Thermal Challenges in Renewable Energy: Nanofluidic Solutions

Dear Colleagues,

Nanofluid flows inherently involve multiple scales and complex physics. A wide variety of modeling and experimental techniques have already been applied to the investigation of nanofluids from the fundamental and applied viewpoints. Physical understanding and research tools have been considerably developed and further contributions are expected to be made.

In recent years, thermal technology has faced various challenges, including the need to achieve higher heat transfer rates. It happens that the higher temperatures that occur through the combustion of fossil fuels are often not readily obtained with renewable energies. Nanofluids are beneficial to resolve these issues. The basic concept of heat transfer enhancement by nanofluids is now well established, but some important areas still require further investigation in order to apply nanofluids to energy technologies. This involves interactions between the nanoparticles and the base fluid and their subsequent influences upon heat convection. Further, the large-scale utilization of nanofluids in renewable energy technologies remains a largely unexplored area. The former leads to investigations on the modifications of fluid and flow behaviors in nanofluids, while the latter involves studies of nanofluids in solar thermal and geothermal technologies, heat storage and networks, and a wide range of technologies for heat recovery. An ongoing challenge on all of these fronts is the development of accurate yet affordable computational tools that can predict the heat transfer behaviors of nanofluids. This, in turn, requires further experimental examination of nanofluids at the system level, such as those in solar thermal collectors and geothermal boreholes and other large-scale renewable energy systems.

Decarbonization of energy through the transition from fossil fuels to renewables is a tremendous task facing the engineering research community. Thermal energy constitutes a major fraction of the consumed energy in many parts of the world and is a significant contributor to the emission of greenhouse gases. Many countries have recently decided to decarbonize their heat sectors. As a result, carbon-free thermal technologies such as solar thermal, geothermal, heat pumps, heat storage, and heat networks are receiving ever-increasing attention. Central to all of these is the problem of heat transfer.

This Special Issue aims to bring together the latest research findings on heat transfer by nanofluids with a strong emphasis on problems related to renewable energy.

More specifically, modeling and experimental works on the following topics are of immediate interest:

• Machine learning techniques related to potential applications of nanofluids in engineering.
• Analytical and numerical models for the applications of nanofluids.
• The application of novel nanofluids to renewable energy engineering.
• Thermo-hydraulics of nanofluids in renewable energy technologies.
• Techno-economics of nanofluids in renewable energy systems.
• Fouling and clustering of nanoparticles in renewable energy systems.

Further, we welcome contributions on micro-, meso-, and macro-scale modeling approaches to heat transfer in nanofluids and those on novel numerical, experimental, and theoretical techniques pertinent to nanofluids.

Best regards,

Dr. M. M. Bhatti
Prof. Dr. Kambiz Vafai
Dr. Sara I. Abdelsalam
Guest Editors

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• nanofluids
• electro-magneto-hydrodynamics
• porous media
• nanotechnology
• renewable energy engineering
• machine learning techniques
• artificial neural networks (ANNs)