Applied Thermal Engineering 189 (2021) 116608

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Experimental investigation into a parabolic solar collector with direct flow

evacuated tube
Mohsen Rezaeian a, Mohammad Shafiey Dehaj a, *, Mostafa Zamani Mohiabadi b,
Masoud Salarmofrad a, Sajjad Shamsi a
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Vali-e- Asr University, Rafsanjan, Iran
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kashan, Iran

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Solar energy is among the cleanest and most adaptable in comparison with other renewable energy sources.
PTSC Considering the request for long-term using of solar collectors, developing and enhancing the performance of
U-Tube these systems has become one of the main subjects. Parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC) is one of the best
CuO nanofluid
usual solar collectors. improving the thermal performance of PTSC concentrates several attention and different
Thermal efficiency
approaches are evaluated to maximize the collector thermal efficiency with a reasonable penalty in the pressure
Performance index
Experimental drop and energy losses. For this reason, the use of different nanofluids as working fluids, as well as the use of
various absorbers (receivers) are the major challenges and techniques which are examined. Therefore, in this
study, a novel parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC) using U type tube is designed and manufactured. To in­
crease the operational temperature, evacuated tube is used and performance of the mentioned system is
experimentally examined using both distilled water and CuO nanofluid as working fluids. It should be noted that,
CuO is selected as nanoparticle and water as base fluid. CuO/nanofluid. Absorption spectrum results of CuO/
nanofluid at different resting times by using Ultraviolet–Visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy examined. Experimental
results for the changes in three important parameters including, performance index (PI), thermal efficiency as
well as pressure drop are obtained for different mass flow rates including, 1, 3 and 5 L/min and also three particle
volumetric concentrations including 0.01%, 0.05% and 0.08%. The results showed that, thermal efficiency,
pressure drop and PI is mostly affected and increased by mass flow rate and nanofluid volume fraction. In
addition, based on the experimental results, maximum thermal efficiency and performance index are obtained
respectively 71% and 1.74, corresponding in the case of nanofluid with 0.08% volume fraction and mass flow
rate of 5 L/min.

exploitation of solar energy generation thermal energy that used in the

absorption cooling system. PTSCs were used directly with the absorption
1. Introduction
cooling system in the generator [7].
In the last few decades, many studies have been carried out on
Due to reducing underground resources and enhancement of CO2
parabolic solar collectors with a focus on various aspects, such as con­
levels, it is required to use renewable energies and novel procedures in
struction type, adsorbent tube type, geometric dimensions, variations in
order to power production and carbon dioxide elimination [1]. One of
flow rates of the inlet water, and the angle of collector positioning. One
the best renewable energy sources with the least environmental impacts
of the main aspects is the use of different absorbent tubes in a linear
is sunlight. Solar energy does not require transportation and is free for
particle collector, which uses a vacuum tube and a U-shaped copper tube
the general public [2–4].
has been investigated for distilled water and nanofluid. Also, Solar in­
Study on solar-thermal systems has concerned many researchers
tensity, collector design and its orientation are the main variables that
from all around the globe [5] for example, Mazhanash [6] experimen­
affect the thermal efficiency of any solar systems such as PTSC [8].
tally presented using pre-heated tap water via solar heaters to improve
Krishna et al. [9] studied the existing state-of-the-art heat transfer
the inlet water temperature that promotes thermal performance of fresh
Fluid (HTF) employed in PTSC and reported the most important and
water generation from the solar still. The investigators deviated from the

