Resumen de Fluid thinking
Keeping machinery cool is a hugely expensive business, in the power industry, in motor vehicles, and in electronics of all kinds. Improvements of just a few percent could potentially save billions. Here, Sanderson discusses the remarkable discovery of adding nanometer-sized particles to a liquid that makes it far more effective at carrying away heat than anyone expected. This liquid is described as "nanofluids." It turns out that nanoparticles can help keep the heat flowing. Studies show they seem to be deposited onto the heater surface, and somehow this alters the interactions between the surface and the surrounding liquid. The exact mechanism is still a mystery but the result is clear: nanofluids raise the critical heat flux.
