Page Header

Performance Evaluation of Solar Parabolic Collector Using Low Volume Fractions of Multi-Walled Carbon-nanotube in Synthetic Engine Oil

Vinayak Talugeri, Veeranna Basawannappa Nasi, Gururaj Lalagi, Nagaraj Basavaraj Pattana

Abstract


The use of nanofluids has been encouraged to advance the efficiency of solar collectors in previous investigations. In this experiment, the performance of solar parabolic collectors in Bangalore, India, was enhanced using low-volume fractions of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and synthetic engine oil as the base fluid. To stabilize and optimize the thermal conductivity of the nanofluids, orthocresol was used as a surfactant and was further treated with magnetic stirring and ultrasonication. The resulting MWCNT-synthetic engine oil nanofluid was generated at three different volume fractions with a 1:1 MWCNT/ Orthocresol ratio and tested at different flow rates between 10:00 and 16:00 according to ASHRAE Standards. The maximum efficiency was achieved at 0.0317 vol% and a discharge of 7 L/min, which was 6.9% higher than that of the synthetic engine oil. This study shows that even at low-volume fractions of nanofluids, effective heat transfer can be achieved in solar parabolic collectors. These findings suggest that MWCNT-synthetic engine oil nanofluids have the potential to significantly advance the performance of solar parabolic collectors.

Keywords



[1] E. Bellos, C. Tzivanidis, and D. Tsimpoukis, “Thermal, hydraulic and exergetic evaluation of a parabolic trough collector operating with thermal oil and molten salt based nanofluids,” Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 156, pp. 388–402, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.enconman. 2017.11.051.

 

[2] T. Sokhansefat, A. B. Kasaeian, and F. Kowsary, “Heat transfer enhancement in parabolic trough collector tube using Al2O3/synthetic oil nanofluid,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 33, pp. 636–644, 2014, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2014.02.028.

 

[3] W. Jamshed and K. S. Nisar, “Computational single‐phase comparative study of a Williamson nanofluid in a parabolic trough solar collector via the Keller box method,” International Journal of Energy Research, vol. 45, no. 7, pp. 10696–10718, 2021, doi: 10.1002/er.6554.

 

[4] M. Abubakr, H. Amein, B. M. Akoush, M. M. El-bakry, and M. A Hassan, “An intuitive framework for optimizing energetic and exergetic performances of parabolic trough solar collectors operating with nanofluids,” Renewable Energy, vol. 157, pp. 130–149, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.04.160.

 

[5] W. Jamshed, S. U. Devi S, R. Safdar, F. Redouane, K. S. Nisar, and M. R. Eid, “Comprehensive analysis on copper-iron (II, III)/oxide-engine oil Casson nanofluid flowing and thermal features in parabolic trough solar collector,” Journal of Taibah University for Science, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 619–636, 2021, doi: 10.1080/ 16583655.2021.1996114.

 

[6] A. Mwesigye and J. P. Meyer, “Optimal thermal and thermodynamic performance of a solar parabolic trough receiver with different nanofluids and at different concentration ratios,” Applied Energy, vol. 193, pp. 393–413, 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.02.064.

 

[7] E. Bellos, C. Tzivanidis, K. A. Antonopoulos, and G. Gkinis, “Thermal enhancement of solar parabolic trough collectors by using nanofluids and converging-diverging absorber tube,” Renewable Energy, vol. 94, pp. 213–222, 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2016.03.062.

 

[8] M. Vahabzadeh, M. Hossein, K. Hong, and Q. Xiong, “CFD study of heat transfer and fl uid fl ow in a parabolic trough solar receiver with internal annular porous structure and synthetic oil-Al2O3 nanofluid,” Renewable Energy, vol. 145, pp. 2598–2614, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2019.08.042.

 

[9] M. S. Liu, M. Ching-Cheng Lin, I. T. Huang, and C. C. Wang, “Enhancement of thermal conductivity with carbon nanotube for nanofluids,” International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 32, no. 9, pp. 1202– 1210, 2005, doi: 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer. 2005.05.005.

