INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEAT AND TECHNOLOGY

Vol.33, No.2, 2015

http://dx.doi.org/10.18280/ijht.330203

THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF NANOFLUID FILLED SOLAR FLAT PLATE

COLLECTOR
Rehena Nasrin* and M. A. Alim

Department of Mathematics, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh.

Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

A numerical study has been conducted to investigate the forced convection through a flat plate solar collector (FPSC). The
water Cu nanofluid is used as the working fluid inside the riser pipe of the solar collector. The governing differential
equations with boundary conditions are solved by Finite Element Method using Galerkins weighted residual scheme. The
computation domain is discretized by triangular element with six nodes. The effects of major system parameters on the
forced convection heat transfer are simulated. These parameters include the the solar irradiation (I) and diameter (D) of the
riser pipe. Comprehensive average Nusselt number, mean temperature, mean velocity, percentage of collector efficiency,
output temperature for both nanofluid and base fluid through the absorber tube are presented as functions of the pertaining
parameters mentioned above. The numerical results show that the highest heat transfer rate is observed for both the highest
I and lowest D. Percentage of collector efficiency enhances for growing I and falling D.

Keywords: Thermal performance, Flat plate solar collector, Finite element method, Water-Cu nanofluid, Solar irradiation.

1. INTRODUCTION plate solar collector was analyzed with one- and two-
dimensional steady-state conduction equations with heat
The flat-plate solar collector is commonly used today for generations. Lambert et al. [7] conducted Enhanced heat
the collection of low temperature solar thermal energy. It is transfer using oscillatory flows in solar collectors. They
used for solar water-heating systems in homes and solar proposed the use of oscillatory laminar flows to enhance the
space heating. Because of the desirable environmental and transfer of heat from solar collectors. The idea was to explore
safety aspects it is widely believed that solar energy should the possibility of transferring the heat collected from a solar
be utilized instead of other alternative energy forms, even device to a storage tank by means of a zeromean oscillating
when the costs involved are slightly higher. Solar collectors fluid contained in a tube.
are key elements in many applications, such as building Selected nanofluids might improve the efficiency of direct
heating systems, solar drying devices, etc. Solar energy has absorption solar thermal collectors. To determine the
the greatest potential of all the sources of renewable energy effectiveness of nanofluids in solar applications, their ability
especially when other sources in the country have depleted. to convert light energy to thermal energy must be known.
The fluids with solid-sized nanoparticles suspended in them That is, their absorption of the solar spectrum must be
are called nanofluids. Applications of nanoparticles in established. Struckmann [8] analyzed flat-plate solar
thermal field are to enhance heat transfer from solar collector where efforts had been made to combine a number
collectors to storage tanks, to improve efficiency of coolants of the most important factors into a single equation and thus
in transformers. formulate a mathematical model which would describe the
Lund [1] analyzed general thermal behavior of parallel- thermal performance of the collector in a computationally
flow flat-plate solar collector absorbers. Nag et al. [2] efficient manner. Azad [9] investigated interconnected heat
analyzed parametric study of parallel flow flat plate solar pipe solar collector. Performance of a prototype of the heat
collector using finite element method. Piao et al. [3] studied pipe solar collector was experimentally examined and the
forced convective heat transfer in cross-corrugated solar air results were compared with those obtained through
heaters. Kolb et al. [4] experimentally studied solar air theoretical analysis. Tyagi et al. [10] investigated Predicted
collector with metal matrix absorber. Tripanagnostopoulos efficiency of a low-temperature nanofluid- based direct
et al. [5] investigated solar collectors with colored absorbers. absorption solar collector. It was observed that the presence
Kazeminejad [6] numerically analyzed two dimensional of nanoparticles increased the absorption of incident
parallel flow flat-plate solar collectors. Temperature radiation by more than nine times over that of pure water.
distribution over the absorber plate of a parallel flow flat- According to the results obtained from this study, under

