A nanofluid added to the chillers supplying chilled water to a district cooling plant in Abu Dhabi is reported to have increased the plant’s efficiency by 13.6%. HT Materials Science (HTMS), a sustainable materials technology company based in Ireland and Italy, conducted the trial of its heat transfer fluid, Maxwell, with district cooling company Tabreed, which operates 89 district cooling plants.

Maxwell is a drop-in, nanofluid additive comprised of submicron aluminum oxide particles suspended in water or water/glycol. According to HTMS, it can increase energy efficiency by up to 15% in most commercial and industrial HVAC systems.

Cooling plant efficiency increased by 13.6% with addition of the nanofluid. Source: HTMS

The trial was recently completed at a Tabreed district cooling plant in Khalifah City, Abu Dhabi. The plant supplies chilled water to a 55,742 m² educational campus. In addition to increasing chiller efficiency, use of the nanofluid additive enhanced overall plant efficiency by 9.0%, compared with the same period in 2022.

Applied across Tabreed’s current portfolio of district cooling plants, the nanofluid could prevent approximately 200,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually and save 335 million kWh of electricity.