Using NANOFLUIDS IN

SOLAR THERMAL
SYSTEMS

BY
Ali Khalaf Abdul Razzaq
Nano Fluids
A nanofluid is a fluid containing nanometer-sized
particles, called nanoparticles, the nanoparticles used
in nanofluids are typically made of metals, oxides,
carbides, or carbon nanotubes. Common base fluids
include water , ethylene glycol and oil.
 Materials used for nanoparticles and base
fluids:
Nanoparticle materials : Base fluids:
1. Oxide ceramics – Al2O3, 1. Water
CuO 2. Ethylene- or tri-ethylene-
2. Metal carbides – Sic glycols and other coolants
3. Nitrides – AlN, SiN 3. Oil and other lubricants
4. Metals – Al, Cu 4. Bio-fluids
5. Non-metals – Graphite, 5. Polymer solution
carbon nanotubes
6. Layered – Al + Al2O3, Cu +
C
Methods of producing
1-Two-step technique: The two step method starts
with producing nanoparticle by one of the physical
or chemical processes (e.g., evaporation and inert
inert-gas condensation processing), and proceeds
to disperse them into a base fluid; most of the
nanofluids are produced by two step met method.
2-Single-step technique: The single step
simultaneously makes and disperses the
nanoparticles directly into a base fluid; best for
metallic nanofluids.
ZrO2 in water that produce with two Step Cu nanoparticles in ethylene glycol
method produced with One Step method
APPLICATIONS
1- Electronic applications
2- Transportation
3- Industrial cooling applications
4- Nuclear systems cooling
5-Space and defense
6-Medical application
7-Cooling of Microchips
 Solar thermal Applications of Nanofluids
1. Solar collectors are of particular kind of heat exchangers
which absorbs the incoming solar radiation and convert it
into thermal energy.
2. The collected solar thermal energy is carried through a
working fluid (liquid/gas) which could be used for hot water
or space conditioning or may be for thermal storage to use
during cloudy days/night times.
3. In the conventional solar thermal collectors water, glycol and
organic/synthetic oils were used as working fluid.
4. However, these fluids have relatively low thermal
conductivity and thus cannot reach high heat exchange rates
in thermal engineering devices.
5. A way to overcome this barrier is using ultra-fine solid
particles suspended in common fluids to improve their
thermal conductivity
 Efficiency of nanofluid-based solar collectors
• The upper side of this collector is covered by a glass.
• This allows the high frequency radiation entering the
absorber and acts as trap for the low frequency radiation
going out.
• while the lower side is well insulated, so it is adiabatic.
• This insulation prevents the heat loss from observer rear
surface.
• The working fluid is a mixture of water and aluminum
nanoparticles.
 The efficiency of the collector is obtained by the following
equation:
• η =𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 /𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦
• η =ṁ ∗ 𝑐𝑝 ∗ (𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇𝑖𝑛) /𝐴 ∗ 𝐺𝑡
• Where:
• ṁ:is the mass flow rate kg/s
• Cp:is the specific heat co-efficient
• Tout and Tin: are temperatures at outlet and inlet of solar collector,
• A:is the Area of collector(m2)
• Gt:is the available solar energy(W/m2)
 Factors Affecting Efficiency of nano fluid

1. Effect of number of particles

2. Effect of size of particles
3. Effect of type of nano particle used
4. Effect of volume fraction of nanoparticles in base
fluid
Effect of number of particles

As the number of nano particles

increases or the volume fraction of
particles increases as a percentage of
total working fluid volume conductive
nature and there by heat transfer
capacity should increase there by
leading to better efficiency
Effect of type of nano particle used

Working fluids considered:

1. Water with the reflective coating on back
side of the collector
2. Water with a black painted back side of the
collector
3. Water with carbon nanotubes (CNT)
4. Water with graphite nano-particles
5. Water with silver as nano-particles
 Nanofluids application in concentrated
Solar collectors for power production
Concentrated solar collectors produce more
thermal energy compared to flat plate
collectors. So efficiency is superior than that of
flat plate collectors.
This efficiency can be further improved if
nanofluids are used in place of normally used
fluids like terminal oil
 Application of nanofluids in Solar ponds

 Salinity gradient solar ponds are great bodies of water between 2–5
m deep, which could collect solar radiation and store it in the form of
heat. Structure of conventional solar pond is shown below.
 If concentration gradient is not there the continuous water circulation
of water between will cause heat loss. So concentration of lower
section is increased by adding salt (NaCl) there by making it dense,
thus reducing circulation and heat loss.
 Heat energy at temperatures 70-80 °C can be extracted from the
bottom and can be used for applications like dairy heat requirements,
space heating, moisture removal from live stock etc.
 Normally fresh water is used for heat extraction, but at low
temperatures 70-80 °C heat exchange rates are very less and may
cause delay there by heat losses. This can Be improved by using
nanofluids with superior heat exchange rates
 As seen, a nanofluid flows through a heat exchanger
mounted at the bottom of the solar pond to absorb the
heat.
 It expects that nanofluids could enhance the rate of heat
removal from the bottom of the solar pond.
 An experimental setup is proposed in literature to improve
solar pond efficiency by employing nanofluid.
 In this a closed loop consisting of nanofluid transfers heat
energy from solar pond to system in which heat energy is
required. Nonofluid acts as moderator here circulating
between heat exchanger and nanofluid tank.
Challenges
1. High cost
2. Instability and agglomerating
3. Pumping power and pressure drop
4. Erosion and corrosion of components
Thanks