17
similar operating conditions, the efficiency of a DAC using thermal efficiency and optimization of these solar thermal
nanofluid as the working fluid was found to be up to 10% collectors were addressed and discussed in this work.
higher than that of a flat-plate collector. Generally a direct Sandhu [21] experimentally studied temperature field in
absorption solar collector (DASC) using nanofluids as the flat-plate collector and heat transfer enhancement with the
working fluid performs better than a flat-plate collector. use of insert devices. Various new configurations of the
Much better designed flat-plate collectors might be able to conventional insert devices were tested over a wide range of
match a nanofluid based DASC under certain conditions. Reynolds number (200-8000). Comparison of these devices
Otanicar et al. [11] studied nanofluid-based direct absorption showed that in laminar flow regime, wire mesh proved to be
solar collector. They reported on the experimental results on an effective insert device and enhanced Nusselt number by
solar collectors based on nanofluids made from a variety of 270% while in turbulent flow regime. While in Reynolds
nanoparticles carbon nanotubes, graphite, and silver. They number range 2700-8000, concentric coil insert significantly
demonstrated efficiency improvements of up to 5% in solar increased the heat transfer and an increase of 460% in
thermal collectors by utilizing nanofluids as the absorption Nusselt number was witnessed. Mahian et al. [22] performed
mechanism. In addition the experimental data were a review of the applications of nanofluids in solar energy.
compared with a numerical model of a solar collector with The effects of nanofluids on the performance of solar
direct absorption nanofluids. collectors and solar water heaters from the efficiency,
lvarez et al. [12] studied finite element modelling of a economic and environmental considerations viewpoints and
solar collector. A mathematical model of a serpentine flat- the challenges of using nanofluids in solar energy devices
plate solar collector using finite elements was presented. were discussed. Natarajan & Sathish [23] studied role of
Karanth et al. [13] performed numerical simulation of a solar nanofluids in solar water heater. Heat transfer enhancement
flat plate collector using discrete transfer radiation model in solar devices is one of the key issues of energy saving and
(DTRM)a CFD Approach. Dynamics (CFD) by employing compact designs. The aim of this paper was to analyze and
conjugate heat transfer showed that the heat transfer compare the heat transfer properties of the nanofluids with
simulation due to solar irradiation to the fluid medium, the conventional fluids. Dara et al. [24] conducted evaluation
increased with an increase in the mass flow rate. Also it was of a passive flat-plate solar collector. The research
observed that the absorber plate temperature decreased with investigated the variations of top loss heat transfer coefficient
increase in the mass flow rate. Martn et al. [14] also with absorber plate emittance; and air gap spacing between
analyzed experimental heat transfer research in enhanced the absorber plate and the cover plate. Iordanou [25]
flat-plate solar collectors. To test the enhanced solar collector investigated flat-plate solar collectors for water heating with
and compare with a standard one, an experimental side-by- improved heat Transfer for application in climatic conditions
side solar collector test bed was designed and constructed. of the mediterranean region. The aim of this research project
Enhancement of flat-plate solar collector thermal was to improve the thermal performance of passive flat plate
performance with silver nano-fluid was conducted by solar collectors using a novel cost effective enhanced heat
Polvongsri and Kiatsiriroat [15]. With higher thermal transfer technique. This work focused on the process of
conductivity of the working fluid the solar collector energy conversion from the collector to the working fluid.
performance could be enhanced compared with that of water. This was accomplished by employing an aluminium grid
The solar collector efficiency with the nano-fluid was still placed in the channels of a collector to induce a gradient of
high even the inlet temperature of the working fluid was heat capacitance. The numerical simulations focused on the
increased. thermal and hydrodynamic behavior of the collector.
Taylor et al. [16] analyzed nanofluid optical property Conduction convection radiation processes of a solar
characterization: towards efficient direct absorption solar collector using FEA was performed by Moningi [26].
collectors. Their study compared model predictions to Radiation dominated the other two processes. It being non-
spectroscopic measurements of extinction coefficients over linear phenomena required an iterative procedure to solve
wavelengths that were important for solar energy (0.25 to 2.5 problems analytically, which was quite difficult. So, he tried
m). Modeling of flat-plate solar collector operation in to find the temperature distribution of the solar collector
transient states was conducted by Saleh [17]. This study using FEA. Chabane et al. [27] studied thermal performance
presents a one-dimensional mathematical model for optimization of a flat plate solar air heater. Experimentally
simulating the transient processes which occur in liquid flat- investigates of single pass solar air heater without fins;
plate solar collectors. The proposed model simulated the present the aims to review of designed and analyzed a
complete solar collector system including the flat-plate and thermal efficiency of flat-plate solar air heaters. The received
the storage tank. Amrutkar et al. [18] studied solar flat plate energy and useful energy rates of the solar air heaters were
collector analysis. The objective of their study was to evaluated for various air flow rates were (0.0108, 0.0145,
evaluate the performance of FPC with different geometric 0.0161, 0.0184 and 0.0203 kg.s-1) are investigated. Optimum
absorber configuration. It was expected that with the same values of air mass flow rates were suggested maximizing the
collector space higher thermal efficiency or higher water performance of the solar collector. Nasrin and Alim [28-29]
temperature could be obtained. Karuppa et al. [19] studied Soret and Dufour effects on double diffusive natural
experimentally investigated a new solar flat plate collector. convection using nanofluid with different nanoparticles-
Experiments had been carried out to test the performance of filled solar collector.
both the water heaters under water circulation with a small In the light of above discussions, it is seen that there has
pump and the results were compared. The results showed been a good number of works in the field of heat transfer
that the system could reach satisfactory levels of efficiency. system through a flat plate solar collector. In spite of that
Zambolin [20] theoretically and experimentally performed there is some scope to work with fluid flow, cooling system
solar thermal collector systems and components. Testing of and enhancement of collector efficiency using nanofluid.

