Improving Heat Transfer in Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors by Magnetic Nanofluids

A parabolic trough solar collector(PTSC)converts solar radiation into thermal energy.However,low thermal efficiency of PTSC poses a hindrance to the deployment of solar thermal power plants.Thermal performance of PTSC is enhanced in this study by incorporating magnetic nanoparticles into the working fluid.The circular receiver pipe,with dimensions of 66 mm diameter,2 mm thickness,and 24 m length,is exposed to uniform temperature and velocity conditions.The working fluid,Therminol-66,is supplemented with Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles at concentrations ranging from 1%to 4%.The findings demonstrate that the inclusion of nanoparticles increases the convective heat transfer coefficient(HTC)of the PTSC,with higher nanoparticle volume fractions leading to greater heat transfer but increased pressure drop.The thermal enhancement factor(TEF)of the PTSC is positively affected by the volume fraction of nanoparticles,both with and without a magnetic field.Notably,the scenario with a 4%nanoparticle volume fraction and a magnetic field strength of 250 G exhibits the highest TEF,indicating superior thermal performance.These findings offer potential avenues for improving the efficiency of PTSCs in solar thermal plants by introducing magnetic nanoparticles into the working fluid.

Experiment and numerical simulation on flow and heat transfer in all-glass evacuated tube solar collectors

The experimental study of natural convection in allglass evacuated tube solar collectors is performed through the experimental platform of the solar-assisted fuel cell system.The experimental facility includes solar collectors with different length and diameter tubes, different coating materials, and with / without guide plates, respectively. Threedimensional mathematical models on natural and forced convections in the solar collectors are established and the experimental data is validated by field synergy and entransy principles. The results of natural convection show that the water temperature increases and thermal efficiency decreases gradually with the evacuated tube length. The thermal efficiency increases when absorption rates increase from 0. 95 to 1. 0 and emission rates decrease from 0. 16 to 0. 06. The thermal efficiency of solar collectors is increased after being equipped with the guide plate, which is attributed to the disappearance of the mixed flowand the enhancement of the heat transfer at the bottom of the evacuated tube. The results of forced convertion indicate that the Reynolds, Nusselt and entransy increments of the horizontal double collectors are higher than those of the vertical single collector while the entransy dissipation is lower than that of the vertical single collector. It is concluded that the solar collectors with guide plates are suitable for natural convection while the double horizontal collectors are suitable for forced convection in the thermal field of solar-assisted fuel cell systems with lowand medium temperatures.

Fabrication of Multilayer Optical interference Filter as Colored Glazed Buildings Fa（;ades for Thermal Solar Collectors Using MgF2/SiO2

A simple idea to obtain a desired color that hiding the black color, and the visibility of tubes and corrugations of the metal sheet （absorber） of the thermal solar collectors which is consider the main obstacle to facade integration buildings of solar thermal collectors will be presented in this study by designing a multilayer optical interference filter during RF magnetron sputtering process. This filter work as antireflection coating in the near IR region and also includes a high colored reflectance at a specific wavelength in the visible region, this is to gain an esthetic aspect for the thermal solar collector which can be used as building facades by employing appropriate dielectric materials with high refractive index （H） like SiO2 and low refractive index （L） such as MgF2 which they deposited on glass substrate for quarterwave thickness and for the optical model air//HL//glass.

Developments of solar collectors in China

China has abundant solar energy resource. Solar thermal collectors, particularly all-glass evacuated tubular collectors, have been studied and developed for 30 years, and solar thermal industry has developed rapidly for 15 years. There are various solar thermal systems, with an operation area of around 108 million m2 in 2007. These systems mainly provide domestic hot water, but some other applications are under extensive study and development as well.

Energy and Cost Analysis of Processing Flat Plate Solar Collectors

In this work,a life cycle analysis is accomplished for flat plate solar collectors.The purpose of this investigation is to predict the energy consumption during the manufacturing processes that results in carbon dioxide emissions.Energy consumption and system efficiency enhancement will be studied and predicted.CES EduPack software is used to perform the analysis of the currently commercial system,and the suggested changes are implemented to increase the efficiency and make the comparison.Even though cost analysis is done,the priority of selection is given to the most energy conserving and environmentally friendly alternative.However,if the compared alternatives result in the same energy consumption and CO_(2)emissions,the cost analysis would be a better approach.It can be stated that flat plate solar collectors are sustainable and renewable energy systems that do not produce CO_(2)emissions during their active usage,but the manufacturing processes they undergo during the design contribute to the greenhouse gasses emission.

