International Journal of Green Energy

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Investigations on an evacuated tube solar water

heater using hybrid-nano based organic phase
change material

P. Manoj Kumar , K. Mylsamy , Karthick Alagar & K. Sudhakar

To cite this article: P. Manoj Kumar , K. Mylsamy , Karthick Alagar & K. Sudhakar (2020)
Investigations on an evacuated tube solar water heater using hybrid-nano based organic
phase change material, International Journal of Green Energy, 17:13, 872-883, DOI:
10.1080/15435075.2020.1809426

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/15435075.2020.1809426

Published online: 25 Aug 2020.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GREEN ENERGY
2020, VOL. 17, NO. 13, 872–883
https://doi.org/10.1080/15435075.2020.1809426

Investigations on an evacuated tube solar water heater using hybrid-nano based

organic phase change material
a
P. Manoj Kumar , K. Mylsamyb, Karthick Alagar c
, and K. Sudhakard
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, India; bDepartment of Mechanical Engineering,
Adithya Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, India; cDepartment of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, KPR Institute of Engineering and
Technology, Coimbatore, India; dFaculty of Mechanical Engineering, University Malaysia Pahang, Pahang, Malaysia

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

This work explores the opportunities to address the setback in thermal energy storage of solar-based Received 17 May 2020
water heaters by uniting it with a suitable hybrid-nano composite phase change material (HNCPCM) in Accepted 10 August 2020
a static mode of operation. The experiments were conducted on a natural circulation all-glass evacuated KEYWORDS
solar water heating system (AGSWH). The investigation was steered in five cases such that the first case Evacuated tube collector;
without any phase change material (PCM), the second with pure paraffin as PCM, and remaining three phase change material;
cases with three different mass percentage of HNCPCMs (0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.0% mass fraction of hybrid hybrid-nano PCM; first law
nanoparticles within PCM) in real-time solar exposure. The system was analyzed based on the first efficiency; second law
and second law of thermodynamics to assess the performance in all the five cases. Erstwhile, the hybrid efficiency
nanoparticles were prepared by blending equal mass of SiO2 and CeO2 nanoparticles and characterized to
gauge its thermal storage properties. The achieved results substantiated that the thermal conductivity
had boosted with the accumulation of hybrid nanoparticles within the paraffin matrix, and maximum
enhancement of 65.56% was attained with 2.0% mass fraction. The first law and second law investigations
revealed that the incorporation of hybrid-nano composites improved the energy and exergy content of
the system, distinctly. Among the experimented cases, HNCPCM with 1.0 mass% of hybrid nanoparticles
remarkably yielded a better result of 19.4% and 1.28% improvement in energy and exergy efficiencies,
respectively. Besides, it evidenced the necessity of choosing the right quantity of nanoparticles for
achieving better overall results.