18
 In this paper, the thermal performance of a flat plate solar where Tin and Tout are inlet and outlet mean temperature of
collector is studied numerically. The objective of this paper is fluid, respectively.
to present heat transfer system through a solar collector for The maximum possible useful energy gain in a solar
the effect of solar irradiation and diameter of the riser pipe. collector occurs when the whole collector is at the inlet fluid
temperature. The actual useful energy gain (Qusfl), is found
2. MATHEMATICAL MODELING by multiplying the collector heat removal factor (FR) by the
maximum possible useful energy gain. This allows the
If I is the intensity of solar radiation, incident on the rewriting of equation (4):
aperture plane of the solar collector having a collector
surface area of A, then the amount of solar radiation received Qu sfl FR A I h Tin Tamb (7)
by the collector is

Qi I . A (1)

However, a part of this radiation is reflected back to the

sky, another component is absorbed by the glazing and the
rest is transmitted through the glazing and reaches the
absorber plate as short wave radiation. Therefore the
conversion factor indicates the percentage of the solar rays
penetrating the transparent cover of the collector
(transmission) and the percentage being absorbed. Basically,
it is the product of the rate of transmission of the cover ()
and the absorption rate of the absorber ().
Thus Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the solar collector

Qrecv I A (2) Equation (7) is a widely used relationship for measuring

collector energy gain and is generally known as the Hottel-
As the collector absorbs heat its temperature is getting Whillier-Bliss equation. The heat flux per unit area q is
higher than that of the surrounding and heat is lost to the now denoted as
atmosphere by convection and radiation. The rate of heat loss
(Qloss) depends on the collector overall heat transfer Qu sfl
coefficient (h) and the collector temperature q I hTin Tamb (8)
A
Qloss hATcol Tamb (3) A cross section of the system considered in the present
study is shown in Fig. 1. The system consists of a flat plate
Thus, the rate of useful energy extracted by the collector solar collector. The numerical computation is carried on
(Qusfl), expressed as a rate of extraction under steady state taking single riser pipe of FPSC. The glass cover is at the top
conditions, is proportional to the rate of useful energy of the FPSC. It is highly transparent and anti-reflected
absorbed by the collector, less the amount lost by the (called the glazing). The glass top surface is exposed to solar
collector to its surroundings. This is expressed as irradiation. It is made up of borosilicate which has thermal
conductivity of 1.14 W/mK and refractive index of 1.47,
Qu sfl Qrecv Qloss I A hATcol Tamb (4) specific heat of 750 J/kgK and coefficient of sunlight
transmission of 95%. The wavelength of visible light is
where Tcol and Tamb are collector temperature and ambient roughly 700 nm. Thickness of glass cover is 0.005m. There
temperature outside the collector respectively. is an air gap of 0.005m between glass cover and absorber
It is also known that the rate of extraction of heat from the plate. Air density = 1.269 Kg/m3, specific heat = 287.058
collector may be measured by means of the amount of heat J/kgK and thermal conductivity = 0.0243 W/mK. All these
carried away in the fluid passed through it, which is properties of air domain represent air of temperature at 298K.
A dark colored copper absorber plate is under the air gap.
Qusfl mC p Tout Tin (5) Length, width and thickness of the absorber plate are 1m,
0.15m and 0.0005m respectively. Coefficients of heat
absorption and emmision of copper absorber plate are 95%