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: m.shafiey@vru.ac.ir (M. Shafiey Dehaj).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2021.116608
Received 30 July 2020; Received in revised form 12 December 2020; Accepted 17 January 2021
Available online 20 January 2021
1359-4311/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Rezaeian et al.
Nomenclature
Ac surface area of collector (m2)
Cp specific heat capacity (J/kg K)
D diameter of the pipe (m)
f friction factor
fL focal length (m)
FR heat removal factor
Gb solar radiation (W/m2)
h Convective heat transfer (W/m2 K)
K thermal conductivity (W/m K)
k(θ) Incident angle correction factor
L parabola length (m)
m mass (kg)
ṁ mass flow rate (kg/s)
Δp pressure drop (Pa)
Qu heat gain of the working fluid (W)
Re Reynolds number
T temperature (K)
Ta environment temperature (K)
UL Collector loss coefficient (Wm− 2 K− 1)
V volume (m3)
→
V velocity (m/s)
relevant research done for enhancing the heat transfer efficiency in
PSTC. They also presented the historical trends in terms of HTF used in
PTSC application. Finally, they evaluated the procedures and stability
issues which obtain stable HTFs and discussed prospects of PTSC. Sub­
ramani and Nagarajan [10] performed experiments on a PTSC using
TiO2 nanfluids. Thay founded that, collector efficiency and heat transfer
coefficient can be enhanced up to 8.66% and 23% compared to water
respectively. Also, they developed empirical correlations in terms of the
Nusselt number, friction factor. Influences of filling rate, type of the
conventional fluid, volume fraction of nanoparticles and the operating
temperature on the evaporating heat transfer characteristics in the open
thermosyphon were studied and presented by Lu et al. [11]. The results
showed that replacing CuO nanofluids for water as the working fluid can
considerably increase the efficiency and evaporating heat transfer co­
efficients may increase by about 30% compared with those of base fluid.
Rehan et al. [12] using water, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 nanofluids, experi­
mentally attained performance analysis of PTSC under wide range of
operating conditions in terms of solar radiation and ambient conditions.
Maximum efficiencies achieved with Al2O3 and Fe2O3 nanofluids at 2 L/
min are 13% and 11% higher respectively in comparison with water
under same operating conditions. Natividade et al. [13] evaluated the
increase of thermal performance of the PTSC by applying multilayer
graphene (MLG) nanofluid at low volume fraction. The founding con­
ducted that MLG nanofluid with volume fraction 0.00045 and 0.00068%
enhanced the thermal performance of the collector by 31% and 76%,
respectively in comparison to the water. Sokhansefat et al. [14] showed
that the convection heat transfer coefficient has directly related to the
volume fraction of nanofluids. Furthermore, the heat transfer improve­
ment because of the nanoparticles in the fluid decreases as the absorber
operational temperature is enhanced. Designing, Construction and
testing stage of PTSC for water heating was performed by Tayade et al.
[15]. The results showed that the highest value of each of those pa­
rameters is detected around noon, when the incident beam radiation is
at its peak. Sadeghi et al. [16] for increasing the thermal performance of
evacuated tube solar collector (ETSC), numerically and experimentally
carried out the influences of reflector, parabolic concentrator, and the
Cu2O nanofluid for 0.01–0.08 volume fractions. They also obtained
optimum diameter of the absorber tube. Kasaeiana et al. [17] provided a
pilot of PTSC with new shape of coupling and studied the ability of
2
Applied Thermal Engineering 189 (2021) 116608
Xend end effect loss
Greek Symbols
α Receiver absorbance
ϕ Volume fraction (%)
γ Intercept factor
η thermal efficiency
η0 maximum thermal efficiency
ηopt Optical efficiency
λ the ratio of thermal conductivities (Knp/Kbf)
μ viscosity (kg/ms)
θ Solar incident angle
ρ density (kg/m3)
ρCL Trough reflectance
τ Cover transmittance
Subscripts
bf base fluid
nf nanofluid
np nanoparticles
i Inlet
o Outlet
nanotube/oil based nanofluids as working fluid for thermal efficiency
improvement. They compared the optical and thermal performances of
the PTSC using four type of receivers including a black painted vac­
uumed steel tube, a copper bare tube with black chrome coating, a glass
enveloped non-evacuated copper tube with black chrome coating, and a
vacuumed copper tube with black chrome coating. Amina et al. [18]
proposed the use of a compound improvement procedure for PTSC,
based on the use of nanofluids and the presence of two longitudinal fins
in the tube side of the PTSC. The obtained results indicated that metallic
nanoparticles enhance heat transfer significantly than other nano­
particles and combining both mechanisms make better heat transfer and
higher thermo-hydraulic performance. In another research, Chaudhari
et al. [19] examined the performance of aluminum nano-oxide with a
0.1% volume fraction in a linear parabolic collector experimentally and
numerically and concluded that the nanofluid increased heat transfer
coefficient by 32%. Ahmed Yassen [20] studied the thermal perfor­
mance of PTSC by using water as the working fluid experimentally and
theoretically. The results showed that the experimental efficiency was
less than the theoretical efficiency. Therefore, the increase in the volume
flow rate of the working fluid led to an increase in efficiency with no
important changes in efficiency. Bellos et al. [21] energetically and
exergetically tested seven working fluids including Water, Therminol
VP-1, Molten salt, Sodium liquid, Air, CO2 and Helium in a commercial
PTC. The results showed that CO2 and helium are the most appropriate
working fluids for very high temperatures. Aslfattahi et al. [22] study
the preparation, characterization, thermal properties, thermal stability
and performance of new class of silicone oil nanofluids induced with
MXene in three various concentrations for a Concentrated Solar Photo­
voltaic Thermal (CPVT) collector. Results showed that viscosity reduced
with temperature. Also, they obtained Excellent thermal efficiency in
CPVT. Das et al. [23] successfully expressed a binary solution of ionic
liquid (IL) + water based ionanofluids with two dimensional MXene
(Ti3C2) nano additives at three distinct concentrations of 0.05, 0.10, and
0.20 wt% and the optimal concentration is used to check the efficiency
of a hybrid solar PV/T system. Rubbi et al. [24] experimentally formu­
lated Novel SO/MXene nanofluids to use as working fluid on a hybrid
photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) solar collector for optimization of thermal
performance. They examined the Thermo-physical properties and sta­
bility of SO/MXene nanofluids at various volume fraction and obtained
M. Rezaeian et al.
Excellent thermal and electrical efficiency in hybrid PV/T system.
Abdelrazik et al. [25] studied the influence of the concentration of
nanoparticles and stability performance of nanofluids in solar photo­
voltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems. They showed that hybrid solar PV/T
system with optical filtration using water/rGO-Ag nanofluid is capable
to provide thermal energy with effectiveness between 24% and 30%. In
another work, Abdelrazik et al. [26] comprehensively investigated the
optical potential of the water/MXene nanofluids with considering the
changes of MXene concentrations (0.0005–0.05 wt%) and kinds of sur­
factant (CTAB or SDBS) used in a hybrid PV/T system. They enhanced
thermal efficiency of PV/T system by using the water/MXene nanofluid.
Also, in a numerical study, Malekan et al. [27] used CFD to model heat
transfer from a parabolic solar collector with internal vanes using Fe3O4
/ Therminol 66 and CuO/ Therminol 66 nanofluids under a magnetic
field. The results showed that reducing the particle size and increasing
the volume fraction of nanoparticles increases the heat transfer coeffi­
cient, Nusselt number and collector efficiency. It was also found that the
collector efficiency increases in the presence of a magnetic field. In
overall, it can be said that the application of nanofluids in solar systems
improves their performance. In other words, nanofluids with unique
mechanical, optical, and thermal characterization, suggest unique ben­
efits over base fluids [28].
Bellos et al. [29] evaluated the use of twelve different internal lon­
gitudinal fins in the absorber for the LS-2 PTC and compared with the
smooth absorber case. Based on their final results, higher fin thickness
and length cause both to greater efficiency and simultaneously to higher
pressure drop. Kordmahaleh et al. [30] presented the economic
modeling of a PTSC plant and studied the changes of collector di­
mensions in the solar field. They illustrated that integration with ther­
mal storage tanks enhanced total operating time by 61%. Zhu et al. [31]
Presented a novel Semi-Parabolic Linear Fresnel Reflector (SPLFR) solar
concentrator. The SPLFR concentrator has no shading and blocking
related to LFR concentrator and has the same concentrating efficiency as
that of PTSC, but lower manufacture costs. The results showed that the
non-uniform radiation distribution induces two convection eddies at
each side of absorber pipe which increase the heat transfer from the wall
of absorber to the working fluid. Laaraba and Mebarki [32] investigated
the influence of attached fins on the improvement of the thermal effi­
ciency of a PTSC. Achieved results illustrated that inclusion of fins to the
lower half of the absorber tube can increase the heat transfer between
the absorber tube and working fluid. Also, enhancing the length of fin
improved thermal performance of PTSC. Reddy et al. [33] performed
experimental study on the PTSC with porous disc enhanced receiver.
They Developed and examined the effect of Six different receiver con­
figurations including two conventional and four porous disc receivers.
Based on their finding, the porous disc enhanced receiver increases the
efficiency of the PTSC significantly and it can be employed effectively
for process heat applications. Arasu et al. [34] designed and built a
fiberglass reinforced linear parabolic solar collector. The experiments
were carried out under a wind speed of 34 m/s. The efficiency of the
newly developed PTSC was calculated according to ASHRAE Standard
93. The standard deviation of the distribution of the parabolic surface
errors was calculated to be 0.0066 rad from the thermal performance of
the collector test, implying the high precision of the parabolic surface.
Peng et al. [35] proposed a new rotatable-axis tracking PTSC. They
evaluated the energy loss (including cosine, end, and lateral shading
losses) on four typical days and compared it with a single-axis tracking
procedure. Also, they discussed the significance of improving the solar-
field efficiency of a rotatable-axis tracking system. Padilla et al. [36]
used an exergy analysis to investigate the influences of working fluid
and ambient parameters on thermal performance of PTSC. In their
analysis, they considered important parameters such as inlet tempera­
ture, volume flow rate, blowing wind, pressure, etc. They indicated that
the inlet temperature of the heat transfer fluid, solar irradiance, and
vacuum in annulus had an important influence on the efficiency and
exergetic performance, but the effects of wind speed and volume flow
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Applied Thermal Engineering 189 (2021) 116608
rate of the heat transfer fluid were negligible. In conclusion, they found
that the highest exergy destruction was associated with heat transfer
between the adsorbent and the sun while the exergy losses were
emanated from optical error. Waghole et al. [37] experimentally studied
heat transfer coefficient and friction factor at different mass concen­
trations for flow in the PTSCs and with and without twisted tape
insertion. The results revealed that heat transfer coefficient, efficiency,
and friction factor of silver nanofluid with a volume concentration of
0.1% were greater than the flow of distilled water in the PTSC. They
found that the Nussult number, friction factor, and improvement effi­
ciency were 1.25–2.10, 1.0–1.75, and 1.35–2.05 times as great as those
of plain adsorbent/receiver of a parabolic trough collector, respectively.
Also, they proposed generalized relations for forecasting heat transfer
and friction factor of a turbulent flow of both working fluids (water and
silver nanofluid) with tape insertion. Jamal-Abad et al. [38] studied the
