Variable viscosity and activation energy aspects in convection heat transfer over gravity driven solar collector plate for thermal energy storage

Abstract

Abstract Variable viscosity, activation energy and microgravity effects on Darcy nanofluid for the thermal performance improvement in thermal energy storage systems through stretching flat plate solar collector is the focus of this research. Thermal energy storage (TES) can be improved though solar collectors, phase change materials and photovoltaic cells using nanofluid in the base liquid. To increase the reaction rate in nanoparticles, the activation energy and solar radiations are used for the efficiency of TES. The viscosity of nanofluid improves the heat and mass transmission. Due to solar radiations, nanofluid plays prominent role in TES applications such as heat exchangers, electronic cooling devices and solar power generation through solar plate collector. Solar energy based mathematical model is developed to execute the frequency of oscillating heat transfer in TES numerically. Primitive and Stokes coefficients are used for feasible programming. Finite difference analysis is performed to display oscillatory thermal energy using Gaussian-elimination matrix scheme. Steady velocity, surface temperature and concentrations are plotted and utilized in oscillatory formula to perform oscillatory skin friction, oscillatory heat transfer and oscillatory mass transfer along π⁄4 angle. Fluid velocity enhances but temperature and concentration variation decreases as viscosity decreases. High amplitude in velocity, temperature and concentration is sketched as activation energy and microgravity increases. Steady heat and mass transmission enhances as thermophoretic and Brownian motion enhances. Amplitude and frequency of oscillations in heat transport, skin friction and mass transport enhances as Prandtl and Schmidt component enhances. In validation of results, the 0.00064% percentage error for heat transport and 0.00102% percentage error for mass transmission are deduced.

Keywords

• Variable viscosity
• Activation energy
• Microgravity
• Stretching solar plate collector
• Oscillatory heat transfer
• Nonlinear solar radiations