1. Introduction evacuated tubes (Tang and Yang 2014). Recent researches

proved that this issue would properly be addressed by incorpor­
Energy demand is everlastingly escalating every day due to
ating a suitable thermal storage medium within the system.
increased consumption patterns in various domestic and indus­
The thermal storing medium could be integrated with the
trial needs (Boafo, Kim, and Kim 2017; Karthick et al. 2020a).
collecting tubes (Feliński and Sekret 2017) or in the storage tanks
The energy is needed for different applications such as heat,
(Gurturk et al. 2017). They absorb the surplus energy during the
transport, lighting, and air-conditioning in our day to day life.
sunshine hours and disseminate the stored energy during the
Reddy et al. (2020) exposed that around fifty percent of the
absence of the sun; by the way, it improves the system efficiency.
world’s energy demand is for producing heat as end-use. In
The sensible heat and latent heat-storing mediums are the two
India, two-thirds of the total supplied energy is expended for
important types of thermal storages that have been widely inves­
engendering heat. This emphasizes the customization of solar
tigated by the researchers (Alva et al. 2017). The recent pieces of
energy, especially for harvesting heat, which in turn reduces the
the literature suggest employing latent heat storages as
very great quantity of conventional energy used for heating
a consequence of their better energy density, excellent thermal
applications. In recent decades, solar water heaters are becom­
properties, and fewer volume changes (Da Cunha and Eames
ing popular and considered to be a great alternative for electric
2016; Kumar et al. 2020a). Paraffin based organic PCMs are the
heaters in satisfying the hot water demand for various needs.
most recommended latent heat stowing candidates that possess
Amongst the different types of domestic solar water heaters,
superior energy storage to volume ratio, wide operating tem­
natural circulation AGSWHs are widely spreading, because of
peratures, nontoxic, non-corrosive, good chemical constancy,
their efficient operation and simple construction (Liu et al. 2017;
high thermal stability and less price (Kumar et al. 2019a;
Mazarrón et al. 2016). However, the drawback of the solar water
Murali, Mayilsamy, and Arjunan 2015). Nevertheless, paraffin
heaters is that they are lacking in matching the demand and
has a substandard thermal conductivity between 0.15 W/mK and
supply in most of the time as their operation is depending on
0.2 W/mK (Kumar et al. 2019b). This affects their heat transfer­
the availability of the sun (Papadimitratos et al. 2016) and heat
ring competencies, especially for solar thermal applications
losses (Krishnavel, Karthick, and Murugavel 2014), explicitly
which require a fast-charging material due to the limited avail­
un-avoidable night losses due to nocturnal reverse flow in
ability of the source (Karthick et al. 2020b). However, the

CONTACT P. Manoj Kumar pasupathimanojkumar@gmail.com Department of Mechanical Engineering, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Coimbatore - 641407, Tamilnadu, India
© 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

