Thermal Transport Effects of h-BN 2D-Nanosheet Reinforced Fluids: A Molecular Dynamics and Experimental Analysis

Nanostructures reinforcing conventional fluids can exhibit superb thermal transport performance, providing an attractive alternative as coolants that possess low dielectric performance and high thermal conductivity in electrical applications. In this research, a theoretical analysis through Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations, is performed to evaluate the thermal conductivity improvement of 2D hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanosheets homogeneously dispersed within conventional mineral oil (MO) for application as a cooling fluid in electrical devices and equipment, such as high voltage power systems. The thermal conductivities at various h-BN filler fractions and the effect of varying temperature is computed using equilibrium Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations followed by the application of the Green-Kubo auto correlation function. The Lennard – Jones potentials and simple harmonic oscillation potentials are used as the intermolecular potentials to appropriately describe the various atomic and molecular interactions in the boron nitride suspension. These results are benchmarked with experimental measurements using the transient hot-wire (THW) technique. The results indicate that the predicted effective thermal conductivity (keff) can be applied to tailor-make nanoparticle suspensions to required thermal management applications.