Study of Nanofluid Based Direct Absorption Solar Collector

Abstract

As technology advances finding new sources of energy is getting more and more importance. Solar energy is the most significant source of renewable energy hence researches focus on using the most of it. Solar collectors are now-a-days vastly used to utilize solar energy. Nanofluid based Direct Absorption Solar Collectors (DASC) are introduced for efficient conversion of solar energy. Direct Absorption Solar Collectors are more efficient than conventional solar thermal collectors in terms of thermal performance. However, as a new technology, the nanofluid based DASC’s need more optimization in order to be used on a larger scale. Similarly, nanofluid based solar thermal collectors are studied by many researchers for performance improvement. The stability of nanofluids is a challenge and the performance degradation happens with time. In this thesis, an experimental setup was designed for a Direct Absorption Solar Collector with aluminium oxide nanofluid. Due to COVID 19 pandemic, the experimental setup based study was not possible. So, a numerical study of a simple flat plate solar collector using graphite nanoparticle was carried out. The thermal performance and efficiency of the solar collector was analyzed. Results obtained have been compared with the available literature. It was found that, the efficiency of the collector increases until there is a critical value of the nanoparticle concentration reached. After that, the performance was decreased due to the agglomeration of particles which leads to clogging.