Performance Evaluation of Flat Plate and Vacuum Tube Solar Collectors by Applying a MWCNT/Fe₃O₄ Binary Nanofluid

Abstract

This study experimentally investigated the performance characteristics of water and MWCNT/Fe3O4 binary nanofluid as a working fluid in a flat plate and vacuum tube solar collectors. As a result, the highest efficiency was 80.3% when 0.005 vol.% MWCNT/0.01 vol.% Fe3O4 binary nanofluid was applied to the flat plate solar collector, which was a 17.6% increase in efficiency, compared to that when water was used. In the case of the vacuum tube solar collector, the highest efficiency was 79.8%, which was 24.9% higher than when water was applied. Besides, when the mass flux of MWCNT/Fe3O4 binary nanofluid was changed from 420 to 598 kg/s·m2, the maximum efficiencies of the flat plate and vacuum tube solar collectors were increased by 7.8% and 8.3%, respectively. When the MWCNT/Fe3O4 binary nanofluid was applied to the vacuum tube solar collector, the efficiency improvement was much more significant, and the high performance could be maintained for wide operating conditions, compared with the flat plate solar collector.

Keywords

• flat plate solar collector (FPSC)
• vacuum tube solar collector (VTSC)
• binary nanofluid
• thermal efficiency
• multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)
• Fe₃O₄ ferrofluid