Equation (4) may be inconvenient because of the difficulty and 5% respectively. The riser pipe has inner diameter 0.01
in defining the collector average temperature. It is m and thickness 0.0005m. The riser tube is also made in
convenient to define a quantity that relates the actual useful copper metal.
energy gain of a collector to the useful gain if the whole The working fluid in the collector is water-based nanofluid
collector surface were at the fluid input temperature. This containing Cu nanoparticles. The nanoparticles are generally
quantity is known as the collector heat removal factor (FR) spherical shaped and diameter is taken as 5 nm. The
and is expressed as: nanofluid is considered as single phase flow and surfactant
analysis is neglected. A, L and D are the surface area of the
mC p Tout Ti n collector, length and diameter of the riser. In the present
FR (6) problem, it can be considered that the flow is considered to
A I h Tin Tamb
be laminar and there is no viscous dissipation. The nanofluid

19
is assumed incompressible. It is taken that water and T
nanoparticles are in thermal equilibrium and no slip occurs at outer surface of riser pipe:0
y
between them. The density of the nanofluid is approximated
by the Boussinesq model. Only steady state case is The above equations are non-dimensionalized by using the
considered. following dimensionless dependent and independent
The computation domain is a fluid passing copper riser variables:
pipe which is attached ultrasonically to the absorber plate. x y u v
The fluid enters from the left inlet and getting heat form X ,Y ,U ,V ,
L L U in U in
solid boundaries and finally exits from the right inlet of the
riser pipe of a flat plate solar collector. The incident p T Tin k f Ta Tin ka
P , , a
radiation is considered to be the incoming solar radiation. f U in 2
qL qL
For the study of the principal behavior of the nanofluid based
FPSC, atmospheric absorption is neglected in this calculation.
Once the intensity distributions are evaluated, the energy Then the non-dimensional governing equations are
balance on the solar collector is performed and the
U V
temperature profile within it is obtained. In order to carry out 0 (14)
these steps, some assumptions are made. X Y

u v U U f P nf 1 2U 2U
0 (9) U V (15)
x y X Y nf X f Re X 2 Y 2

u u p 2u 2u V V f P nf 1 2V 2V
nf u v nf 2 2 (10) U V (16)
x X Y nf Y f Re X 2 Y 2
x y x y

v v p 2v 2v
nf u v nf 2 2 (11) 1 nf 2 2
x y y x y U V 2 2 (17)
X Y RePr f X Y

T T 2T 2T
u v nf 2 2 (12) 2 a 2 a
x y 0 (18)
x y
X Y 2
2

U in L
2Ta 2Ta where Pr f is the Prandtl number, Re is the
2 2 0 (13) f f
x y Reynolds number.
The corresponding boundary conditions take the following
The thermal diffusivity nf knf C p nf form:
at all solid boundaries: U = V = 0
The density nf 1 f s
at the solid-fluid interface: knf ksolid a
The heat capacitance C p nf 1 C p f C p s Y nf Y solid
at the inlet boundary: = 0, U = 1
The viscosity of the nanofluid is considered by the Pak and
at the outlet boundary: convective boundary condition P =
Cho correlation [30]. This correlation is given
0

as nf f 1 39.11 533.9 2 at the top surface of absorber: heat flux
a

kf
The thermal conductivity of Maxwell Garnett (MG) model Y knf

[31] is knf k f

ks 2k f 2 k f ks T
at outer surface of riser pipe: 0
k s 2k f k f k s y
The boundary conditions are: The non-dimensional form of local convective heat
at all solid boundaries: u = v = 0 k
transfer at the top surface is Nu nf .
T Ta k f Y
at the solid-fluid interface: knf ksolid
y nf y solid By integrating the local Nusselt number over the top
heated surface, the average convective heat transfer along the
at the inlet boundary: T Tin , u = uin heated wall of the collector is used by Saleh et al. [32]
at the outlet boundary: convective boundary condition p = 1

