Ice Dragon requires to ensure a high-quality nanoparticle suspension.

“The Cambridge viscometer is the best on the market. There’s nothing else on the market that touches it. We’ve run this instrument a lot – even 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on occasion,” said Ice Dragon Cooling partner Dr. Dale McCants. “When I wanted to add another range to the system and needed to calibrate it, I worked with CVI’s Ken Mann to take care of it.  He made sure I was getting the quality data I needed.”

Cambridge Viscosity's viscometer technologies are ideal for a wide range of applications. Feel free to reach out to us if you have a question. 

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Tags: viscosity measuring solution, viscosity control, viscosity management, viscometer support

Patrick Riley

Written by Patrick Riley

Vice President of Process Analytics

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