PTSC efficiency whose absorbent was filled with metal foam. They
determined the Nusselt number and friction factor experimentally. The
results showed that copper foam slightly increased the thermal perfor­
mance of PTSC. They found that when absorbent was filled with copper
foam, the increase in the volume flow rate improved the thermal per­
formance of the PTSC because less energy was lost. Conrado et al. [39]
reviewed the thermal performance of PTSCs. They considered and
studied different approaches of theoretical models, simulation and nu­
merical methods and experimental systems of the PTSCs in terms of heat
loss, environmental conditions, temperature and heat flux, cost analysis,
and economic strategy. They demonstrated the major thermal aspects
that required to be considered in future researches. Bellos et al. [40]
studied the applying of multiple cylindrical longitudinal inserts in the
PTSC. The results showed that the use of more inserts leads to higher
thermal, exergy and overall efficiency performance of the collector.
Additionally, the exact location of the inserts plays an important role in
the results. They reported that the maximum thermal performance
improvement was 0.656%. Finally, Qin et al. [41] suggested to replace
the semi-cylindrical reflective coating with a semi-cylindrical absorbing
coating for exploiting both volumetric and surface absorption of the
solar radiation in a direct-absorption PTSC. The finding showed that the
absorbing coating enhances the solar absorption and reduces heat loss to
surrounding. Also, they claimed that this proposed design opens a new
opportunity of further decreasing the volume fraction of nanoparticle.
Therefore, considering the influence of design variables (e.g., absorber
tube and configuration) are the major challenges and techniques which
are examined.
To the authors’ knowledge, Though the previous investigations and
efforts in this field have led to appreciate successes to date, PTSCs have
great potential regarding both development and new applications.
Moreover, the requirement of continuous enhancements in the current
knowledge is unnegotiable. Based on this literature review, one of the
important parameter in design of solar thermal collector is thermal ef­
ficiency which reduce the size and cost of the system for a determined
amount of energy. Different strategy, material, configuration and
methods are used to improve the efficiency of the solar energy systems.
Also, according abovementioned results, the most studies have pre­
sented the effects of various working nanofluids on the PTSC thermal
performance. But, it seems that it is still needed to investigate more
about usefulness of nanofluids by performance index (PI) for application
in the heat exchanging systems, especially using in PTSCs. Due to with
increasing heat transfer along with enhancing pressure drop has been
provided by addition of nanoparticles to the base fluid. Thus, heat
transfer and pressure drop results do not present the concluding result
separately. Result in, to accomplish the usefulness of nanofluids instead
of base fluid, a comprehensive evaluation factor, namely the perfor­
mance index (PI), is introduced. In this paper, a novel parabolic trough
solar collector (PTSC) using U type tube is designed and manufactured.
Evacuated tube is used and performance of the mentioned system is
experimentally examined using both distilled water and nanofluid as
working fluids. Due to high thermal conductivity of the copper, CuO is
M. Rezaeian et al.
selected as nanoparticle and distilled water as base fluid. As a summary,
the following are the contribution of this paper into the subject:
• A novel linear trough collector with new absorber tube was designed
and manufactured.
• Vacuum and U-shaped copper tube is used as absorbent.
• The impact of CuO nanofluids with different volume fraction and
various flow rate on pressure drop, thermal efficiency and perfor­
mance index (PI) are investigated.
• UV–visible spectrum of CuO/nanofluid at different resting time is
examined.
• The results in the case of nanofluid are compared with those in the
base fluid as working fluid.
• optical efficiency versus solar incident angle are determined and
discussed.
• Usefulness of CuO nanofluid by applying performance index(PI)
analysis is evaluated
2. Test bench
2.1. Description of PTSC
A parabolic shape reflector was designed and manufactured with a
vacuum adsorbent type vacuum tube and a U-shaped copper tube at the
solar farm of Rafsanjan University of Iran.
To fabricate the experimental device, we first designed the stand of
the device in the SolidWorks software package. The stand of the device is
made of a 4 × 4 hollow section. The issue of fatigue is irrelevant here and
it suffices for the stand to tolerate the weight of adsorbent tube, its
holding joints, and the steel plate. Fig. 1a depicts the schematics of the
collector stands. Then, mathematical relations were used to calculate the
focal distance, parabolic height, edge angle, and so on
Before shaping the steel plate into a parabolic form, its stand (profile)
Fig. 1. a) Collector stands, b) parabola frames, c) gearbox and d) Vacuum tube holders.
4
Applied Thermal Engineering 189 (2021) 116608
should be manufactured with a 2 × 2 hollow section. There are different
ways to create the curvature, such as the use of CNC, rolling device,
bending device, cast, etc. Here, SolidWorks was used to design the
parabola and a stencil was prepared as per the calculations. After
bending the hollow section with the rolling device, the intended
parabola was fabricated with the use of the stencil and forging. Then, the
steel plate was mounted on the parabola skeleton displayed in Fig. 1b.
The specific reflective features are listed in Table 1. According to
reference [27], the angle of the edge of this model was set at 90◦ .
To allow the rotation of the system, two bearings were welded on the
stands and were connected with a steel axis. A plate was welded on this
axis to mount the parabola on it. Also, a cogwheel was mounted on one
side of the steel axis and was connected to a gearbox with chain so that
the parabola can be readily rotated with hand (Fig. 1c).
To hold the adsorbent tube, a 2 × 2 hollow section was placed inside
a 3 × 3 hollow section in a rail form and was adjusted with holding bolts
in such a way that the adsorbent tube was placed in the center of the
parabola focus (Fig. 1d). An aluminum clamp was welded in the front
part of the stand to mount the adsorbent tube on it. The hoses used for
water transfer in this cycle were of brush matted type to minimize
wastage. Since the cycle was of the closed type, all joints should be of
Table 1
Specific reflective features.
Specification (Unit) Dimension
Parabola length (m)Parabola aperture 1.5
(m)Thickness 1.2
(mm) 1.2
MaterialFocal distance steel
(mm)Aperture area 300
(m2)Diameter of adsorbent 1.80
(mm)Rim angle 16
(Ψ) 90
M. Rezaeian et al.
high-pressure kind to avoid any leakages. For working fluid pumping, a
DC 58-W pump (power: 370 W, capacities: 35 L/min, head: 35 m) was
applied. A flow-meter (model M-LZT 1002) with a measurement range
of 1–7 lit/min was used for flow rate adjustment. To ensure the sound
functioning of the flow-meter, several flow rates were manually
measured with a beaker and they showed a 0.05 error versus the records
of the flow-meter. Since air in working fluid turns the flow into the two-
phase state and thereby affects pump performance and flow rate
adjustment, the system should be departed to keep the flow rate constant
during the operation. Also, a cooling source that was composed of a
water-filled tank and a spiral tube inside the tank was incorporated in
order to cool down the collector’s outlet water to a stable temperature
and make it suitable for re-entry into the system. During the tests, the
inlet and outlet flow temperatures of the solar system and environment
temperature were measured. So, an NTC sensor was used for tempera­
ture measurement. The functional range of the sensor was from − 50 to
150 ◦ C with a 0.1 ◦ C error. The temperature expectation of the cycle was
20–90 ◦ C. The sensors were made of platinum with a very high precision.
The data logger had a precision of 0.1 ◦ C. All data from the logger were
registered manually.
A solar power meter in the solar site of Vali-e-Asr University was
employed to measure the incident radiation of the receiver. The solar
power meter was characterized with its small size, the possibility to
mount it on different levels, and its adjustability for data registration.
Since the data logger was adjusted to register data every 5 min, the solar
power meter was also set at 5-min intervals. Fig. 2 showed the experi­
mental setup and ant schematic set up of the PTSC. Also, the specific
reflective features are listed in Table 1.
The adsorbent tube used here were of vacuum tube type. The
adsorbent is formed of a set of a vacuum tube and a U-shaped copper
tube. As shown in the Fig. 3, a vacuum tube is composed of a two-wall
tube in which the space between the walls is vacuumed. The inner
wall is overlaid with a paint layer. Sunlight heats up the adsorbent and
subsequently, the aluminum foil and then the U-shape copper tube are
heated. In the vacuum tube technology, the material of the adsorbent
tube is of crucial importance. It is usually made of the three elements of
Al, Cu, Ss (steel), or of the single element Ni. The three-element coverage
has higher efficiency.
2.2. Climatic conditions
Evaluation of PTSC performance was done by using ASHRAE 93
[42]. In this study, the solar radiation and ambient temperature pa­
rameters are uncontrollable and presented in a range of transient data of
Fig. 2. The setup of the PTSC at solar site of Vali-e-Asr university of Rafsanjan: a) Experimental setup, b) simplified closed loop system.
5
Applied Thermal Engineering 189 (2021) 116608
climatic conditions, where these might take place during all seasons of
Rafsanjan (Iran). Data were taken from the Synoptic Station of Rafsanjan
(Long. 55◦ , Lat. 30.2◦ , elevation of 1469 m from sea level). Rafsanjan is
considered to have a desert climate. During the year, there is virtually no
rainfall in Rafsanjan. According to Köppen and Geiger, this climate is
classified as BWk. The average annual temperature is 17.6 ◦ C in Raf­
sanjan. The rainfall here averages 126 mm. Table 2 presents the climatic
conditions of Rafsanjan over a one-year period
2.3. Collector tracking
Continuous tracking of sun path is required for the solar collector to
acquire perpendicular rays on its surface [43]. To achieve this a manual
solar tracker was employed. The axis of the collector is horizontal during
the test and is so adjusted with the cogwheel manually that the adsor­
bent tube always absorbs maximum sunlight. PTSCs can be oriented in
either north-south direction, tracking the sun from east to west or ori­
ented in an east-west direction, tracking from north to south. In present
research, the PTSC is assumed to be located (oriented) in the North-
South direction and to follow (track) the sun path in the East-West
direction.
2.4. Nanofluid preparation
In this study, CuO nanoparticle is used to prepare nanofluids. in
order to get the best out of the benefits of nanofluids, the particles
selected for scattering must possess high thermal conductivity and
maintain excellent colloidal stability. Copper oxide (CuO) has very high
thermal conductivity (78 W mK− 1) compared to that of base fluid
(water; 0.6 W mK− 1) and therefore dispersion of copper oxide in water
will aid to conserve energy [44]. In other words, metal oxides, in
particular CuO, enhance the thermal performance of solar collectors due
to great potential in heat transfer (high thermal conductivity) and solar
absorption (volumetric effect) [45 and 46]. Due to their large surface
area, less particle momentum, and high mobility, CuO nanoparticles
emerged as suitable candidates for suspending in fluids [47].
To improve the performance of PTSC, we needed a stable nanofluid
and a uniform dispersion, which were prepared systematically and
accurately [48]. There are different procedures and techniques for
changing properties of nano-suspended particles, avoiding agglomera­
tion and attaining steady (stability) suspensions which involve (ultra­
sonic vibration), high shear homogenization, and high pressure
homogenization, changing or controlling pH (electrostatic stabiliza­
tion), addition of surfactants (steric stabilization), surface modification
M. Rezaeian et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 189 (2021) 116608

