Performance Evaluation of a Direct Absorption Collector for Solar Thermal Energy Conversion

Abdul Sattar, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Amjad, Muhammad A. Saeed, Saad Nawaz, M.A. Mujtaba, Saqib Anwar, Ahmed M. El-Sherbeeny, Manzoore Elahi M. Soudagar, Enio P. Bandarra Filho, Qasim Ali, Muhammad Imran and Alberto Pettinau
Additional contact information
Abdul Sattar: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, New Campus-KSK 54800, Pakistan
Muhammad Farooq: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, New Campus-KSK 54800, Pakistan
Muhammad Amjad: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, New Campus-KSK 54800, Pakistan
Muhammad A. Saeed: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Faisalabad Campus 54800, Pakistan
Saad Nawaz: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, New Campus-KSK 54800, Pakistan
M.A. Mujtaba: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, New Campus-KSK 54800, Pakistan
Saqib Anwar: Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia
Ahmed M. El-Sherbeeny: Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia
Manzoore Elahi M. Soudagar: Centre for Energy Science, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Enio P. Bandarra Filho: School of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlandia (UFU), Uberlandia 38408-100, Brazil
Qasim Ali: Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, University of Sargodha, Sargodha 40100, Pakistan
Muhammad Imran: Department of Mechanical Engineering & Design, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Alberto Pettinau: Sotacarbo S.p.A., Grande Miniera di Serbariu, 09013 Carbonia, Italy

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-16

Abstract: The solar absorption efficiency of water as a base-fluid can be significantly improved by suspending nanoparticles of various materials in it. This experimental work presents the photo thermal performance of water-based nano-fluids of graphene oxide (GO), zinc oxide (ZnO), copper oxide (CuO), and their hybrids under natural solar flux for the first time. Nanofluid samples were prepared by the two-step method and the photothermal performance of these nanofluid samples was conducted under natural solar flux in a particle concentration range from 0.0004 wt % to 0.0012 wt %. The photothermal efficiency of water-based 0.0012 wt % GO nanofluid was 46.6% greater than that of the other nanofluids used. This increased photothermal performance of GO nanofluid was associated with its good stability, high absorptivity, and high thermal conductivity. Thus, pure graphene oxide (GO) based nanofluid is a potential candidate for direct absorption solar collection to be used in different solar thermal energy conversion applications.

Keywords: solar energy; hybrid nanofluid; direct solar absorption; photo thermal performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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