Solar Collectors of Buildings Facade Based on Aluminum Heat Pipes with Colored Coating

A variety of liquid thermal solar collectors designs used for water heating have been developed by the previous researchers. But the majority of them do not meet the requirements on small weight, easy assembling and installing, versatility, scalability and adaptability of the design, which are particularly important when they are facade integrated. In order to avoid the above mentioned drawbacks of the liquid thermal collectors, the authors propose to apply to them extruded aluminum alloy made heat pipes of originally designed cross-sectional profile with wide fins and longitudinal grooves. Such solar collectors could be a good solution for building facade and roof integration, because they are assembled of several standard and independent, hermetically sealed and light-weight modules, easy mounted and ＂dry＂ connected to the main pipeline. At that, their thermal performances are not worse than of the other known ones made of heavier and more expensive copper with higher thermal conductance, or having entire rigid designs. Some variants of the developed solar collectors shaping of the assembled modules for building facade or roof integration are proposed. Variously colored coatings to the absorbers are developed and made of carbon-siliceous nano-composites by means of sol-gel method. Their optical performances were compared with ＂anodized black＂. It is stated that colored coatings have a good prospect in thermal SCs （solar collectors） adaptation to building facades decoration, but the works on study and upgrade of their performances should be continued.

A Study on the Performances of Solar Air Collectors Having a Hemispherical Dimple on the Absorber Plate

In order to increase the efficiency of solar air collectors,a new variant with a protrusion is proposed in this study,and its performances are analyzed from two points of view,namely,in terms of optics and thermodynamics aspects.By comparing and analyzing the light paths of the protrusion and the dimple,it can be concluded that when sunlight shines on the dimple,it is reflected and absorbed multiple times,whereas for the sunlight shining on the protrusion,there is no secondary reflection or absorption of light.When the lighting area and the properties of the surfaces are the same,the absorption rate of the dimple is 10.3 percentage points higher than that of the protrusion.In the range of Reynolds number from 3000 to 11000,numerical simulations about the effects of the relative height(e/Dh=0.033–0.1)and relative spacing(p/e=4.5–8.5)of protrusions on air heat transfer and flow resistance show that,in terms of comprehensive evaluation coefficient(PF),the best relative height is 0.085,when the relative spacing is 5.A correlation of Nu and f with Re,e/Dh and p/e is obtained by linear regression of the results,in order to provide a useful reference for the design and optimization of this kind of solar air collector.

Thermodynamic Analysis and Optimization of Flat Plate Solar Collector Using TiO_(2)/Water Nanofluid

To research solar energy's efficiency and environmental benefits,the thermal efficiency,exergy,and entropy of solar collectors were calculated.The experiment involved two glass-topped collectors,fluid transfer tubes,and aluminum heat-absorbing plates.Glass wool insulation minimized heat loss.A 0.5% TiO_(2)/Water nanofluid was created using a mechanical and ultrasonic stirrer.Results showed that solar radiation increased thermal efficiency until midday,reaching 48.48% for water and 51.23% for the nanofluid.With increasing mass flow rates from 0.0045 kg/s to 0.02 kg/s,thermal efficiency improved from 16.26% to 47.37% for water and from 20.65% to 48.76% for the nanofluid.Filtered water provided 380 W and 395 W of energy in March and April,while the nanofluid increased it to 395 W and 415 W during these months.Mass flow generated energy,and the Reynolds number raised entropy.The noon exergy efficiency for nanofluids was 50%-55%,compared to 30% for water.At noon,the broken exergy measured 877.53 W for the nanofluid and 880.12 W for water.In Kirkuk,Iraq,the 0.5% TiO_(2)/Water nanofluid outperformed water in solar collectors.