0
as Nu Nu dX .
at the top surface of absorber: heat flux 0
T The mean bulk temperature and average sub domain
ka a q I h Tin Tamb velocity of the fluid inside the collector may be written as
y
av dV / V and Vav V dV / V , where V is the
volume of the collector.

20
 A measure of a flat plate collector performance is the 3.2. Thermo-physical properties
collector efficiency () defined as the ratio of the useful
energy gain (Qusfl) to the incident solar energy. The The thermo-physical properties of the nanofluid are taken
instantaneous thermal efficiency of the collector is: from Ogut [22] and given in Table 1.
Table 1. Thermo-physical properties of fluid and
Q FR A I h Tin Tamb nanoparticles
usfl
AI AI
Tin Tamb Physical Properties Fluid phase (Water) Cu
FR FR h
I Cp(J/kgK) 4179 385
(kg/m3) 997 8933
where m is the mass flow rate of the fluid flowing through k (W/mK) 0.613 400
the collector; Cp is the specific heat at constant pressure. 107 (m2/s) 1.47 1163.1

3. NUMERICAL TECHNIQUE 3.3 Grid Independent Test

The Galerkin finite element method Taylor and Hood [33] An extensive mesh testing procedure is conducted to
and Dechaumphai [34] is used to solve the non-dimensional guarantee a grid-independent solution for Pr = 5.8, = 2%,
governing equations along with boundary conditions for the I = 215W/m2 and Re = 480 through a riser pipe of a FPSC.
considered problem. The equation of continuity has been In the present work, four different non-uniform grid systems
used as a constraint due to mass conservation and this are examined with the number of elements within the
restriction may be used to find the pressure distribution. The resolution field: 42,010, 99,832, 1,50,472,1,68,040 and
finite element method of Reddy [35] is used to solve the Eqs. 1,92,548. The numerical scheme is carried out for highly
(19) - (22), where the pressure P is eliminated by a precise key in the average Nusselt number for water-copper
constraint. The continuity equation (19) is automatically nanofluid ( = 2%) as well as base fluid ( = 0%) for the
fulfilled for large values of this constraint. Then the velocity aforesaid elements to develop an understanding of the grid
components (U, V) and temperature () are expanded using a fineness as shown in Table 2. From the fourth and fifth
basis set. The Galerkin finite element technique yields the column in the Table 2 it is observed that there is no
subsequent nonlinear residual equations. Three points significant change in the rate of heat transfer but time
Gaussian quadrature is used to evaluate the integrals in these consuming. So considering the non-uniform grid system of
equations. The non-linear residual equations are solved using 1,68,040 elements is preferred for the computation. This
NewtonRaphson method to determine the coefficients of the element size is taken from extra fine meshing.
expansions. The convergence of solutions is assumed when
the relative error for each variable between consecutive Table 2. Grid test at Pr = 5.8, = 2%, D = 0.01m,
iterations is recorded below the convergence criterion such I = 215W/m2 and Re = 480
n 1 4
that n
10 , where n is the number of iteration
Elements 42,010 99,832 1,40,472 1,68,040 1,92,548
and is a function of U, V and .
Nu
1.87872 1.99127 2.10934 2.14351 2.14378
3.1 Mesh Generation (Nanofluid)

