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Experimental and Numerical Evaluation of Thermal Performance of Parabolic Solar Collector Using Water/Al2O3 Nano-fluid: A Case Study

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Abstract

Energy demand keeps growing all over the world and is contributing to climate change. So, fossil fuels must be replaced by renewable energies. Solar energy is the most accessible energy in Iran as well as in many other countries. Parabolic solar collectors appear to be a very promising technology in solar energy absorption. Meanwhile, nano-fluids are known to improve the heat transfer capabilities in comparison with ordinary pure fluids. In this work, an experimental study was applied to solar collectors using water/Al2O3 nano-fluid located in a renewable energy site of Islamic Azad university of Khomenishahr branch followed by numerical simulations. Experimental tests were conducted for 2, 3, and 4 L·min−1 flow rates with pure water and 0.1 %, 0.2 %, and 0.3 % volume fraction of nanoparticles, respectively, with the results validating the numerical simulations. The results revealed that reductions in flow rate and elevations in volume fraction led to increased outlet temperature of solar collector, inlet and outlet temperature difference in collector, tank and radiator, and improved solar collector efficiency. Also, heat transfer coefficient rose with augmenting the flow rate and volume fraction.

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Abbreviations

A:

Surface area (m2)

\(Q\) :

Heat transfer (J)

\(D\) :

Diameter (m)

\(I\) :

Incidence solar flux (w·m−2)

Re :

Reynolds number

\(S_{m}\) :

Energy generation (w·m−3)

\(U\) :

Velocity vector

\(T\) :

Temperature (\(^\circ C\))

\(f\) :

Friction factor

\(g\) :

Gravity (m·s−2)

\(h\) :

Heat transfer coefficient (w·m−2·k−1)

\(n\) :

Refraction coefficient

\(P\) :

Pressure (Pa)

\(Pr\) :

Prandtl number

\(c_{p}\) :

Specific heat (J·kg−1·k−1)

\(r\) :

Position vector

\(s\) :

Path duration

\(\vec{s}\) :

Direction vector

\(s^{\prime}\) :

Distribution direction vector

\(u_{y}\) :

Velocity component y direction (m·s−1)

\(u_{x}\) :

Velocity component x direction (m·s−1)

\(t\) :

Time (s)

\(in\) :

Inlet parameters

\(out\) :

Outlet parameters

\(np\) :

Nanoparticle

\(bf\) :

Base fluid

\(Q^{,}\) :

State function

\(\tau\) :

Stress tensor

\(\alpha\) :

Absorption coefficient

\(\sigma\) :

Stefan–Boltzmann constant 5.670 367 × 10−8 (kg·s−3·k−4)

\(\sigma_{s}\) :

Scattering coefficient

\(\rho\) :

Density (kg·m−3)

\(\eta\) :

Collector efficiency

\(\varOmega\) :

Solid angel

\(\mu\) :

Dynamic viscosity (kg·m−1·s−1)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, Khomeinishahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, 8418148499, Iran

    Shahin Nayerdinzadeh, Milad Babadi Soultanzadeh, Mojtaba Haratian & Ashkan Zamanimehr

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  1. Shahin Nayerdinzadeh
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  2. Milad Babadi Soultanzadeh
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  3. Mojtaba Haratian
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  4. Ashkan Zamanimehr
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Correspondence to Milad Babadi Soultanzadeh.

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Nayerdinzadeh, S., Babadi Soultanzadeh, M., Haratian, M. et al. Experimental and Numerical Evaluation of Thermal Performance of Parabolic Solar Collector Using Water/Al2O3 Nano-fluid: A Case Study. Int J Thermophys 41, 59 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-020-02638-3

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