addition of highly conductive nanoparticles at low mass percen­
tages can confidently advance the thermal conductivity of PCMs
(Kumar et al. 2020b; Leong, Rahman, and Gurunathan 2019)
Lokesh et al. (2017) reported a 29% augmented thermal
conductivity in paraffin and a 42% descent in crystallization
time by diffusing 0.9 weight fraction of Multi-walled carbon
nanotubes (MWCNTs) in paraffin. Yang et al. (2016)
affirmed that the addition of silicon nitride particles ampli­
fied the paraffin’s thermal conductivity by 56.8%. In
another investigation, it was found that the paraffin with
carbon nanotubes had improved the cooling rate of electro­
nic chipset by 6% (Farzanehnia et al. 2019). Mahdi and
Nsofor (2016) employed aluminum oxide nanoparticles
with paraffin for studying its heat transfer characteristics
in a triplex-tube. They ended up with an 8% to 20% saving
in heating and cooling period of paraffin, which confirmed
the thermal enhancement of the paraffin, due to the pre­
sence of aluminum oxide nanoparticles.
The recent reviews revealed that the dispersion of hybrid
nanoparticles (comprising two distinct nanoparticles)
within the base liquid had resulted in a better enhancement
in its thermal conductivity related to the dispersion of
a single type of nanoparticle (Ghalambaz et al. 2017;
Sundar et al. 2017). Chamkha et al. (2017) numerically
examined the single and hybrid nanoparticles based PCMs
in a square cavity. They determined that conductivity para­
meter of the hybrid nanoparticles based PCM was higher
and they had been more efficient than the single nanopar­
ticles based PCM for thermal energy storage. Another paper
recently claimed that the paraffin with nano-hybrid of
expanded graphite with MWCNTs, and with carbon nano-
fibers enriched paraffin’s thermal conductivity to 60% and
21.2%, respectively when compared to using a single type of
nano-additive (Qu et al. 2020). The potential of SiO2 nano­
particles (Manoj Kumar, Mylsamy, and Saravanakumar
2019) and CeO2 nanoparticles (Sharafeldin and Grof 2018)
to improve the heat transfer characteristics of base fluids
have already been reported in the pieces of literature.
However, the experimental studies about hybrid nanoparti­
cles based PCMs and their real-time applications are defi­
cient in the presented literature. Likewise, the experimental
evidence on solar water heaters with hybrid-nano compo­
site PCM (HNCPCM) had not appeared in any previous
works of literature. This encourages the authors to explore
the possibilities, in improving the performance of a natural
circulation AGSWH with a support of hybrid-nano compo­
site PCM.
Table 1. Constituents used for PCM-based thermal energy storage in different cases of experiments.
Thermal energy
Cases storage Composition in mass %
Case 1 Nil
Case 2 PCM (Pure paraffin)
Case 3 HNCPCM 1 99.5% paraffin + 0.25% SiO2 nanoparticles + 0.25% CeO2
Case 4 HNCPCM 2 99% paraffin + 0.5% SiO2 nanoparticles + 0.5% CeO2
Case 5 HNCPCM 3 98% paraffin + 1.0% SiO2 nanoparticles + 1.0% CeO2
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GREEN ENERGY 873
In this work, a synergetic combination of HNCPCM had
prepared by disbanding equal mass fraction of SiO2 and CeO2
nanoparticles (the combination of two ceramic nanoparticles)
in paraffin at three progressive mass percentages (0.5, 1.0, and
2.0 mass fraction of hybrid-nano particles inside paraffin
matrix) and their thermal storage characteristics were studied
with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermal
properties tester. Then, the performance of the AGSWH had
assessed in terms of the first and second law efficiencies by
integrating it with PCM and HNCPCMs. The investigation
had been piloted in five diversified cases viz., without PCM,
with PCM (pure paraffin), and with three different mass
percentages of HNCPCM.
2. Experimental work
2.1. Synthesizing and characterizing hybrid-nano
composite PCM (HNCPCM)
The experiment on AGSWH was intended to be conducted in
five cases, such that without PCM, with PCM (pure paraffin) and
with three different mass percentages of HNCPCM (0.5, 1.0, and
2.0 mass fraction of hybrid-nanoparticles within paraffin) in static
mode of operation. In static mode, the storage tank had been
filled with the required quantity of water and kept unchanged
until the end of the experiment. The reason for choosing the
combination of SiO2 and CeO2 nanoparticles was that they had
been recognized for their compatibility, chemical stability, and
their synergetic effect by Zhao et al. (2019). In this investigation,
an equal mass of SiO2 and CeO2 nanoparticles were blended to
prepare the HNCPCMs. The composition of phase change mate­
rials used in five cases of the investigation is presented in Table 1.