Nu (Base
In the finite element method, the mesh generation is the 1.59326 1.69225 1.81524 1.84333 1.84341
fluid)
technique to subdivide a domain into a set of sub-domains,
called finite elements, control volume, etc. The discrete Time (s) 127.52 308.75 581.11 897.23 1295.31
locations are defined by the numerical grid, at which the
variables are to be calculated. It is basically a discrete
representation of the geometric domain on which the 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
problem is to be solved. The computational domains with
irregular geometries by a collection of finite elements make In this section, numerical results of the average Nusselt
the method a valuable practical tool for the solution of number, mean bulk temperature, mean sub domain velocity,
boundary value problems arising in various fields of percentage of collector efficiency and dimensional outlet
engineering. Fig. 2 displays the finite element mesh of the temperature of the water-copper nanofluid as well as clear
present physical domain. water in a flat plate solar collector are shown graphically for
various values of solar irradiation (I) and dimensionless
inner diameter (D). The considered values of I and D are I =
(200 W/m2, 215 W/m2, 230 W/m2 and 250 W/m2), D (=
0.01m, 0.012m, 0.013m and 0.015m) while the solid volume
fraction of Cu nanoparticle is = 2%. Here, Reynolds
number (Re), Prandtl number (Pr), collector area (A), mass
flow rate per unit area (m) are considered as 480, 5.8, 1.8m2
and 0.0248Kg/s respectively.

Figure 2. Mesh generation of the FPSC

21
4.1 Heat Transfer rate Growing solar radiance and falling inner diameter enhance
the mean velocity of the fluids through the riser pipe of a flat
The Nu-I and Nu-D profiles for Cu/water nanofluid as well plate solar collector.
as base fluid are depicted in Fig. 4(i)-(ii). It is seen from Fig.
3(i) that the average Nusselt number increases with rising
solar irradiation for both type fluids. The rate of heat
transfer enhances 13% and 9% using 2% concentrated
water-copper nanofluid and water respectively for rising
solar irradiation (I) from 200 W/m2 to 250 W/m2 when D =
0.01m.
Fig. 3(ii) shows that Nu devalues slowly with growing
inner diameter (D) of the riser pipe of a flat plate solar
collector. The rate of heat loss for water-Cu nanofluid ( =
(i) (ii)
2%) is found to be lower than the clear water ( = 0%) due
to higher thermal conductivity of solid nanoparticles. Heat
Figure 5. Mean velocity for the effect of (i) I at D = 0.01m
loss rate diminishes by 10% and 15% for nanofluid and base
and (i) D at I = 215 w/m2
fluid respectively at the solar irradiance I = 215W/m2.

(i) (ii)
(i) (ii)
Figure 6. Collector efficiency for the effect of (i) I at D =
Figure 3. Mean Nusselt number for the effect of (i) I at D =
0.01m and (i) D at I = 215 w/m2
0.01m and (i) D at I = 215 w/m2
4.4 Collector efficiency
4.2 Mean bulk temperature
The collector efficiency () is plotted against the solar
Fig. 4(i)-(ii) displays mean temperature (av) along with
irradiation and inner diameter in Fig. 6(i)-(ii). It is observed
the solar radiance and dimensionless inner diameter for both
from Fig. 6(i) that by introducing greater solar irradiation
type of fluids. av rises sequentially for growing I and falling
the collector efficiency increases. More solar irradiance is
D. It is well known that higher values of solar irradiation (I)
able to augment heat transfer system through the riser pipe
indicate higher temperature of fluids. Due to escalating
of a flat plate solar collector. In this scheme water/copper
values of I top and bottom surfaces of the riser pipe become
more heated. As a result fluids can take more heat from hot nanofluid ( = 2%) performs better than clear water ( = 0%).
walls and become hotter. Here base fluid has lower mean Thermal efficiency enhances from 44%-50% for nanofluid
temperature than the water-Cu nanofluid. and 39%-45% for water.
The Fig. 6(ii) shows that the use of small inner diameter
of the riser pipe can improve the efficiency of a flat plate
solar collector. When the non-dimensional inner diameter
increases, the thermal efficiency () of the flat plate solar
collector diminishes moderately. In other words, the heat
extracted from riser pipe by the fluids cannot be increased by
growing D. Thermal efficiency devalues from 45%-35% for
nanofluid and 40%-28% for water.