Proposal of a Solar Thermal Power Plant at Low Temperature Using Solar Thermal Collectors

To this day, only two types of solar power plants have been proposed and built: high temperature thermal solar one and photovoltaic one. It is here proposed a new type of solar thermal plant using glass-top flat surface solar collectors, so working at low temperature (i.e., below 100°C). This power plant is aimed at warm countries, i.e., the ones mainly located between -40° and 40° latitude, having available space along their coast. This land based plant, to install on the seashore, is technologically similar to the one used for OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion). This plant, apart from supplying electricity with a much better thermodynamic efficiency than OTEC plants, has the main advantage of providing desalinated water for drinking and irrigation. This plant is designed to generate electricity (and desalinated water) night and day and all year round, by means of hot water storage, with just a variation of the power delivered depending on the season.

An Evaluation to the Performance of Evacuated Tube Solar Heaters for Arid and Hot Areas

Solar energy applications could be the best alternative to the conventional fuels for the purposes of domestic,water and space heating and some industries in the sunny,arid,and hot areas.In the present study,the performance of an evacuated tube solar heater for water heating for months of February and March was experimentally investigated.This was performed in a hot and arid area(Nasiriya City,South of Iraq).A solar heater with ten evacuated tube solar collectors with a capacity of 100 liter was used in the experiments.Each evacuated tube had a length of 1.8m with an outside diameter of 8 cm.It was observed that for the two selected months,water temperature of the solar heater reached a maximum more than 70°C during sunny days with no heat extraction from the tank of the solar heater.Moreover,heat was extracted from the solar collector with four different flowrates 0.5,0.75,1,and 1.25 l/min,respectively.The results showed that temperature of the solar heater behaved differently from the static situation.When the heat extraction begun,there was a gradual and noticeable decrease in the water temperature of the heater.The observed decrease was slight with the lowest flowrate(0.25 l/m)and becomes sharp with the highest flowrate(1.25 l/min).However,water temperature of the solar heater remained higher than 40°C for the investigated flowrates except the case of 1.25 l/min.The results showed that evacuated tube solar heater can work efficiently in arid and hot areas in winter and spring seasons when the conditions of solar radiation are suitable.

An Energy Production System Powered by Solar Heat with Biogas Dry Reforming Reactor and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

In this paper, an energy system consisting of solar collector, biogas dry reforming reactor and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) has been proposed. The heat produced from the concentrating solar collector is used to drive a biogas dry reforming reactor in order to produce H2 as a fuel for SOFC, in such as system. The aim of this study is to clarify the impact of climate data on the performance of solar collector with various sizes/designs. The temperature of heat transfer fluid produced by the solar collector is calculated by adopting the climate data for Nagoya city in Japan in 2021. The amount of H2 produced from the biogas dry reforming reactor and the power generated by SOFC were simulated. The results show the temperature of heat transfer fluid (Tfb) and Tfb ratio (a) based on the length of absorber (dx) = 1 m have a peak near the noon following the trend of solar intensity (I). Results also revealed that a increases with increase in dx. It is found that the differences of Tfb and a between dx = 2 m and dx = 3 m are larger than those between dx = 1 m and dx = 2 m. It is revealed that Tfb and a are higher in spring and summer. dx = 4 m is the optimum length of solar absorber. The amount of H2 produced from the biogas dry reforming reactor as well as the power generated by SOFC is the highest in August, resulting that it is prefer to produce H2 and to generate SOFC in summer.

Program for Solar Water Heating Systems Based on the F-Chart Method

This paper aims at presenting an application developed in Java for optimizing the design of centralized solar water heating systems with forced circulation, based on the f-chart method. The program uses data from the Brazilian Solar Atlas, performance data of flat plate collectors and thermal reservoirs from the standardized tests run within the Brazilian Labeling Program, and values of water consumption of appliances defined by the ABNT. The program finds the inclination of the collector that maximizes the annual solar fraction, or for the winter, and enables the use of arrays in series and parallel collectors. From the investment costs and O ＆ M （operations and maintenance） of solar heating systems, the program carries out economical analysis using classical parameters as net present value, discounted payback and internal rate of return. The program was validated through examples from the book of Duffle ＆ Beckman and also by comparison with the results from a project developed at UFRGS, having obtained good agreement.