Fig. 3. Details of the glass evacuated U-tube.

Table 2
Climatic conditions of Rafsanjan over a one-year period.
Month condition Avg. Temperature (◦ C) Min. Temperature (◦ C) Max. Temperature (◦ C) Precipitation/Rainfall (mm) Avg Wind speed

January Partial cloudy 6 − 1.2 13.2 29 2.7

February cloudy 8.7 1.5 15.9 26 3.2
March combined 13.2 6.1 20.3 22 2.8
April sunny 17.3 10.1 24.6 20 3.6
May combined 22.9 15 30.9 6 2.9
June sunny 27.1 18.9 35.4 0 2.6
July sunny 29 20.8 37.2 1 2.3
August sunny 27.2 18.5 36 0 2.3
September Partial cloudy 23.3 14 32.6 0 2.3
October cloudy 18 8.7 27.3 1 2.2
November Partial cloudy 11.2 2.7 19.7 5 2.2

procedures (depletion stabilization), and ball milling [49 and 50]. As

mentioned on of them is adding surfactant to nanofluid. Adding the Table 3
Physical characterization of CuO nanoparticles.
surfactants to the nanofluids leads the stability of nanofluids to be
significantly improved [51]. In this study, we used an ultrasonic vibra­ Nanoparticles CuO
tion mixer to prepare the nanofluid with high dispersion and minimum Purity >99%
particle aggregation. CuO-H2O nanofluid with a volume fraction of Average Size of particles(nm) 40
0.01% was prepared based on a two-stage method. Nanofluid is stabi­ Shape of particles Spherical particles
Density (kg/ m3) 6490
lized by using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a surfactant. A little aqueous Specific heat capacity (J/kg. K) 535
solution of NaOH is added the nanofluid, until pH of solution reaches to Color Black
10. At pH = 9–10.5, have appropriate dispersion of CuO nanoparticles
and the dispersion is maintained for a long time [52]. The ratio of CuO
nanoparticles to PEG mass was 1:2. The purity and average size of dry nanofluid three days after preparation. UV–Visible spectroscopy is a
copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles was 99.99% and 40 nm, respectively. developed analytical technique for the qualitative and quantitative
The nanoparticles were analyzed using an electron microscope (SEM) characterization of colloidal dispersions. The UV–Vis absorption results
and X-ray diffraction pattern as shown in Fig. 4. The characteristics of of CuO/nanofluid at different resting times are illustrated in Fig. 3c.
copper oxide nanoparticles used in this study are listed in Table 3. The There is an obvious absorption behavior in the nanofluid spectra be­
nanofluid was initially oscillated in a magnetic stirrer for half an hour, tween 200 and 300 nm which related to the excitation of surface plas­
and then it was constantly fluctuated in an ultrasonic apparatus (Fig. 5a) mon absorption of copper oxide [53]; this peak is relatively sensitive to
bath (at 600 W) for two hours. In the tests, the tank, containing the the nanofluid concentration, hens the stability behavior of the disper­
suspension, has a stirrer that makes continuous stirring during the sion at different time can be analyzed due to the UV–Vis absorption
process and avoids from settling the suspension. Fig. 3b displayed the results. According to Fig. 3c, the absorption intensity (200–300 nm) is
slightly decreased during time and gradually tended to a constant value

Fig. 4. a) SEM image and b) XRD X-ray diffraction pattern of CuO nanoparticles at 600 ◦ C [55].

