An analytical study on energy and exergy of aminichannel-based solar collector using Fe3O4 andMgO/water nanofluids

Flat plate solar collector (FPSC) is one of the essentialsolar devices that can be utilized for heating purposes ineither residential or civil buildings. Its mechanism issimple: solar radiation that passes through one or moretransparent glasses received by the risers’ surfaces andabsorber plate of a FPSC. Concomitant of this period,operating fluid acquires sufficient time to absorb theenergy stored in the risers and absorber of the FPSC. As aresult, outlet temperature of the operating fluid flowswithin risers augments. However, in this paper, toconduct a mathematical investigation, a MATLAB codehas been developed to illuminate the effect of using twodifferent nanoparticles namely Fe3O4 and MgOsuspended within pure base water of a flat plate solarcollector (FPSC) from energy and exergy points of view.Results are being presented for two different mass flowrates, and comparisons are being established for variousconsequential parameters. Considering the attainedoutcomes, it is found that using Fe3O4/water nanofluidsprovides higher thermal efficiency and entropygeneration rate value, whereas exploitation of MgO/waternanofluids creates the lowest thermal efficiency andentropy generation rate value. Moreover, the highestoutlet temperature obtains when Fe3O4/water nanofluidsare used.

Keywords:

Minichannel solar collector , Entropy generation , Nanofluids , Heat transfer