Experimental evaluation of thermal conductivity and thermogravimetric analysis of Jatropha oil-based titanium nano-cutting fluid.

Abstract

Nanoparticles have several potential applications due to their advantageous properties, which have been identified as the main driving force behind nanofluid research. In this study, Jatropha Oil, extracted from the Jatropha plant seeds, was characterized by investigating the physicochemical properties. Jatropha Oil was used as the base fluid for nanofluid formulation by enhancing it with titanium oxide (TiO2) at 0.1%, 0.15%, and 0.2% volume concentrations. The formulated nanofluid was characterized by evaluating the thermal conductivity and degradation profile (thermogravimetric analysis). The findings revealed that the locally sourced Jatropha Oil has 0.916 Specific gravity, 7.85 mg/100g Acid value, 189.33 mgKOH/g saponification value, 2190C flash point, -7 C pour point, 5.09 pH, 113.4 g/100g of KOH iodine value, and 32 mm2/s viscosity at room temperature. It was also found that the nanoparticle cutting fluid enhanced with TiO2 had a better thermal conductivity at 0.15% concentration than the pure base fluid and other enhanced nanofluid modified with 0.1 and 0.2% TiO2 concentration. In addition, the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential ThermoGravimetric (DTG) results revealed that the pure Jatropha Oil degraded fastest with a broad peak and a more comprehensive degradation temperature range (226.12 - 449.69°C) compared with modified nanofluid with a smaller degradation temperature range (229.11 -438.33 C). Therefore, it was concluded that the nanoparticle cutting fluid modified with TiO2 (0.15% concentration) can be adopted as cutting fluid for machining operations.