6
M. Rezaeian et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 189 (2021) 116608

the thermal conductivity (Maxwell’s model) density, viscosity and heat

capacity are as follow. Maxwell [58] proposed a correlation to calculate
the nanofluids’ effective thermal conductivity by the following
equation:
Knf 3(λ − 1)ϕ
=1+ (3)
Kbf (λ + 2) − (λ − 1)ϕ
Viscosity enhancement, as a function of volume fraction, is achieved
by Batchelor [59]. He modified Einstein’s viscosity relation by intro­
ducing Brownian motion effect and considering isotropic suspension of
spherical nanoparticles.
( )
μnf = 1 + 2.5ϕ + 6.2ϕ2 μbf (4)

Density and specific heat of any nanofluid is associated with volume

fraction of nanoparticles directly. The density of nanofluid is higher than
in the base fluid, while the specific heat capacity is lower in nanofluids
[60],
ρnf = ρnp ϕ + ρbf (1 − ϕ) (5)

Also, the specific heat of the nanofluid was determined by the

following equation. It was discussed by Gherasim et al. [61]
Cp,n = Cp,np ϕ + Cp,bf (1 − ϕ) (6)

Generally, the nanofluids current enhanced thermal conductivity

which causes to better heat transfer rates inside the flow. Furthermore,
the viscosity is improved; the fact that leads to higher pressure losses and
this is a limitation of using nanofluids [62]. Thus, the pressure drop is
Fig. 5. a) Ultrasonic Apparatus; b) Prepared CuO nanofluid solution after 3 evaluated by the following formulas:
days of preparations; and c) UV–visible spectrum of CuO/nanofluid (0.01%) at
→2 →
different resting time. L ρV ρV D
Δp = f , f = 0.3164 Re− .25
, Re = (7)
D 2 μ
after 20 days. Also, it is concluded that up ten days a small amount of
denser and larger CuO species are precipitated and removed from the 3. Performance of PTSC
colloidal system, but after 10 days the particle deposition has not
occurred and the suspended nanoparticles approximately remained 3.1. Thermal efficiency
stable even after a prolonged storage (20 days or more). Finally, Suitable
description of nanofluids dispersion stability is essential for developing All experiments were carried out at different input temperatures as
dispersing strategies and discovering the useful applications of thermal shown by ASHRAE standard. In stable states, the data is averaged over
nanofluids. Zeta potential measurement was commonly proposed as the any experiment period and applied in the evaluation as a single point.
initial step to check and forecast the dispersion stability. As a critical Useful energy was calculated after measuring the flow rate and inlet and
indicator of dispersion stability, especially for water-based nanofluids, outlet temperature of the working fluid according to Eq. (8). The suit­
Zeta potential is the electric potential difference between the dispersing able heat gain of the PTSC was calculated by Eqs. (8) or (9) [63].
medium and the stationary layer of fluid that attached to the dispersed Qu = ṁCp (To − Ti ) (8)
nanoparticles. Nanofluids with high Zeta potentials are supposed to be
able to have stable dispersion and low Zeta potential tends to cause Qu = FR Ac [Gb (τα) − UL (Ti − Ta ) ] (9)
aggregation. In this research the Zeta potential of prepared nanofluids, is
measured by Zeta potential device (PARTICLE METRIX) at a tempera­ The thermal performance of collector was calculated from following
ture of 25 ◦ C. The test results indicated that absolute value of Zeta po­ relations.
tential of CuO nanofluid with 0.01, 0.05 and 0.08% volume fraction is Q ṁCp (To − Ti )
36.1, 34.9 and 33.7, respectively. Also, absolute value of Zeta potential ηi = = (10)
Ac G b Ac Gb
of CuO nanofluid with 0.01% volume fraction without surfactant is 31.3.
In practice, nanofluids with a Zeta potential above 30 mV are considered (Ti − Ta )
to be electrically stabilized [49 and 54]. ηi = FR (τα) − FR UL (11)
Gb
The amount of nanoparticles of CuO required to prepare nanofluids
from different concentrations of the volume was calculated by Eq. (1). FR (the absorbed energy parameter) and UL (heat loss) in Eqs. (8) and
(10) is a function of collector inlet and ambient temperatures. In other
mnp = ρnp ϕVt (1) words, the lower the temperature difference between the surrounding
environment of the collector and the inlet nanofluid is, the higher the
where the volume fraction (φ) achieved by the Eq. (2) collector efficiency will be.
mnp /ρnp Also, in fact the UL is not constant and is a function of ambient and
ϕ= (2) inlet temperatures. So:
mnp /ρnp + mbf /ρbf
FR UL = C1 + C2 (Ti − Ta ) (12)
Therefore, the addition of the nanopowders in the base fluid changed
the thermophysical properties of water such as density, viscosity, ther­ By substitution of Eq. (12) in Eq. (8) we have
mal conductivity, and specific heat [55–57]. The formulas to calculate
Qu = FR Ac Gb (τα) − C1 (Ti − Ta ) − C2 (Ti − Ta )2 (13)

7
M. Rezaeian et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 189 (2021) 116608

This can be attributed to the fact that the collector efficiency is as angle modifier is defined as the ratio of thermal efficiency at a given
follows (Eq. (11)) dependent with a negative coefficient on the (Ti − angle of incidence to the maximum efficiency at normal incidence [72].
Ta )/Gb [64].Therefore according to Eq. (10) and Eq. (11) the efficiency
ηopt (θ)
of the PTSC can be written as K(θ) = (19)
ηopt (θ = 0o )
( ) ( )2
T − Ta Ti − Ta
η i = η 0 − C1 i − C2 Gb (14) The incident angle modifier can be generated by empirical fit to
Gb Gb
experimental data, and it is described as a polynomial function of the
And by indicating η0 = FR τα and x = (Ti − Ta )/Gb then: absolute value of [73]:

ηi = η0 − C1 x − C2 Gb x2 (15) K(θ) = cosθ + 0.000658629 θ + 0.000758124 θ2 (20)

