Experimental study on synergistic enhancement of thermal performance of a closed two-phase thermosyphon by a TiO2 nanofluid doped with Al2O3

Abstract

The heat transfer performance of two-phase closed thermosyphon solar collectors (TPCTs) can be improved by adding nanoparticles to the conventional working fluid, but it is necessary to ensure good rheological properties while improving the heat transfer performance. Therefore, spherical (TiO2) nanoparticles with good rheological properties and rod-shaped (Al2O3) nanoparticles with high thermal conductivity were mixed and applied to the TPCT. First, the effects of individual factors such as the concentration of nanoparticles and the operating parameters on the thermal performance of the TPCT were investigated and a regression analysis was performed. Then, the joint effect of inclination angle and filling ratio on the thermal performance of TPCT was further investigated by orthogonal experiment. The results show that doping TiO2 with Al2O3 can further improve the thermal performance of TPCT. For the volume concentration of 0.6% of nanoparticles, filling ratio of 50% and inclination angle of 80°, the best heat transfer performance of TPCT was achieved. Compared with the deionized water (DW), the thermal resistance of the single (TiO2–H2O) and hybrid (Al2O3+TiO2–H2O) nanofluid TPCT is reduced by 10.7% and 13.4%, the thermal efficiency is increased by 11.0% and 13.7%, and the equivalent heat transfer coefficient is increased by 16.2% and 18.7%, respectively.

Keywords

• Two-phase closed thermosyphon
• Hybrid nanofluid
• Inclination angle
• Filling ratio
• Thermal resistance