For reference purpose

1. PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OF A PARABOLIC
SOLAR CONCENTRATOR BY USING Al2O3 - WATER
NANO FLUID
Guided by
Dr Baiju V
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering
Presented by
Nikhil J (837)
Nithin Babu (838)
Rahul S (843)
Rony Chacko Thomas(847)

2. CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• LITERATURE REVIEW
• OBJECTIVES
• SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
• DESIGN OF PARABOLIC SOLAR COLLECTOR
• FABRICATION OF EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM
• THERMO-PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF NANOFLUIDS
• NANOFLUID PREPERATION
• EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
• OBSERVATIONS

3. • RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
• NUMERICAL ANALYSIS BY USING ANSYS
• MAIN CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE WORK
• SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK
• APPLICATIONS
• REFERENCES

4. INTRODUCTION
• Civilized society is completely reliant up on fossil fuels for
nearly every aspect of its existence.
• At some point, fossil fuels are going to either be gone or they
are going to become too expensive to realistically use. This
makes us think about renewable energy sources.
• Solar energy is the greatest renewable resource.
• Solar energy can be harnessed by using solar collectors.
• But it is important to increase the efficiency of collectors. This
can be done by using nanofluid.

5. LITERATURE REVIEW
AUTHOR
NAME
YEAR TITLE NAME DISCUSSION /
RESULT
Changwei-Pang
et.al
2011 The thermal
conductivity of
methanol based
nanofluids with AL2O₃
and SiO2
Study about the variation
of thermal conductivity
Adi- T- utomo
et.al
2012 Thermal conductivity
and heat transfer
coeficients of water
based alumina and
titanium nanofluids
Study about the variation
of heat transfer and
thermal conductivity while
using nanofluids and
water
Visinee
Trisakri,somohai
Wongwises et.al
2003 Critical review of heat
transfer through
nanofluids
Heat transfer through
nanofluids
5

6. Contd…
AUTHOR
NAME
YEAR TITLE NAME DISCUSSION /
RESULT
Sarit kumar Das
et.al
2008 Investigated the
increase of thermal
conductivity with
increase of nanofluids
with water
Variation of Thermal
conductivity while using
nanofluid
M. Misale et.al 2012 Experiments with
Al2O3 nanofluid in a
natural circulation
loop
Study about the variation
of temperature in the tube
6

7. OBJECTIVES
• To design and fabricate a parabolic solar collector.
• To conduct natural convection experiment on parabolic solar
collector by using water and nanofluid as working fluid.
• To prepare nanofluid at different concentrations.
• To conduct the experiment using nanofluid at different
concentration.
• To compare the results obtained with water and nanofluid at
different concentrations.
• To carry out analysis using Ansys.
• Compare the experimental results with result obtained with
Ansys.

8. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

16. DESIGN OF SOLAR COLLECTOR
• Collector geometry
W- width
ø - rim angle 1
1 – glass tube 2
2 – copper tube ø
3- concentrator 3
W

17. Do - outer dia of absorber tube
Di - inner dia of absorber tube
Dco - outer dia of glass tube
Dci -inner dia of glass tube
copper tube
• glass tube

18. • Concentration ratio (C)
C = =
W – width of concentrator
Do – outer dia of copper tube
• Focal length (f)
tan(ø/2) = W/4f

19. • EQUATION FOR HEATLOSS
hpc - heat transfer coefficient of air between absorber tube and
glass
Tc - Temperature of glass cover
Tpm – Average temperature of the absorber tube
hw - heat transfer coefficient on outside surface of glass cover
σ - stephanboltz man constant
19
4 4
1
( )
( )
1 1
1
o pm c
pc pm c o
o
ci c
p
D T T
q
h T T D
D
L
D


 

  
 
 
 
 
4 4
1
( ) ( )
w c a co co c c sky
q
h T T D D T T
L
  
   

20. EQUATION FOR USEFUL HEAT
C- Concentration ratio
S – solar flux
Ul – Overall loss coefficient
q1/L=Ul A (Tpm- Tc)
L – length of solar concentrator
F’ - Collector efficiency factor
20
1
1 o
l
l i f
F
D
U
U D h
 
 

 
 
 
1 exp o l
u p a fi
l p
mC
m
F D U L
CS
q T T
U C
 
 
  
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
   
 

21. DESIGN PROCEDURE
• Initially the width and rim angle of solar collector was assumed.
• Design of solar collector was done on the basis of the above
equations.
• First an arbitrary value was assigned to Tc . Then hpc and hw were
calculated .These values were substituted in the heat loss equations.
The complex equation obtained was solved by using C++.
• The final value of Tc was obtained after a series of iterations. This
was further used for calculating the overall loss coefficient Ul.
• Ul was used in the equation for useful heat to find out the required
length.