It is noticed that the slope of the line (C1) shows removed energy
from the PTSC which named heat loss coefficient. The coefficient C2
indicates temperature dependence of the heat loss coefficient. If the
value deduced for C2 is negative, a second-order fit shall not be used [65
and 66].
FRUL would be fixed for the temperature range of the collector, while
the test was done under steady state conditions. Thus the second-order
terms of Eq. (15), are neglected (C2 = 0) [67]. In other words, the
slope of FRUL shows the reachable energy form the system. Therefore,
the plotting of the performance values from the average data against
(Ti − Ta )/Gb yields a straight line according to Eq. (11). The crossing of
the straight line with the y-axis of the diagram represents the extreme
performance of the collector, which is clarified by the parameter
FR (τα) = η0 . The performance of the collector maximizes when the inlet
temperature to the collector is equal to the environment temperature.
The slope of the diagram shows the amount of solar collector loss shown
with the parameter FRUL.
The heat capacity of the PTSC can be defined in fixed time. More­
over, it is necessary to determine the response time of the PTSC. After
this time, a suitable time interval was selected to test performance and
evaluate the PTSC. The collector time constant is the time required to
reduce the difference in temperature between the input and output fluid
of the collector to 0.368 of its initial value.
To,τ − Ta 1
= = 0.368 (16)
To,i − Ta e
3.2. Optical efficiency
Theoretically, all of the direct radiation intake to the receptacle can
be absorbed into the receiver, but the parameters such as reflectance
coefficient, glass tube passage coefficient, black tube absorption coeffi­
cient and collector coefficient make the coherent optical efficiency less
than one be [68].
In addition to the above, there are optical errors in direct solar ra­
diation by solar collectors. The efficiency of a parabolic through solar
collector related to many parameters. One of the key parameters used for
the evaluation of a PTSC performance is optical efficiency. Optical ef­
ficiency depends on the optical properties of the different materials used
in the construction of the collector, the collector geometry, the angle of
incidence and the intercept factor [69]. The solar radiation direction is
very important for the efficiency of the collector and especially for its
optical part.
The optical efficiency of PTSC is defined as the ratio of energy
reaching the adsorbent tube to that received by the collector [70]. It can
be presented as it follows:
ηopt = [ρCL ταγ] K(θ) Xend (17)
The optical efficiency of a parabolic trough collector decreases with
incidence angle for several reasons: reduction of transmission of the
glazing and the decrease of absorption of the adsorbent; the increased
width of the solar image on the receiver; and the spillover of the radi­
ation from troughs of finite length [74].
PTCS collector optical efficiency and incident angle modifier based
on relations (17) and (20) is presented in Fig. 6. A greater incident angle
creates higher end losses in the collector which affects the efficiency.
When the incident angle, in the longitude direction, is up to 20◦ , the
angle efficiency modifier is greater than 0.8 and the collector perfor­
mance is high. After 70◦ , the solar energy that reaches to the adsorbent is
not sufficient for producing useful energy and the collector is not able to
operate.
3.3. Experimental uncertainty analysis
All measurements of studies are not precise and there are always a lot
of sources of errors. Calculation of the experimental uncertainty is
required to evaluation of the assurance in the results and achieves a
valid test. In this research, the accuracy of SMA (solar power meter),
rotameter and thermocouples are ±2%, ±0.1 lit/min and ±0.2 ◦ C
respectively. Moreover the flow rate measured by using a stopwatch
with ±0.01 s accuracy and by using a graduated glass bottle of tolerance
±1 cm3. Two temperature sensors were used to measure the fluid tem­
perature at the inlet and outlet of the solar collector. The ambient air
temperature was measured by a thermometer. The mean value of the
two thermocouples was calculated as the experimental data. The un­
certainties of the measurement are ±0.168.
According the Eq. (10), Thermal performance of the PTSC is a
function of six variables generally;
η = f (Tin , Tout , ṁ, Cp , A, Gb , Ta ) (21)
The systematic uncertainty for efficiency is calculated from Eq. (22).
So that, each uncertainty (u) is clarified as an uncertainty with a
Gaussian distribution. In the present research, uncertainties can be
added as the root sum of squares

The end effect loss is a function of the length and focal length of the
collector and of solar incidence angle and defined by the Eq. (18) [71]:
fL
Xend = 1 − tan θ (18)
L
The incident angle modifier accounts the effect of increasing or
decreasing the angle of incidence. The incident angle modifier relies on Fig. 6. The incident angle modifier of the optical efficiency and PTSC collector
the geometrical and optical properties of the collector. The incident optical efficiency.

8
M. Rezaeian et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 189 (2021) 116608

√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
∑ n flow rate, the amount of pressure drop in the nanofluids is higher than
u= u2i (22) the base fluid. Also, as increasing heat transfer along with enhancing
i
pressure drop has been provided by addition of nanoparticles to the
The systematic uncertainty of instantaneous collector efficiency can water. Thus, heat transfer and pressure drop results do not present the
be obtained with the Moffat formula by assuming negligible errors in concluding result separately. Therefore, to obtain the effectiveness of
density, specific heat capacity and surface area of collector, in other CuO nanofluids instead of conventional (base) fluids such as deionized
words the uncertainty of the efficiency is obtained from [75]: water, a comprehensive evaluation factor, specifically the performance
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ index (PI), is presented to obtain the thermal performance of the system
U ṁ UG UT UT
Uηexp = ηexp × ( )2 + ( b )2 + ( out )2 + ( i )2 (23) using nanofluids [77].
ṁ Gb Tout Ti
( )/( )1/3
hnf Δpnf
by using the above equation to acquire the regression uncertainty, the PI = (24)
hbf Δpbf
uncertainty of the average at PTSC efficiency was about 4.3%.
the convective heat transfer coefficient in this research can be calculated
4. Results
from following relation [63]:

4.1. Pressure drop and performance index Qu ṁCp (To − Ti )

The friction factor is used both in calculation of pressure drop and
heat transfer of fluids; it is due to the reason that the determination of
pressure drop is an important parameter for the performance of para­
bolic trough collector. It must be kept to a minimum to reduce the en­
ergy losses of the pump work [76]. Fig. 7a showed the influence of
volume flow rate of working fluid on the pressure drop. By increasing
the volume flow rate, the pressure drop was increased. According to this
figure, in the low flow rate, the pressure drop of the CuO nanofluid is
approximately equal with the base fluid. But by increasing the volume
h= = (25)
A(Ta − Tm ) Aoa (Ta − Tm )
in which, Ta is the absorbent (outdoor) temperature, Aoa is outer surface
of absorber, and Tm is the mean temperature and can be obtained from
below equation:
To + Ti
Tm = (26)
2
The PI of the CuO nanofluids for various flow rates are showed in the
Fig. 7b. For three CuO nanofluids (0.01, 0.05 and 0.08%), PI is above 1.
As a result, it can be determined that CuO nanofluids are the suitable
working fluids in comparison with deionized water in the PTSC. It ap­
pears that the enhancement of pressure drop is less important as
compared to increase of heat transfer coefficient. PI value of the CuO
nanofluids raises with enhancement of the flow rate and volume frac­
tion. In a result, the penalty in pressure drop and pumping power using
nanofluid is so small in which it does not give any important effect on
the effective performance of the solar system [78].

