Abstract Experimental investigation was conducted on the thermal performance and pressure drop of a convective cooling loop working with ZnO aqueous nanofluids. The loop was used to cool a flat heater connected to an AC autotransformer. Influence of different operating parameters, such as fluid flow rate and mass concentration of nanofluid on surface temperature of heater, pressure drop, friction factor and overall heat transfer coefficient was investigated and briefly discussed. Results of this study showed that, despite a penalty for pressure drop, ZnO/water nanofluid was a promising coolant for cooling the micro-electronic devices and chipsets. It was also found that there is an optimum for concentration of nanofluid so that the heat transfer coefficient is maximum, which was wt. % = 0.3 for ZnO/water used in this research. In addition, presence of nanoparticles enhanced the friction factor and pressure drop as well; however, it is not very significant in comparison with those of registered for the base fluid.