The required mass of SiO2 and CeO2 nanoparticles were taken
and blended thoroughly for better mixing of the particles while
preparing HNCPCM for each of the last three cases. The experi­
mentation required a total of 56 kg paraffin for the last four cases.
The commercial-grade paraffin with the suitable melting tem­
perature range had obtained through Sun chemicals, Covai.
Nano-SiO2 particles having an average size of 15 nm received
from Sisco Research Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, and CeO2
nanoparticles with 15 nm particle size had been supplied by
Thermo Fisher Scientific India Private Limited, Mumbai. The
complete experimentation obliged 245 gms of SiO2 nanoparticles
and 245 gms of CeO2 nanoparticles. Thermo-physical properties
of PCM and two different nanoparticles are given in Table 2.
The aluminum containers were used for encapsulating the
PCM and HNCPCMs. Pure paraffin pellets were primarily
Composition in mass (gms)
Not Applicable Not Applicable
100% paraffin 14000 paraffin
13930 paraffin + 35 SiO2 nanoparticles + 35 CeO2
nanoparticles nanoparticles
13860 paraffin + 70 SiO2 nanoparticles + 70 CeO2
nanoparticles nanoparticles
13720 paraffin + 140 SiO2 nanoparticles + 140 CeO2
nanoparticles nanoparticles
874 P. MANOJ KUMAR ET AL.
Table 2. Thermo-physical properties of paraffin and nanoparticles.
Properties Paraffin
Melting point (°C) 58 – 64
Thermal Conductivity (W/mK) 0.180
liquefied at 75°C using a bath containing hot water and care­
fully transported to aluminum container and encapsulated for
the case two experiments. HNCPCM (for cases three, four, and
five) with different mass percentages of hybrid-nanoparticles
was fabricated in the two-step method (Kumar and Mylsamy
2019). Initially, the pure paraffin was heated and simulta­
neously agitated in a magnetic stirrer at 75°C. The prepared
hybrid nanoparticles were gradually and steadily dispensed
inside the melted paraffin with the incessant stirring action
and further prolonged for one hour. Additionally, the prepared
HNCPCM moved to an ultrasonicator and perpetually two
more hours sonicated for ensuring the proper dispersion of
the nanoparticles inside the paraffin matrix.
The laboratory experiment was executed on the prepared
HNCPCM samples for determining the stability of suspending
nanoparticles within the paraffin matrix. For this purpose, the
samples were interminably heated and kept in a liquid phase
for eight hours within the borosilicate beakers. During this
investigation, no observable sedimentation was identified.
Further, the stability of samples had been verified for the
multiple thermal cycles by recurrently heating and cooling
them for fifty thermal cycles. Even then, insignificant sedimen­
tation was noticed in the samples. The stability of HNCPCMs
was ascribed to the chosen parameters such as usage of low
mass fraction and smaller sized nanoparticles, high viscosity
and trivial volume change of paraffin, and prolonged sonica­
tion of HNCPCMs (Venkateshwar et al. 2019). Further, the
prepared HNCPCMs had also been encapsulated within the
Figure 1. Photographic view of (a) Experimental set-up (b) Position of encapsulating container inside the storage tank.
Materials
SiO2 nanoparticles CeO2 nanoparticles
1713 2600
1.5 12
aluminum containers, as in the case of pure paraffin for
AGSWH experiments.
DSC executed on pure paraffin and HNCPCM samples to
measure their thermal storage characteristics. The instrument
used for obtaining DSC results was DSC 6000 type with Pyris 6
DSC arrangement (instrument accuracy is ±2% and optimal
sensitivity at 5°C/min of scanning rate). The thermal conduc­
tivity of the PCM and HNCPCMs was deliberated by means of
a KD2 Pro thermal properties analyzer with a proposed accu­
racy of ±0.01 W/mK with a standard sensitivity.
2.2. Experimental set-up
A single domestic, natural circulation AGSWH with an assimi­
lated water stowage tank had been used for the investigations.
The exterior portion of the central tubes in the evacuated
collectors was layered by means of solar selective covering
(absorptivity 0.94, emissivity 0.045, and transmittance 0.9 in
accordance with MNRE STD 01:2013). The capacity of the
water tank was designed to store 100 liters of water even after
accommodating the PCM/HNCPCM container.
The collecting tank of the AGSWH was made with a lid at
the top, in such a way that it would be easily accessible for
integrating PCM/HNCPCM containers inside it. The experi­
mented solar water heater set-up is presented in Figure 1. The
solar water heater installed in Coimbatore, a Southern part of
India, situated at 10.98° north and 76.96° east. The evacuated
tubes were placed at the tilt angle of 26°, facing south to get the
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GREEN ENERGY 875