4.2. Effect of volume flow rate on thermal efficiency

All tests were carried out at steady state with the same duration at a
different inlet temperature. All tests were done at around 10:00 AM to
13:00 PM [75]. The solar intensity increases with time to reach to its
maximum, and then falls down over time, result in a parabola trend
(Solar radiation intensity changes are parabolic) [79]. The variations of
temperatures at the volume flow rate of 1 lit/min are showed in Fig. 8.
The experiments were carried out with three flow rates of 1, 3 and 5 lit/
min. The best experimental data were selected from several

Fig.7. a) Pressure drop and b) performance index versus volume flow rate of Fig. 8. Experimental and typical recorded data on test day for water at volume
water and CuO nanofluids (0.01, 0.05 and 0.08% volume fractions. flow rate 1 lit/min.

9
M. Rezaeian et al.
experiments. The time constant of the collector varies at different vol­
ume flow rates.
Fig. 9a shows the changes in the thermal performance of the PTSC for
three flow rate of water as working fluid compared to the temperature
parameters. It can be detected that thermal performance of the PTSC is
minimal at the flow rate of 1 lit/min and rises are seen in efficiency
(from 32% to 49%) as flow rate is enhanced to 5 lit/min. Fig. 9b–d show
the efficiency of CuO nanofluid at volume fraction 0.01, 0.05 and 0.08%
with different flow rates (1, 3 and 5 lit/min) respectively. According to
these figures, when the working fluid (CuO nanofluid or water) flow rate
enhances, collector efficiency improves. This income that the enhancing
the flow rate of working fluid results in higher performance. Different
factors influence the efficiency of a collector. They can be broadly
divided into internal and external factors of the collector. One of the
internal main factors is volume flow rate of working fluid. At low flow
rates, the working fluid had more chance for heat transfer so that the
difference between the inlet and outlet temperature of the collector was
enhanced. However, as the flow rate and fluid speed were enhanced, it
diminished. According to Eq. (8), more volume of fluid gained energy
with the increase in mass flow resulting in the decline of heat loss. Also,
the multiplication product of flow rate in temperature rise is so that the
energy absorption rate increases even when the flow rate is increased, so
the efficiency is improved [79]. Overall, the PTSC efficiency was
enhanced. As shown in Fig. 9a–d, the maximum PTSC efficiency for
water, CuO nanofluid 0.01, CuO nanofluid 0.05 and CuO nanofluid
Fig. 9. Collector efficiency with various flow rates: a) water, b) CuO nanofluid with volume fraction 0.01%, c) CuO nanofluid with volume fraction 0.05% and d)
CuO nanofluid with volume fraction 0.08%.
10
Applied Thermal Engineering 189 (2021) 116608
0.08% as the working fluid was increased to 49, 58, 67 and 71%
respectively when the volume flow rate of was enhanced to 5 lit/min.
Therefore, the ideal flow rate can be set at 5 lit/min.
An example of external factors is the effect of radiation on the effi­
ciency of the collector and its outlet temperature. According to the
Fig. 8, the higher the radiation is, the higher the outlet fluid temperature
of a collector will be so that the outlet fluid temperature shows a linear
relationship with the radiation level. Although higher radiation in­
creases the thermal efficiency of a PTSC, the relationship is not almost
linear because of the involvement of other factors affecting the effi­
ciency of the collector. Another example of external factors affecting the
efficiency of a collector is its surrounding environment temperature. If
the internal factors, e.g. inlet fluid temperature, coefficient of heat
transfer, and mass flow rate, are assumed to be constant, one can explore
the effect of environmental factors on the efficiency of the collector. In
spite of the use of suitable insulators, there is always heat loss from a
collector to the surrounding environment. So, the lower the temperature
difference between a collector and the surrounding environment, the
lower the heat losses and the higher the efficiency of the collector will
be. Thus, the increase in ambient temperature enhances the efficiency of
a collector and finally increases the outlet temperature of the collector
[80]. Fig. 9a–c represents this relationship. Therefore, the thermal
performance of the PTSC was described with respect to the ambient
temperature, the working fluid inlet temperature, and the solar
radiation.
M. Rezaeian et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 189 (2021) 116608

