Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles and Process Parameters on Thermal Performance of Flat Plate Solar Collector

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 assistant professor of chemical engineering department, quchan university of technology

2 Department of Chemical Engineering,Faculty of Engineering, Quchan University of Technology, Quchan, Iran

Abstract

Solar energy is the most appropriate choice for human energy supplying. Because of, its renewable and No risk of environmental pollution. Of course, there are problems to convert this form of energy into the others such as low thermal efficiency and how converting it. Flat plate solar collector is one of the most important solar thermal energy absorbers for industrial and household applications. In this research, we investigated the thermal performance of a flat plate solar collector using zinc oxide nanoparticles in water based fluid + ethylene glycol as the operating fluid. The purpose of this study was to improve the thermal performance and how to increase the thermal efficiency of flat plate solar collectors. Initially, experiments were performed in the presence of working fluid 65% water + 35% ethylene glycol without nanoparticles zinc oxide and thermal efficiency was obtained. Then thermal efficiency of solar collector was investigated in the presence of 0.05% and 0.1% volumetric zinc nanoparticles in the flow rate range 1–5 liters per minute. The effect of the nanoparticles and their concentration on the thermal performance of the solar collector were investigated by determining the amount of heat absorbed in the presence of nanofluid relative to the pure base fluid. The use of zinc oxide nanoparticles at 0.05% and 0.1% volumetric fraction resulted in a 4-20% increase in average thermal efficiency and 8-33% in maximum efficiency of flat plate solar collector. Although in nanofluids with higher volumes, about 5-7% was added to the average thermal efficiency of the solar collector, it also increased the sedimentation rate of the nanoparticles in the base fluid.

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Main Subjects

Nashrieh Shimi va Mohandesi Shimi Iran

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 18 October 2020

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