(i) (ii) 4.5 Outlet temperature

Figure 4. Average temperature for the effect of (i) I at D = Fig. 7(i)-(ii) displays the dimensional temperature (K) of
0.01m and (i) D at I = 215 w/m2 water-Cu nanofluid at the middle height of the riser pipe
with the influences of solar irradiation and dimensionless
4.3 Magnitude of average velocity inner diameter of the riser pipe. From the figure 7(i) it is
observed that the mean output temperature of fluids increases
Magnitude of average velocity vector (Vav) for the effect of for the increasing values of I. The output temperature of
solar irradiation and inner diameter are expressed in the Fig. nanofluid becomes 312K, 313K, 315K, 317K for nanofluid
5(i)-(ii). Vav has notable changes with different values of and 309K, 310K, 311K, 313K for base fluid for I = 200W/m2,
solar radiance as well as inner diameter of riser pipe. Clear 215 W/m2, 230 W/m2 and 250 W/m2 respectively.
water moves freely than solid concentrated nanofluid. Similarly outlet temperature of Cu/water nanofluid
decreases with growing inner diameter (D) of the riser pipe.

22
The output temperature of nanofluid becomes 313K, 312K, 7. A.A. Lambert, S. Cuevas, J.A. del Ro, Enhanced heat
312K and 310K for nanofluid and 310K, 309K, 308K and transfer using oscillatory flows in solar collectors, Solar
307K for base fluid D = 0.01m, 0.012m, 0.013m and 0.15m Energy, vol. 80, pp. 12961302, 2006.
respectively. 8. F. Struckmann, Analysis of a Flat-plate Solar Collector,
Project Report 2008 MVK160 Heat and Mass Transport,
Lund, Sweden, 2008.
9. E. Azad, Interconnected heat pipe solar collector, IJE
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September 2009.
10. H. Tyagi, P. Phelan, R. Prasher, Predicted Efficiency of
a Low-Temperature Nanofluid- Based Direct Absorption
Solar Collector, J. of Solar Energy Engg., vol.
131/041004-1, 2009.
(i) (ii) 11. T.P. Otanicar, P.E. Phelan, R.S. Prasher, G.
Rosengarten, and R.A. Taylor, Nanofluid-based direct
Figure 7. Outlet temperature for the effect of (i) I at D = absorption solar collector, J. of Renew. and Sust. Energy,
0.01m and (i) D at I = 215 w/m2 vol. 2, pp. 033102, 2010.
12. A. lvarez, M.C. Muiz, L.M. Varela, O. Cabeza,
5. CONCLUSION Finite element modelling of a solar collector, Int. Conf.
on Renew. Energies and Power Quality, Granada
The results of the numerical analysis lead to the following (Spain), 2010.
conclusions: 13. K.V. Karanth, M.S. Manjunath, N.Y. Sharma,
(1) The Cu nanoparticles with the highest I and lowest D Numerical simulation of a solar flat plate collector using
are established to be most effective in enhancing discrete transfer radiation model (DTRM)a CFD
performance of heat transfer rate than base fluid. approach, Proc. of the World Congress on Engg., vol III,
(2) Average velocity field increases due to growing I and WCE 2011, London, U.K.
diminishing D. 14. R.H. Martn, A.G. Pinar, J.P. Garca, Experimental heat
(3) Collector efficiency is obtained higher for rising I and transfer research in enhanced flat-plate solar collectors,
falling D. Solar Thermal Applications, World Renew. Energy
(4) Mean temperature devalues for both fluids with Congress-2011, pp. 3844-3851.
lessening solar radiance and rising inner diameter. 15. S. Polvongsri and T. Kiatsiriroat, Enhancement of Flat-
Plate Solar Collector Thermal Performance with Silver
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Nano-fluid, The 2nd TSME Int. Conf. on Mech. Engg.,
Krabi, 2011.
16. R.A. Taylor, P.E. Phelan, T.P. Otanicar, R. Adrian, R.
The present numerical work is done in the Department of Prasher, Nanofluid optical property characterization:
Mathematics, Bangladesh University of Engineering & towards efficient direct absorption solar collectors,
Technology. The research is supported by the Research Nanoscale Research Letters, vol. 6, pp. 225, 2011.
Support & Publication Division, University Grants 17. A.M. Saleh, Modeling of flat-plate solar collector
Commission, Agargaon, Bangladesh. operation in transient states, thesis of Master of Sci. in
Engg., 2012, Purdue University, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
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