 

[10] F. M. Guangul and G. T. Chala, “A comparative study between the seven types of fuel cells,” Applied Science and Engineering Progress, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 185–194, 2020, doi: 10.14416/j.asep.2020.04.007.

 

[11] A. Kumar, R. Kunwer, R. Kumar, and S. Kumar, “Case studies in thermal engineering effect of oval rib parameters on heat transfer enhancement of TiO2/water nanofluid flow through parabolic trough collector,” Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, vol. 55, Mar. 2024, Art. no. 104080, doi: 10.1016/j.csite.2024.104080.

 

[12] A. Y. Al-rabeeah, I. Seres, and I. Farkas, “Results in engineering experimental and numerical investigation of parabolic trough solar collector thermal efficiency enhanced by graphene – Fe3O4/water hybrid nanofluid,” Results in Engineering, vol. 21, Mar. 2024, 2024, Art. no. 101887, doi: 10.1016/j.rineng. 2024.101887.

 

[13] S. Ram, H. Ganesan, V. Saini, and A. Kumar, “Performance assessment of a parabolic trough solar collector using nanofluid and water based on direct absorption,” Renewable Energy, vol. 214, pp. 11–22, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.06.016.

 

[14] S. K. Vishnu and R. Senthil, “Experimental performance evaluation of a solar parabolic dish collector using spiral flow path receiver,” Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 231, 2023, Art. no. 120979, doi: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng. 2023.120979.

 

[15] Q. Alkhalaf, D. Lee, R. Kumar, S. Thapa, A. R. Singh, M. N. Akhtar, M. Asif, and U. Ağbulut, “Experimental investigation of the thermal efficiency of a new cavity receiver design for concentrator solar technology,” Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, vol. 53, 2024, Art. no. 103848, doi: 10.1016/j.csite.2023.103848.

 

[16] S. N. A. Ghani, R. Ul-Haq, and N. F. M. Noor, “Engine oil enhanced performance with hybrid graphene-SWCNT nanomaterials over a Riga curvy surface,” Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, vol. 45, 2023, Art. no. 102902, doi: 10.1016/j.csite.2023.102902.

 

[17] L. Dou, B. Ding, Q. Zhang, G. Kou, and M. Mu, “Numerical investigation on the thermal performance of parabolic trough solar collector with synthetic oil / Cu nanofluids,” Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 227, 2023, Art. no. 120376, doi: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2023.120376.

 

[18] B. Shaker, M. Gholinia, M. Pourfallah, and D. D. Ganji, “CFD analysis of Al2O3 -syltherm oil Nanofluid on parabolic trough solar collector with a new flange-shaped turbulator model,” Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Letters, vol. 12, no. 2, 2022, Art. no. 100323, doi: 10.1016/j.taml.2022.100323.

 

[19] A. A. Alkathiri, W. Jamshed, S. Uma, S. Devi, and M. R. Eid, “Galerkin finite element inspection of thermal distribution of renewable solar energy in presence of binary nanofluid in parabolic trough solar collector,” Alexandria Engineering Journal, vol. 61, no. 12, pp. 11063–11076, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.aej.2022.04.036.

 

[20] S. M. S. Hosseini and M. S. Dehaj, “An experimental study on energetic performance evaluation of a parabolic trough solar collector operating with Al2O3/water and GO/water nanofluids,” Energy, vol. 234, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.energy. 2021.121317.

 

[21] S. S. J. Aravind, P. Baskar, T. T. Baby, R. K. Sabareesh, S. Das, and S. Ramaprabhu, “Investigation of structural stability, dispersion, viscosity, and conductive heat transfer properties of functionalized carbon nanotube based nanofluids,” Journal of Physical Chemistry, vol. 115, no. 34, pp. 16737–16744, 2011, doi: 10.1021/jp201672p.

 

[22] S. U. Ilyas, R. Pendyala, and M. Narahari, “Stability and thermal analysis of MWCNT-thermal oil-based nanofluids,” Colloids Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, vol. 527, pp. 11–22, 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfa. 2017.05.004.