maximum benefit out of solar radiation, as stated in the litera­ 2.4. First and second law analysis
ture (Bracamonte et al. 2015; Tang, Yang, and Gao 2011). The
The water present inside evacuated pipes gets heated through
technical specification of the solar water heater is given in
the incident solar radiation during sunshine hours. The heated
Table 3.
water further moves upward into the tank due to natural
currents and the tank water heated by thermosyphon circula­
2.3. Experimental procedure tion of heated water. Simultaneously, a portion of energy has
been absorbed by PCM/HNCPCM during high solar hours.
The experiments were conducted in the outdoor environment This stored energy has to be released during the off-sunshine
of the South Indian weather conditions from January to March hours, which further heats the neighboring water during the
of 2019. As discussed in the previous section, the investigation nonexistence of the sun. The subsequent assumptions have
had been conducted in the AGSWH in five cases. The first case made during the analysis.
was without any PCM, the second was with PCM (paraffin
alone), and the remaining three cases were with three (1) The collector tubes have expected to be in a steady-state
HNCPCMs at aforesaid mass percentages using the fabricated condition.
experimental set-up on clear solar days. The observations were (2) The ambient condition is considered as dead state.
noted down for 12 hours during all the cases, starting from 6 (3) Thermo-physical characteristics of fluids have imagined
a.m. in the morning and ending at 6 p.m. in the evening (till the being constant at the entire temperature range.
sunset). Initially, the tank was charged with fresh water by (4) The homogeneous heating is assumed through the
morning 6 a.m. during the commencement of the experiment entire length of the collector tube.
for each case. Then, the readings such as water temperature (5) The heat conduction is considered as insignificant
inside the tank, PCM/HNCPCM temperature, atmospheric between the outer and the inner absorber tube com­
temperature, and instantaneous solar radiation were noted pared to radiation.
down in an hourly interval for the next 12 hours, and the (6) The PCM/HNCPCM is homogeneous.
calculations had been executed to evaluate the efficiency of
the AGSWH for the five cases. The process of calculating the first and the second law efficien­
The six numbers of K-type thermocouples were installed to cies is explained in further sections.
notice the temperatures at different spots. Three thermocou­
ples had positioned inside the water tank in such a way that one
at the bottom, one at the top water surface, and the third one at 2.4.1. First law investigation
the halfway of those two thermocouples. The average of these The first law investigation chiefly involves the quantitative
three thermocouples had been considered being bulk water measure of the thermodynamic system’s energy conversion
temperature. Two thermocouples were fixed inside the encap­ efficiency. The first law efficiency of the system is represented
sulating container (one at the center, and another one at the as given below:
upper circumference) to measure PCM/HNCPCM tempera­ Qsys
ture and one more thermocouple was employed outside to ηc ¼ � 100 (1)
Qin
monitor the atmospheric temperature. Then, the mounted
thermocouples were linked to a digital temperature converter The energy stored in the system is written as (Bracamonte et al.
with an accurate LED display, as shown in the pictorial repre­ 2015)
sentation of the experimental set-up in Figure 2.
Qsys ¼ Qw þ Qpcm (2)
The solar radiation was perceived with the help of a solar
radiation meter (TES-1333 make and reading accuracy Further, the energy stored in the water and in the PCM can be
±10.0 W/m2). As the different case of the experiment was calculated from the following equations (Kumar and Mylsamy
carried out on a single experimental set-up, each case of the 2019):
experiments had been accompanied for a minimum of five �
clear-sky solar days to confirm the repeatability of the measure­ Qw ¼ mw � Cp;w Tw;f Tw;i (3)
ment. Afterward, the observed readings on similar solar days
(having similar pattern and daily radiation) were taken for � � �
Qpcm ¼ mpcm Cp;pcm Tpcm;f Tpcm;i þ am Δhpcm (4)
further analysis to estimate the efficiency of the AGSWH.

