Title: Energy and exergy analyses of flat plate solar collectors with nanofluids containing different size and shape of nanoparticles

Authors: Mohammed Ayaz Uddin; Ahmet Z. Sahin; Bekir Sami Yilbas; Abdullah Al-Sharafi

Addresses: Mechanical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia ' Mechanical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia; K.A.CARE Energy Research and Innovation Center, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia; Center of Research Excellence in Renewable Energy (CoRE-RE), KFUPM, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia ' Mechanical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia; K.A.CARE Energy Research and Innovation Center, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia; Center of Research Excellence in Renewable Energy (CoRE-RE), KFUPM, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia ' Mechanical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia; K.A.CARE Energy Research and Innovation Center, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: The effect of nanoparticle size, shape, and volume concentration upon the flat plate solar collector (FPSC) performance is investigated. The enhancement in efficiency due to volume concentration SiO2/H2O nanofluid was significant whereas the enhancement due to size and shape was marginal. In addition, the paper discusses the effect of the concentration, size and shape of nanoparticles upon the pressure drop, pumping power, exergy destruction and entropy generation. The exergy efficiency is found to increase upon increasing the nanoparticle size and volume concentration. However, the effect due to shape variation on the exergy efficiency is minimal.

Keywords: collector efficiency; entropy generation; exergy destructed; exergy efficiency; flat plate solar collector; FPSC; nanofluid; nanoparticle shape; nanoparticle size; pressure drop; pumping power; thermophysical properties.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2021.113843

International Journal of Exergy, 2021 Vol.34 No.3, pp.282 - 300

Received: 28 Apr 2020
Accepted: 12 Jul 2020

Published online: 31 Mar 2021 *

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