22. DIMENSIONS
DESCRIPTION DIMENSION
WIDTH OF CONCENTRATOR 50cm
LENGTH OF CONCENTRATOR 175cm
RIM ANGLE 900
INNER DIA OF COPPER TUBE 2.5cm
OUTER DIA OF COPPER TUBE 3cm
INNER DIA OF GLASS TUBE 4cm
OUTER DIA OF GLASS TUBE 4.5cm

23. FABRICATION OF EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM
• A stainless steel sheet was bent to form a parabolic solar
concentrator.
• A copper tube was used as the receiver tube.
• The copper tube was centered in a glass tube and fixed at the
focus of the concentrator.
• A nylon bush was used to hold the glass tube in position.
• Two K type thermocouples were inserted in the ends of the
copper tube to measure temperatures.
• The collector was kept in the East-West direction.

24. Contd.
• Thermocouples are calibrated according to temperature range
of 0 to 300oC and connected to a multimeter to get the voltage
reading. Temperature corresponding to the voltage is taken.
• The ends of the thermocouple were connected to the tank
using a hose.

25. THERMOCOUPLE CALIBRATION
Two components
• Constant temperature bath
• Black box
• Standard platinum resistance thermometer(SPRT)

26. CONSTANT TEMPERATURE BATH
• The bath is basically an insulated tank on which water is filled
and heating coils to heat the water

27. OBSERVATIONS
CONSTANT BATH TEMPERATURE TB
(0C) THERMOCOUPLE READING TTC(0C)
50 49.677
100 99.455
200 199.256

28. 0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
0 50 100 150 200 250
error(K)
TEMPERATURE (K)

29. DETAILS OF NANOPOWDER
DESCRIPTION DETAILS
TYPE Aluminium Oxide
SIZE <50 nm
DENSITY 3970 kg/m3
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY 25W/mK
SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY 880J/Kkg
COST for 25 gram Rs 4000

30. THERMO-PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF
NANOFLUIDS
• Density of Nano fluid ρnf = 1 − ϕ ρf + ϕρp
• Specific heat capacity of Nano fluid 𝑐nf =
ϕ ρC p+ 1−ϕ ρC f
ϕρp+ 1−ϕ ρf
• Viscosity of Nano fluid μnf = (1 + 2.5ϕ)μf
• Thermal conductivity of Nanofluid knf = kf +
3ϕ
kp−kf
2kf+kp−ϕ(kp−kf)
kf

31. NANOFLUID PREPARATION
• Ultra sonic bath is the equipment used for preparing nanofluid.
• The total ultra-sonic vibration time depends upon the type of
nanofluid used.
• The aluminium oxide nano particles dispersed in water as a
base fluid requires a total ultra-sonic vibration time of 40
minutes.
• Then switch ON the machine. The machine passes ultrasonic
waves through the bath. Set the time for which the mixture is
to be passed with ultra-sonic waves.

32. ULTRA SONIC BATH

33. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
• First the connections are made as shown in the figure. Then
the system was checked for leaks.
• System was then filled with 4 litres of water.
• After every half an hour, readings were taken from the
thermocouples using a multimeter.
• The experiment was carried out from 11.00 am to 3.00 pm.
• Experiment was then repeated for different concentrations of
nanofluids and corresponding readings are recorded.

35. COST ANALYSIS
ITEM COST
STAINLESS STEEL SHEET 5000
GLASS TUBE 1200
COPPER TUBE 900
NANO POWDER(25 g) 4000
NYLON ROD 700
THERMOCOUPLE 500
OTHERS 1000
TOTAL COST 13300

36. OBSERVATIONS
WATER
DATE : 20/03/2015
SOLAR INSOLATION :750W/m2
TIME 11.00 11.30 12.00 12.30 13.00 13.30 14.00 14.30 15.00
T1 23 30 45 62 67 72 72 69 69
T2 23 34 50 67 81 81 79 76 76

37. NANOFLUID 0.02%
DATE : 21/03/2015
SOLAR INSOLATION :760W/m2
TIME 11.00 11.30 12.00 12.30 13.00 13.30 14.00 14.30 15.00
T1 23 32 47 65 72 76 74 72 72
T2 23 35 55 71 86 86 83 80 80

38. NANOFLUID 0.06%
DATE:23/03/2015
SOLAR INSOLATION :745W/m2
TIME 11.00 11.30 12.00 12.30 13.00 13.30 14.00 14.30 15.00
T1 23 34 52 68 79 81 79 79 76
T2 23 38 59 76 89 89 86 86 84