To compare the influence of different volume flow rates, the and converted to thermal energy. Moreover, it was found that
collected data were presented with linear equations to make certain increasing the volume fraction of nanoparticles causes an improvement
factors of the linear PTSC. Due to the difference between Ti and Ta, the in the effective thermal conductivity and leads to heat transfer coeffi­
thermal performance of the PTSC was lost with the increase cient enhancement. In other words, as the flow rate is increased, the
in(Ti − Ta )/Gb . This created a negative gradient in the graph, showing Reynolds number increases, thereby increasing the Brownian motion.
the rate of heat loss. The maximum efficiency of the collector was The force generated by the collision of particles and molecules of the
realized when Ti = Ta. In other words, in the Fig. 9a-c, the intersection of working fluid induces the Brownian motion of the particles and this
the trend with the vertical axis represents the maximum collector effi­ influences heat conductance remarkably [84]. Nanoparticles collide
ciency (η0 ). This point shows that the inlet fluid in the collector and the with the tube wall with the properties of Brownian motion and disper­
surrounding environment have the same temperature. In this graph, the sion, absorb heat, and go back to the mainly liquid part, which is good
slope presents the reachable energy from the collector, which is called as for heat transfer. Accordingly, the increase in the flow rate of the fluid
the utilization of energy parameter [75]. augments the contact of particles with heat surface and this enhances the
The efficiency parameters, FRUL and FR (τα), for three volume flow coefficient of heat transfer [85]. This behavior may be related to the
rates of various working fluids are expressed in Table 4. The comparison efficiency of the collector varying with working fluids. Since less energy
of Table 4 and Fig. 9 shows that efficiency increases with the increase in is dissipated at the volume flow rate of 5 lit/min for CuO nanofluid
flow rate irrespective of the working fluid type (water or nanofluid). 0.08%, the highest efficiency (71%) is related to this flow rate. The
This can be attributed to the fact that although the fluid undergoes maximum amount of energy loss is obtained from the volume flow rate
higher temperature rise at lower flow rates than at higher rates since the of 5 lit/min and the minimum from the volume flow rate of 1 lit/min in a
fluid resides in the collected for a longer time, the lower flow rates entail nanofluid.
more heat losses by displacement and radiance. So, when the flow rate is Table 4 shows that at the volume flow rate of 1 lit/min, the efficiency
increased, since the nanofluid is exposed to sunlight for a shorter time, is increased by 6, 13 and 18% when nanofluid with 0.01, 0.05 and
the heat loss to the outer environment is lessened and consequently, the 0.08% volume fraction is used as the working fluid respectively. Due to
collector efficiency is enhanced with the increase in flow rate. Overall, the energy loss (FRUL) is lower with copper oxide than with water. At a
the results of the experiments show that the PTSC efficiency is improved flow rate of 3 lit/min, in the temperature variation(Ti − Ta )/Gb > 0.05,
with the increase in volume flow rate. the nanofluid energy loss is greater than water, so the PTSC efficiency is
lower than when water is used. In other words, in the Fig. 9b, curves 1
lit/min and 3 lit/min intersect. The reason for that can be explained as
4.3. Effect of working fluid
for the higher value of the reduced temperature parameter, [(Ti - Ta )/
Gb ] the difference between the inlet temperature and ambient temper­
The highest aim encouraging researchers to use nanofluids (instead
ature increases. As sequence for that, the absorber surface of the col­
of common fluids) are their improved thermal properties. Convective
lector becomes hotter and lost more heat. Hence, the thermal loss
heat transfer and thermal efficiency are two important factors that are
coefficient is more for the flow rate of 3 lit/min [86]. in other words, the
needed to be increased to give a better performance in PTSC [81 and
slope of the diagram shows the amount of solar collector loss, due to at a
82]. CuO-H2O nanofluid with 0.01, 0.05 and 0.08% volume fraction was
flow rate of 3 lit/min, in the temperature variation
used in the PTSC as the working fluid to assess the influence of various
[(Ti - Ta )/Gb ] > 0.05, the nanofluid energy loss is greater than water,
flow rates from 1 to 5 lit/min. The results of copper oxide working fluid
so the PTSC efficiency is lower than when water is used. Therefore, two
are illustrated in Fig. 9b–d. The result reveals that, the thermal efficiency
curves intersect. Also, at a volume flow rate of 5 lit/min, the collector
for nanofluid-based solar collectors is higher compared with the con­
efficiency by using CuO nanofluid with 0.01, 0.05 and 0.08% volume
ventional models using base fluid. Also, addition of nanoparticles into
fraction is 9, 17 and and 21% higher than that of water respectively. It is
base fluids lead to the internal surface temperature of tube reduces [83].
evident from the experiments that at a given volume flow rate, the PTSC
Therefore, more solar radiation is absorbed by the nanofluid-receiver
efficiency is increased when a nanofluid is applied. This can be attrib­
uted to the fact that the heat conductivity of copper nanoparticles im­
Table 4 proves the heat conductivity of the nanofluid as compared to water and
Efficiency parameters of PTSC for three working fluids in various volume flow
the Brownian motion of the nanoparticle increases the coefficient of
rates.
convection heat transfer, thus the PTSC efficiency is improved [87].
Working fluid Q (lit/ η0 = R2 Also, at a constant flow rate, with increasing nanofluid volume
ηi = FR (τα) −
min) FR (τα)
(Ti − Ta )
concentration, the energy absorption rate is increased and thus the ef­
FR UL ficiency increases. Table 4 confirms this. Because of the fraction of
Gt
water 1 y = 0.32–2.23 x 0.32 0.90 incoming radiation absorbed by the fluid depends on its attenuation
Nanofluid y = 0.38–2.34 x 0.38 0.91 coefficient. When the nanofluid is used as the operating fluid, it’s
0.01% damping coefficient increases as the nanofluid volume component in­
Nanofluid y = 0.45–2.93 x 0.45 0.93 creases. At low volume fraction, little radiation is absorbed by the fluid
0.05%
Nanofluid y = 0.50–3.69 x 0.50 0.94
and the rest hits the wall and is reflected. As the volume fraction in­
0.08% creases, the amount of radiation absorbed by the fluid increases,
water 3 y = 0.42–2.11 x 0.42 0.93 resulting in an increase in the outlet fluid temperature, which results in
Nanofluid y = 0.51–3.98 x 0.51 0.91 higher efficiency. However, the efficiency increases with the increase of
0.01%
the nanofluid volume fraction to a certain extent and then does not
Nanofluid y = 0.57–4.97 x 0.57 0.95
0.05% change much, in other words it behaves independently of the volume
Nanofluid y = 0.61–4.78 x 0.61 0.96 fraction. The reason for this is that the highest amount of radiation is
0.08% absorbed at the upper surface, which results in an increase in temper­
water 5 y = 0.49–2.74 x 0.49 0.93 ature at the surface, thereby increasing heat dissipation to the sur­
Nanofluid y = 0.58–2.63 x 0.58 0.91
0.01%
rounding environment, reducing the positive effect of the attenuation
Nanofluid y = 0.67–3.72x 0.66 0.90 coefficient on efficiency. In other words, by increasing the nanofluid
0.05% concentration, the heat transfer coefficient of the agent fluid displace­
Nanofluid y = 0.71–3.63 x 0.71 0.97 ment is increased, and consequently, the overall heat transfer coefficient
0.08%
value is increased, which results in an increase in thermal dissipation

11
M. Rezaeian et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 189 (2021) 116608

due to the difference between the operating fluid temperature and the
ambient temperature. The graph slope shows the thermal loss coefficient
of the collector [79 and 67]. It is worth noting that theoretical and
experimental results presented by Fathabadi [88] demonstrate that
adding nanoparticles up to a specific percent to the working fluid en­
hances the thermal efficiency of the collector. But, adding more than
that decreases the thermal efficiency. In other words, adding CuO
nanoparticles more than specific value (about 2.9%) to distilled water
increases the viscosity and vaporization latent heat coefficient of the
working fluid too much, so that, the thermal efficiency reaches below
that provided by distilled water. Also, for the economic usage of nano­
particles, it should be clearly knowing the range of the reduced tem­
perature parameter, [(Ti - Ta )/Gb ] for the working collector as adding
more nanoparticles isn’t meaning that more efficiency is fulfilled [86].
Fig. 10 shows the relative effect of water and nanofluid for each flow
rate on the maximum efficiency of the PTSC of the solar collector. Using
copper oxide nanofluid along with distilled water is more effective at
higher flow rates than distilled water [89]. According to the Fig. 9, the
application of copper oxide nanofluid at a higher fluid rate and volume
fraction is more effective on efficiency, because at higher flow rates, the
disordered motion and collision of nanoparticles to the walls of the
Fig. 10. Improvement of collector efficiency when nanofluids are used as
copper tube increases resulting in much higher convection heat transfer. working fluid.
Finally, by looking at the literature and reviewing their results, it can
be concluded that the absorbent tube used in this study is more efficient
Finally, experimental results illustrated the effect of higher mass flow
than conventional absorbents. In other words, by comparing the present
rate on efficiency in the case of nanofluids. Study also remarked that the
results with the results of the Menbari et al. [90], Sharma and Kundan
increment of particle volume fraction and volume flow rate of nano­
[91], it is founded that efficiency of PTSC with CuO nanofluid 0.01% at
fluids could enhance heat transfer coefficient and thermal performance
flow rate 1 lit/min is about 11% higher than them.
of the PTSC.
In overall, the following reasons for modification in thermal per­
formance of PTSC by using nanofluids as the working fluid are [92–95]:
Declaration of Competing Interest
(1) Improved thermal conductivity of the nanofluids enhanced the
conductive heat transfer.
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
(2) Thermal conductivity is associated to the volume fraction of
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
nanoparticles. It can be indicated that adding more particles gives
the work reported in this paper.
to improved effective surface area for heat transfer. So, thermal
conductivity of nanoparticles increased the thermal conductivity
of the nanofluids. References
(3) Deposition of nanoparticles on the inner surfaces of absorber
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makes an artificial layer which increased the surface wettability, simultaneous generation of power and liquid CO2 using parabolic solar collectors,
capillary effect, thermal efficiency of the solar system, while it solid oxide fuel cell, and post-combustion CO2 separation unit, Appl. Therm. Eng.
179 (2020), 115687.
decreased thermal resistance by decreasing the bubble formation
[2] Joshua Fong, Zaid Alwan, Modelling to predict future energy performance of solar
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