Improving performance of flat plate solar collector using nanofluid water/zinc oxide

In this article,the effect of using water/zinc oxide nanofluid as a working fluid on the performance of solar collector is investigated experimentally.The volumetric concentration of nanoparticles is 0.4%,and the particle size is 40 nm,and the mass flow rate of the fluid varies from 1 to 3 kg/min.For this experiment,a device has been prepared with appropriate measuring instruments whose energy source is solar radiation.The solar energy absorbed by the flat plate collector is absorbed by the nanofluid of water/zinc oxide.The nanofluid is pumped to the consumer,a heat exchanger,where it heats the water.The temperature,radiation level,flow rate,and pressure in different parts of the device were measured.The pressure drop and the heat transferred are the most important results of this experimental work.The ASHRAE standard is used to calculate efficiency.The results showed that the use of water/zinc oxide nanofluid increases the collector performance compared to water.For 1 kg/min of mass flow rate,the nanofluids have a 16% increase in efficiency compared to water.From the results,it can be concluded that the choice of optimum mass flow rate in both water and nanofluid cases increases efficiency.

Performance investigation of solar thermal collector with auxiliary heater for space heating

In this paper,the performance of a solar thermal system with a focus on space heating was investigated.A 70 m^(2) detached house was considered in the weather conditions of the city of Tehran,Iran.A thermosyphon solar water heater with a flat plate collector combined with an auxiliary electrical heater supplies the heating demand of the house.The proposed system was modeled and analyzed using TRNSYS software.In this regard,the TRNBuild module was employed for the building load calculation.The model has been simulated for one year of operation.The effects of the solar collector’s surface area and storage volume were assessed.The results show that for a solar collector with a 15 m^(2) surface area,the solar fraction is 0.29 in January,during which the solar radiation is the lowest.Using solar collectors of10 m^(2) and 5 m^(2) surface areas,the solar fraction falls to 0.23 and 0.14,respectively in January.Besides,two cases of 150 L and 300 L storage tanks are taken into account.Eventually,it is found that using a 15 m^(2) solar collector and a 150 L storage tank can appropriately provide the building’ s heating demand taking the thermal performance and economic aspects into consideration.

Solar Desalination with Latent Heat Storage Materials and Solar Collector

Availability of clean water is going to become one of biggest demands of the country. Even though there arc various technologies available for purification of water harnessing solar energy fits the purpose for future problems. Distillation is one of many processes available for water purification, and solar energy is one of several forms of heat energy that can be used to energize this process. In this review a study is made to enhance the productivity of the solar stills by connecting solar still with latent heat storage and solar air heater in series and other factors like improving evaporation rate by maintaining Low depth, more exposure area, heat addition by solar collector and presence of latent heat storage material, which is a paraffin wax as a integral part of still. Latent heat storage is one of the most efficient ways of storing thermal energy. Unlike the sensible heat storage method, the latent heat storage method provides much higher storage density, with a smaller temperature difference between storing and releasing heat. Further augmentation of the yield by scraps, pebble, and sand are added.

Performance Investigation of the Solar Chimney Power Plants Heater Case Study in Aswan, Egypt

Solar collector is a thermal device that uses the heated air in the power generation and many engineering applications. The purpose of the present work is to study the performance and temperature distribution for the solar collector which uses heated air in solar chimney power generation that it consist of three parts, a turbine-generator unit which is used in the generation of electric energy, and cylindrical chimney is fixed vertically and finally a solar collector under the climatic conditions of Egypt-Aswan is studied. This site is specified as the hottest site because the nearest of this location from the Tropic of cancer. Experiments are performed in ten summer days of May and June 2015 with different solar radiations and clarity of the sky. Hourly values of global solar radiation and some meteorological data (temperature, pressure, velocity, etc.) for measuring days are obtained by measuring devices. Inlet and outlet temperatures of air from a solar collector and velocity at junction region. In this work, attempt has been made to present the effect of environmental factors such as ambient temperature, the clarity of the sky and solar radiation on the performance of solar collector. The temperature of the base and the cover of the solar collector, the variation of solar radiation, solar collector efficiency, heat transfer coefficient, the velocity at the junction region between the chimney base, the outlet of the solar collector and temperature distribution along the air heater are discussed. A prediction for the results of the solar collector were performed by using developed theoretical model was made by this study which is based on the previous works. The numerical study has used a commercial code CFX, ANSYS 16.1 to simulate the flow through the collector. The study show that the outlet air temperatures from the solar collector and the velocity at the junction are depending on the climate condition such as ambient temperature and solar radiation, the differences in air temperature at the solar collector ranging between 8° - 24°. It is concluded that the theoretical model is basically valid for the system under study, and theCFD simulation can be used conveniently to predict the performance of the system, the comparison between them and experimental result shows a good agreement.

