ABSTRACT
The importance of the characterization of fuel has become very important for any practical application today. The current work involves the measurement of the thermo physical properties of Refined Kerosene and examining their behaviour with alumina nano particles. The particle size of alumina ranges from 32 nm–50 nm from the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis. Low volume fraction 0.01% and 0.05% were used for this study. The parameters studied were thermal conductivity, viscosity, surface tension, density and specific heat. The study was conducted at different range of temperatures (25–60°C). Oleic acid was used as the surfactant. The conductivity of the refined kerosene alumina nanofluid increased with an increase in temperature and volume concentration. An enhancement of 13.3% in conductivity was observed with a temperature of 55°C for a volume fraction of 0.05%. The viscosity of the refined kerosene decreased with increase in temperature. An average increase of 12.6% in the viscosity of refined kerosene alumina nanoparticles has been noted for a volume fraction of 0.05% as compared to the refined kerosene. The surface tension of the refined kerosene alumina nanofluid decreased with an increase in temperature and decrease in concentration. An enhancement of 5.9% in surface tension has been noted for volume fraction of 0.05% as compared to base kerosene at the same temperature. Changes were observed in density and specific heat. The results prove that addition of Alumina nanoparticles intensifies the base hydrocarbon fluid.
