Nanofluids have been receiving great attention in recent years due to their potential usage, not only as an enhanced thermophysical heat transfer fluid but also because of their great importance in applications such as drug delivery and oil recovery. Nevertheless, there are some challenges that need to be solved before nanofluids can become commercially acceptable. The main challenges of nanofluids are their stability and operational performance. Nanofluids stability is significantly important in order to maintain their thermophysical properties after fabrication for a long period of time. Therefore, enhancing nanofluids stability and understanding nanofluid behaviour are part of the chain needed to commercialise such type of advanced fluids. In this context, the aim of this article is to summarise the current progress on the study of nanofluids, such as the fabrication procedures, stability evaluation mechanism, stability enhancement procedures, nanofluids thermophysical properties, and current commercialisation challenges. Finally, the article identifies some possible opportunities for future research that can bridge the gap between in-lab research and commercialisation of nanofluids.

Gas turbines (GTEs) are often utilised in harsh environments where the GT components, including compressor vanes and rotor blades, are subject to erosion damage by sand and dust particles. For instance, in a desert environment, the rate of damage made by solid particles erosion (SPE) becomes severe, and therefore results in degradation to the GTE parts, lowering the cycle efficiency, reducing the device lifetime, and increasing the overall cost of the operation. As such, understanding the erosion mechanism caused by solid particles and the effects associated with it is crucial for selecting the appropriate countermeasures and maintaining the system performance. This review paper provides a survey of the available studies on SPE effects on GTEs and surface protective coatings. Firstly, the ductile and brittle SPE mechanism is presented, as well as the ductile-brittle transition region. Then, an in-depth focus on the parameters associated with the SPE, such as particles properties and impingement conditions, is introduced. Furthermore, the existing theoretical models are shown and discussed. Afterwards, erosion resistant coating materials for surface protection and their selection criteria are covered in the review. Finally, the gap in knowledge and future research direction in the field of SPE on GTEs are provided.

Heat exchangers are key components in many of the devices seen in our everyday life. They are employed in many applications such as land vehicles, power plants, marine gas turbines, oil refineries, air-conditioning, and domestic water heating. Their operating mechanism depends on providing a flow of thermal energy between two or more mediums of different temperatures. The thermo-economics considerations of such devices have set the need for developing this equipment further, which is very challenging when taking into account the complexity of the operational conditions and expansion limitation of the technology. For such reasons, this work provides a systematic review of the state-of-the-art heat exchanger technology and the progress towards using nanofluids for enhancing their thermal-hydraulic performance. Firstly, the general operational theory of heat exchangers is presented. Then, an in-depth focus on different types of heat exchangers, plate-frame and plate-fin heat exchangers, is presented. Moreover, an introduction to nanofluids developments, thermophysical properties, and their influence on the thermal-hydraulic performance of heat exchangers are also discussed. Thus, the primary purpose of this work is not only to describe the previously published literature, but also to emphasize the important role of nanofluids and how this category of advanced fluids can significantly increase the thermal efficiency of heat exchangers for possible future applications.