A Novel Solar Driven Micro-CliP System： A State of the Art Review

The state-of-the-art solar power system technologies are presented. Various methods of capturing solar energy using solar collectors such as parabolic trough collectors and dish collectors are reviewed. Combined heat and power （CHP） systems driven by concentrating solar absorbers and supplemented by biomass boilers are proving to be the most promising methods of domestic power generation, μCHP systems eliminate losses associated with power distribution and transmission opposed to the large scale power generation methods. The systems can utilize about 75% of solar energy to provide electric and thermal energy direct to end users. The driving potential behind μCHP systems is the thermal efficiency the systems can achieve and their market significance. Despite huge potential market for μCHP systems, the systems are yet to be seen available in commercial market. Hence the authors of this paper are currently developing such type of CHP system with electricity production being of prime importance.

Investigating Two Configurations of a Heat Exchanger in an Indirect Heating Integrated Collector Storage Solar Water Heating System

Due to the environmental impact of energy usage and increased price of fusel fuel, consumers need to be encouraged to use renewable energy sources. The IHICSSWHS （indirect heating integrated collector storage solar water heater system） is one of the most economical systems. It incorporates the collection of a solar energy component and a hot water storage component in one unit. The objective of this study was to investigate ways to enhance the thermal performance of the system. Two configurations of the system were studied： system with double row HX （heat exchanger） and tube length of 16.2 m, and system with single row HX and tube length of 8.1 m and 10.8 m. The service water tube inside diameter was also varied to 10.7 mm and 17.1 mm The steady state continuity, momentum and energy equations were numerically solved, using FLUENT software. A standard k-w turbulent model and surface-to-surface radiation model were used. The result showed that the system of 10.8 m tube length and single row HX provided higher outlet temperature than the system of 16.2 m and double row HX. Therefore, a significant reduction in cost and power usage can be achieved by using a single row HX.

Enhanced efficiency in Concentrated Parabolic Solar Collector(CPSC) with a porous absorber tube filled with metal nanoparticle suspension

In this study, effects of different nanoparticles and porosity of absorber tube on the performance of a Concentrating Parabolic Solar Collector(CPSC) were investigated. A section of porous-filled absorber tube was modeled as a semi-circular cavity under the solar radiation which is filled by nanofluids and the governing equations were solved by FlexPDE numerical software. The effect of four physical parameters, nanoparticles type, nanoparticles volume fraction(φ), Darcy number(Da) and Rayleigh number(Ra), on the Nusselt number(Nu) was discussed. It turns out that Cu nanoparticle is the most suitable one for such solar collectors, compared to the commonly used Fe_3O_4, Al_2O_3, TiO_2.With the increased addition of Cu nanoparticles all the parameters φ, Da and Ra shows a significant increase against the Nu, indicates the enhanced heat transfer in such cases. As a result, low concentration of Cu nanoparticle suspension combined with porous matrix was supposed to be beneficial for the performance enhancement of concentrating parabolic solar collector.

Highly efficient energy harvest via external rotating magnetic field for oil based nanofluid direct absorption solar collector

Nanofluids based direct absorption solar collectors(DASCs) are considered as the important alternative for further improve the utilization of solar energy. However the low-quality energy and aggregation of nanoparticles obstructs their large-scale application. In this work, a new method of using magnetic nanofluids in DASCs is proposed. By this method, not only high-quality energy is got as well as the problems of blockage and corrosion in heat exchanger are well avoided. The result shows that the maximum temperature can reach 98℃ under 3 solar irradiations and the photothermal conversion efficiency can be further increased by 12.8% when the concentration is 500 ppm after adding an external rotating magnetic field. The highest viscosity of working fluid reduced by 21% when the concentration is 500 ppm at 95℃ after separating the Fe_(3)O_(4)@C nanoparticles from the nanofluids via magnetic separation technology. Meanwhile, the obtained pure base liquids with high temperature flow to heat exchanger, which also reduces the flow resistance in pipeline and avoids the problems such as blockage and corrosion in heat exchanger. This research promotes a new way for the efficient utilization of solar energy.