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Theoretical Energy and Exergy Analysis of Flat Plate Solar Collector with TiO2–Ag/Water Nanocomposite Fluid

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Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Mechanical Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The nanocomposite particles dispersed in fluid, called nanocomposite fluid, have great potential to enhance the thermal performance of heat transfer equipment. Thermal conductivity of such nanofluids is higher than that of mono nanofluid and have higher heat transfer characteristics. In this study, the performance of a flat plate solar collector (FPSC) with a new nanocomposite particle TiO2–Ag-based nanocomposite fluid is assessed for both energy and exergy. Thermal conductivity and viscosity of the TiO2–Ag/water nanocomposite fluid and the TiO2/water nanofluid are measured at different temperatures, and a regression model is developed for 0.1 and 0.2 vol% concentrations in distilled water. The maximum thermal conductivity enhancement is about 10.9% and 18.1% for 0.2 vol% of TiO2/water and TiO2–Ag nanocomposite fluid at 60 °C, respectively. A comparative thermodynamic performance analysis is done for the FPSC using engineering equation solver. It is performed for different mass flow rates, between 0.01 and 0.025 kg/s and reduced temperature between 0 and 0.025 m2K/W. For 0.2 vol% TiO2/water nanofluid and TiO2–Ag/water nanocomposite fluid at 0.02 kg/s, the energy efficiency is enhanced by about 0.5 and 1.27%, while the exergy efficiency is enhanced by about 1.25 and 2.54%, respectively. The usage of nanocomposite fluid in FPSC increases the CO2 mitigation by a maximum of 1.56% compared to the conventional collector.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area (m2)

h w :

Wind loss coefficient (W/m2K)

N :

No. of glasses (–)

h :

Tube side heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K)

\(\beta\) :

Tilt angle (°)

T :

Temperature (K)

\(\varepsilon\) :

Emissivity (–)

U :

Heat loss coefficient (W/m2K)

t :

Thickness (m)

\(F_{{\text{R }}}\) :

Heat removal factor (–)

I :

Solar insolation (W/m2)

\(\eta_{ii}\) :

Exergy efficiency (–)

\(\rho\) :

Density (kg/m3)

\(n_{{\text{t}}}\) :

No. of tubes (–)

Re:

Reynolds number (–)

P :

Pumping Power (W)

C p :

Specific heat capacity (J/kg K)

k :

Thermal conductivity (W/mK)

wc:

Width of the collector (m)

l :

Length of the collector (m)

L :

Length of the tube (m)

\(\delta\) :

Absorber thickness (m)

W :

Tube spacing (m)

\(D_{{\text{o}}}\) :

Outer tube diameter (m)

\(D_{{\text{i}}}\) :

Inner tube diameter (m)

\(\eta_{{{\text{fin}}}}\) :

Fin efficiency (–)

\(\dot{m}\) :

Mass flow rate of the collector (kg/s)

\(\eta_{{i}}\) :

Energy efficiency (–)

\(\Delta P\) :

Pressure drop (Pa)

\(\mu\) :

Dynamic viscosity (Pa s)

\(\left( {\tau \alpha } \right)\) :

Transmittance–absorbance product (–)

Pr:

Prandtl number (–)

v :

Velocity (m/s)

\(\varphi\) :

Volume fraction (–)

t:

Top

b:

Bottom

c:

Collector

f:

Fluid

p:

Plate

g:

Glass

a:

Ambient

nf:

Nanofluid

ncf:

Nanocomposite fluid

w:

Water

o:

Outlet

i:

Inlet

s:

Sun

wall:

Wall

tube:

Tube

m:

Fluid mean

pm:

Plate mean

SDG:

Sustainable development goal

NZEB:

Net-zero emissions building

FPSC:

Flat plate solar collector

EES:

Engineering equation solver

HTC:

Heat transfer coefficient

TCR:

Thermal conductivity ratio

Adj. R 2 :

Adjusted R2

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India

    Idrish A Khan & Valan Arasu Amirtham

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  1. Idrish A Khan
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  2. Valan Arasu Amirtham
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Correspondence to Valan Arasu Amirtham.

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Khan, I.A., Amirtham, V.A. Theoretical Energy and Exergy Analysis of Flat Plate Solar Collector with TiO2–Ag/Water Nanocomposite Fluid. Iran J Sci Technol Trans Mech Eng 47, 921–939 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40997-022-00565-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40997-022-00565-2

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