 

[23] B. Sharma, S. K. Sharma, S. M. Gupta, and A. Kumar, “Modified two-step method to prepare long-term stable CNT nanofluids for heat transfer applications,” Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, vol. 43, no. 11, pp. 6155–6163, 2018, doi: 10.1007/s13369-018-3345-5.

 

[24] Babita, S. K. Sharma, and S. M. Gupta, “Synergic effect of SDBS and GA to prepare stable dispersion of CNT in water for industrial heat transfer applications,” Materials Research Express, vol. 5, no. 5, 2018, doi: 10.1088/2053- 1591/aac579.

 

[25] V. Talugeri, V. B. Nasi, and P. B. Nagaraj, “A review on the influence of carbon nanotube parameters in the base fluid to increase heat transfer in the solar collector,” International Journal of Ambient Energy, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 8613–8631, 2022, doi: 10.1080/01430750. 2022.2102069.

 

[26] M. Shaker, E. Birgersson, and A. S. Mujumdar, “Extended Maxwell model for the thermal conductivity of nanofluids that accounts for nonlocal heat transfer,” International Journal of Thermal Sciences, vol. 84, pp. 260–266, 2014, doi: 10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2014.05.010.

 

[27] D. Korres, E. Bellos, and C. Tzivanidis, “Investigation of a nanofluid-based compound parabolic trough solar collector under laminar flow conditions,” Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 149, pp. 366–376, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.12.077.

 

[28] H. P. Garg and J. Prakash, Solari Energy - Fundamentals and Applications. New Delhi, India: Tata McGraw-Hill, 2000, pp. 103–108.

 

[29] S. M. S. Hosseini and M. S. Dehaj, “An experimental study on energetic performance evaluation of a parabolic trough solar collector operating with Al2O3/water and GO/water nanofluids,” Energy, vol. 234, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2021.121317.

 

[30] J. Subramani, P. Sevvel, and S. A. Srinivasan, “Influence of CNT coating on the efficiency of solar parabolic trough collector using Al2O3 nanofluids - A multiple regression approach,” Materials Today: Proceedings, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 1857–1861, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.matpr. 2020.09.047.

 

[31] M. Alsaady, R. Fu, Y. Yan, Z. Liu, S. Wu, and R. Boukhanouf, “An experimental investigation on the effect of ferrofluids on the efficiency of novel parabolic trough solar collector under laminar flow conditions,” Heat Transfer Engineering, vol. 40, no. 9–10, pp. 753–761, 2019, doi: 10.1080/01457632.2018.1442309.

 

[32] J. Subramani, P. K. Nagarajan, O. Mahian, and R. Sathyamurthy, “Efficiency and heat transfer improvements in a parabolic trough solar collector using TiO2 nanofluids under turbulent flow regime,” Renewable Energy, vol. 119, pp. 19–31, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.11.079.

 

[33] L. Chen, H. Xie, Y. Li, and W. Yu, “Applications of cationic gemini surfactant in preparing multi-walled carbon nanotube contained nanofluids,” Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, vol. 330, pp. 176–179, 2008, doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2008.07.047.

 

[34] M. Elmnefi, and W. Al-Khazraji, “Numerical and experimental studies of thermal performance enhancement for parabolic trough solar collector using none-circulated CuO/synthetic oil nanofluid,” International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33, no. 9, pp. 3124–3163, 2023, doi: 10.1108/HFF-11- 2022-0659.

 

[35] V. Talugeri, N. B. Pattana, V. B. Nasi, K. Shahapurkar, M. E. M. Soudagar, T. Ahamad, M. A. Kalam, K. M. Chidanandamurthy, N. M. Mubarak, and R. R. Karri, “Experimental investigation on a solar parabolic collector using water-based multi-walled carbon-nanotube with low volume concentrations,” Scientific Reports, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 1–11, 2023, doi: 10.1038/ s41598-023-34529-6.

Full Text: PDF

DOI: 10.14416/j.asep.2024.06.005

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.