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Influences of black nickel coating thickness on thermal behaviour of flat plate solar collector: performance evaluation

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Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Adapting coating material for copper absorber tubes with fins probably plays a significant role, which should have higher absorptance and lower emissivity. This study used FPC heat transfer augmentation through an absorber tube integrated with black nickel blended with industrial black matt paint and the coating thickness at 0.3, 0.2, and 0.1 μm made via spray pyrolysis. Based on a thermal mathematical model, heat absorption, heat transfer coefficient, and thermal and exergy efficiency of FPC were estimated, and the results were compared with the non-coating FPC. The excellent coating thickness exhibits a peak absorptance (0.98) and emissivity (0.097), leading to improved heat transfer behaviour, specifically 0.1 μm thin film-coated FPC. Hence, the outlet temperature of the working fluid is approximately 96.1 °C, when utilizing a 0.1 μm thin film coating. It represents the highest outlet temperature observed among the coating conditions and non-coating absorber tubes. The exposure of 0.1 µm thin black nickel coated FPC recorded superior heat absorption and heat transfer coefficient values of 1689W and 140.58 W m−2 K−1. Similarly, the average thermal and exergy efficiency is about 74.3% and 54.9%, respectively, by 0.1 μm thin film coating absorber through higher absorptance and lower emissivity (0.097). Moreover, the 0.1 μm thin film coating exhibits the lowest entropy generation of about 0.00065 W K−1. It indicates that, in addition to achieving higher outlet temperatures, the 0.1 μm thin film coating performs more efficiently, minimizing irreversible processes.

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Abbreviations

A c :

Collector area (m−2)

C p :

Specific heat of fluid (J kg−1 K−1)

CuO:

Copper oxide

FPC:

Flat plate collector

F R :

Heat removal factor

I :

Solar radiation (W m−2)

\(\dot{m}\) :

Flow rate (kg s−1)

PV:

Photo-voltaic

Q u :

Heat absorption (W)

Q in :

Energy input (W)

S:

Entropy generation (W K−1)

T amb :

Ambient temperature (K)

T in :

Inlet temperature (K)

T out :

Outlet temperature (K)

T sun :

Sun temperature (5770 K)

U l :

Heat loss coefficient (W m−2 K−1)

XRD:

X-Ray Diffraction

\(\tau\) :

Transmittance

\(\alpha\) :

Absorptivity

∆S :

Change in entropy

η th :

Thermal efficiency (%)

η e :

Exergy efficiency (%)

\({w}_{{\text{x}}}\) :

Uncertainty

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP2024R373), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Funding

The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Automobile Engineering, Karpaga Vinayaga College of Engineering and Technology, Chengalpattu, Tamilnadu, 603308, India

    Ponnuswamy Palanikumar

  2. Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, 11421, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    A. H. Seikh

  3. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, FEIT, University of Technology, Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia

    Md Abul Kalam

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamilnadu, 602105, India

    R. Venkatesh

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  1. Ponnuswamy Palanikumar
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  4. R. Venkatesh
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. The first draft of the manuscript was written by R. Venkatesh, and the individual contributions of all authors are given below. Ponnuswamy Palanikumar involved in formal analysis, A. H. Seikh involved in investigation, methodology, writing, Md Abul Kalam involved in review, editing, writing and language help, R. Venkatesh involved in original draft preparation, supervision, and validation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to R. Venkatesh.

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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. The authors have no competing interests to declare relevant to this article’s content. All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. The authors have no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article.

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This is an observational study. Influences of black nickel coating thickness on thermal behaviour of flat plate solar collector: Performance evaluation; Research Ethics Committee has confirmed that no ethical approval is required.

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Palanikumar, P., Seikh, A.H., Kalam, M.A. et al. Influences of black nickel coating thickness on thermal behaviour of flat plate solar collector: performance evaluation. J Therm Anal Calorim (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-024-13177-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-024-13177-6

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