39. NANOFLUID 0.09%
DATE: 24/03/2015
SOLAR INSOLATION:755W/m2
TIME 11.00 11.30 12.00 12.30 13.00 13.30 14.00 14.30 15.00
T1 23 38 56 72 84 84 81 81 79
T2 23 41 62 79 91 91 89 89 86

40. Variation of temperature with different times of day
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
11 11.5 12 12.5 13 13.5 14 14.5 15 15.5 16
TEMPERATURE(K)
TIME OF DAY(hr)
water
0.02%
0.06%
0.09%

41. EFFICIENCY CALCULATION
• EFFICIENCY = Heat gained/Incident energy
• Heat gained,
• Incident energy,
= solar insolation * aperture area
1 exp o l
u p a fi
l p
F D U L
cs
q mc T T
u mc
 
 
  
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
   
 

42. Efficiencies at different times of day
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
11 11.5 12 12.5 13 13.5 14 14.5 15
E
F
F
I
C
I
E
N
C
Y
TIME OF DAY
water
0.02%
0.06%
0.09%

43. Variation of heat transfer coefficient with concentration
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1
hf
(W/m2K)
Concentration(%)
hf

44. Variation of thermal conductivity with concentration
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1
Thermal
conductivity(W/mK)
concentration(%)
k

45. Variation of specific heat capacity with concentration
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1
Cp(J/kgK
)
Concentration(%)
cp

46. PERCENTAGE OF ENHANCEMENT IN
EFFICIENCY
TIME .02%NANOFLUID .06%NANOFLUID .09%NANOFLUID
11.00-11.30 6.5 11.6 16.47
11.30-12.00 4.76 10 10.1
12.00-12.30 4.94 9.21 12
12.30-13.00 4.79 9.01 12.95
13.00-13.30 5.29 6.68 9.7
13.30-14.00 4.6 6.49 11
14.00-14.30 6.69 9.41 11.6
14.30-15.00 5.17 8.68 7.4

47. ANALYSIS
SOFTWARES USED PRO E,HYPERMESH,ANSYS
VERSION ANSYS 15
FILE TYPE CFX

48. ASSUMPTIONS
• Heat flux=700W/m2
• Velocity=.001m/s

49. • Absorber tube of 175 cm length and 2.5 cm dia is considered
for analysis
• For the analysis of absorber tube , a plane is created along its
length through the centre of parabolic solar collector
• Contour plots are plotted on that plane
• Temperature distribution in an interval of 30 min are taken
and compared with the experiment results obtained

50. Water after 30 minutes

51. Water after 60 minutes

52. Water after 90 minutes

53. Water after 120 minutes

54. Water after 150 minutes

55. Water after 180 minutes

56. 0.02% nanofluid after 30 minutes

57. 0.02% nanofluid after 60 minutes

58. 0.02% nanofluid after 90 minutes

59. 0.02% nanofluid after 120 minutes

60. 0.02% nanofluid after 150 minutes

61. 0.02% nanofluid after 180 minutes

62. 0.06% nanofluid after 30 minutes

63. 0.06% nanofluid after 60 minutes

64. 0.06% nanofluid after 90 minutes

65. 0.06% nanofluid after 120 minutes

66. 0.06% nanofluid after 180 minutes

67. 0.09% nanofluid after 30 minutes

68. 0.09% nanofluid after 60 minutes

69. 0.09% nanofluid after 90 minutes

70. 0.09% nanofluid after 120 minutes

71. 0.09% nanofluid after 150 minutes

72. 0.09% nanofluid after 180 minutes

73. CONCLUSION
• It was concluded that efficiency would improve by suspending
nanoparticle in the base fluid.
• Various thermal properties were studied and graphs were
plotted.
• Experimental results were compared with analytical results
obtained using Ansys.

74. MAIN CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE WORK
• A solar collector is designed and fabricated.
• The properties of nanofluid with different concentrations are
studied.
• Enhancement of efficiency of solar collector by using
nanofluid.
• Analysis of solar collector by using Ansys.
• Journal paper
• “The performance enhancement of a parabolic solar
concentrator by using Al2O3 Water nanofluid”(draft prepared)

75. SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK
• Experiments can be conducted to devise methods by which
period of suspension can be increased.
• In large scale applications, stabilizers are used to increase
stability of the suspension.

76. APPLICATION
• In large solar power plants, efficiency can be improved by
suspending nanoparticles in the transfer fluid.
• Nanofluid can be used in a solar collector which supplies
energy to a solar refrigeration system.
• Nanofluid can be used in engine cooling system.

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