Experimental investigation of nucleate pool boiling heat transfer enhancement of TiO2-water based nanofluids

•A circular copper plate tested with pure water and nanofluids for nucleate pool boiling.•On average, 15% TiO2 and 12% TiO2 nanofluids showed 2.22 and 1.89 heat flux enhancements.•15% TiO2 nanofluid gave 13% higher heat flux compared with heat flux of 12% TiO2 nanofluid.•On average, 15% TiO2 and 12% TiO2 nanofluids showed about 1.38 and 1.24 enhancements in HTC.•15% TiO2 nanofluid, on average, showed 11% higher HTC compared with 12% TiO2 nanofluid. High heat flux at reduced wall super heat temperature difference is a major concern of researcher in the area of pool boiling heat transfer. One of the techniques is the use of nanoparticles in base fluid which provides high heat flux at relatively low super heat value. Current investigation concentrates on the impact of TiO2-water based nanofluids on the wall super heat, boiling heat transfer coefficient, and heat flux at atmospheric pressure. Experimental setup was validated by nucleate pool boiling of distilled water and by retracing the Pioro correlation. Two different concentrations of 12% and 15% by weight of TiO2 in water as base fluid were tested and on average, enhancements in boiling heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K) were found to be 1.38 and 1.24 for 15% TiO2 and 12% TiO2 nanofluids respectively, when compared to the results of distilled water.