The Use of SiO2/Deionized Water Nanofluid to Improve the Performance of a Solar Parabolic Trough Collector Fitted with Single Axis Tracking
Keywords:
Nano fluids, conductivity, solar radiation, heat transfer, conventional fluidAbstract
The use of Nanofluids can improve the efficiency of solar collectors. The Nanofluid is more conductive than the basic fluid. As a result, it can absorb the most concentrated incident solar radiation while simultaneously improving the heat transfer characteristics of the base fluid. The experimental research was carried out to evaluate the performance of a Parabolic Trough Collector outfitted with single axis tracking and employing deionized water based SiO2 nanofluid as the working fluid. In this experiment, a 0.4 percent volume of SiO2 nanoparticles concentration was used for study, and experiments were performed with varied mass flow rates of SiO2/deionized water nanofluid (0.02kg/s, 0.03kg/s, and 0.04kg/s). The results revealed that employing 0.4 percent volume concentration of SiO2 nanofluid with 0.02kg/s mass flow rate of SiO2/deionized water nanofluid resulted in enhanced performance of a Parabolic Trough Collector. Under outdoor conditions, it is also compared to ordinary fluid.