Table 3. Components used in the experimented solar water heater.

Components Description Count
Evacuated tubes Internal radius 23.5 mm & External radius 29 mm with 1800 mm height 10 Nos.
Inner drum size of water storage tank 570 mm diameter & 1020 mm length 1 No.
Outer drum size of water storage tank 670 mm diameter & 1120 mm length 1 No.
Tank insulation Polyurethane foam of 50 mm thickness -
Leakage casket Silicone rubber 10 Nos.
Material of the Evacuated tubes Borosilicate glass -
Solar selective coating AlN/AlN-SS/Cu -
876 P. MANOJ KUMAR ET AL.

Figure 2. Schematic representation of the experimental set-up with instrumentation.

The thermal energy experienced by AGSWH tubes for 2.5. Uncertainty analysis
a particular interval of period has obtained from
Some form of uncertainties may emerge in any experiment due
Qin ¼ Ac � Ht (5) to inaccuracies in measuring instruments, calibration errors,
and data processing errors. For endorsing the correctness of
the experimental results, uncertainty analysis needs to be estab­
2.4.2. Second law investigation lished. In this experiment, thermocouples were used for mea­
The second law investigation gives the true measure of avail­ suring the temperature with an uncertainty of ±0.4%, and
able energy in a thermal system. It deals with the quality of a solar power meter with a possible uncertainty of ±5.0% was
energy conversion, considering all the types of irreversibilities. used to observe the solar radiation, as expressed in the manu­
The efficiency based on the second law of thermodynamics is facturer’s manual. The standard uncertainty in the experimen­
also called exergy efficiency, which can be given as (Kumar, tation can be premeditated as in the following expression (Li
Babu, and Mohanraj 2016) et al. 2016):
Exsys vffi"ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi#ffiffi
Ψ¼ � 100 (6) u n � �2
u X δxi
Exin σ¼t (11)
i¼1
xi
The exergy content is critically liable to the atmospheric con­
ditions. The exergy stored in the system is the sum of exergy
Though the experiments for each case were repeated for several
stored in water and in PCM, and it is expressed as (Saidur et al.
days to assure the precision in results, some form of uncertain­
2012)
ties would possibly emerge from the measuring instruments.
Exsys ¼ Exw þ Expcm (7) These uncertainties would affect the calculated efficiencies of
the system. From the Equation (11), the uncertainties asso­
In the Equation (7), the useful exergy of water and PCM have ciated with the first and the second law efficiencies had been
calculated as (Petela 2003) predicted as 1.222% and 1.286%, respectively, which are in the
� � �� accepted level of deviation.
� Tw;f
Exw ¼ mw � Cp;w Tw;f Tw;i Ta ln (8)
Tw;i
� � 3. Results and discussion
Ta
Expcm ¼ Qpcm 1 (9) 3.1. Material characterization of HNCPCMs
Tpcm
The exergy absorbed by the collector tubes from the sun, DSC was performed on the HNCPCM samples at the rate
during a time period is given by (Petela 2003) of 5°C/min by supplying nitrogen at 20 ml/min to ascertain
" the accuracy and precision of the DSC results. The tem­
� � � �#
1 Ta 4 4 Ta perature of the samples was raised steadily from 30°C to
Exin ¼ Ac Ht 1 þ (10) 80°C and held at 80°C for a minute before cooling it. DSC
3 Tsun 3 Tsun
results of PCM and HNCPCMs have been illustrated, as
In the Equation (10), the sun surface temperature (Tsun ) is shown in Figure 3. DSC plots demonstrate that the disper­
presumed as 5600 K for the calculations. sion of hybrid nanoparticles lessened the melting point and
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GREEN ENERGY 877

Figure 3. DSC plot of the PCM and HNCPCM samples.

boosted the solidification point of paraffin, which showed that the thermal transport behavior of the paraffin had
that the degree of supercooling had curtailed by the addi­ enriched with the amplified quantity of the hybrid
tion of hybrid nanoparticles and the maximum reduction in nanoparticles. Judiciously perceiving, the percentage
supercooling of 2.71°C had attained with HNCPCM 2. advancement in thermal conductivity became non-
Contrariwise, latent heat content was in an undesirable linear, as reported by Lin and Al-Kayiem (2016), attri­
trend with the loading of nanoparticles. A similar outcome butable to the high degree of particles’ agglomeration at
was obtained by Lin and Al-Kayiem (2016) when they the upper mass percentages (Kumar et al. 2020d).
studied the paraffin with copper nanoparticles. The highest
loss in latent heat had been characterized by the paraffin
with 2.0% mass of hybrid nanoparticles (HNCPCM 3), as 3.2. Thermodynamic investigations on AGSWH system
shown in Table 4, which agreed to the upshots of Bahiraei,
As mentioned in earlier sections, the experimentations were
Fartaj, and Nazri (2017) who had studied the influence of
repeated with the single experimental set-up on several days
carbon-based nanoparticles on paraffin.
for each case to ascertain the precision in observations and
KD2 Pro analyzer uses a transient line heat source to
further, the days having identical solar insolation trends
get the results, which was suggested being the best
(Figure 4) and atmospheric conditions (Figure 5) had
method of measuring nanofluids’ thermal conductivity
been considered for the thermodynamic analysis. The
(Keyvani et al. 2018; Kumar et al. 2020c). Attained
solar radiation was found to be increasing from the morn­
thermal conductivities of the pure paraffin and
ing to noon and declined steadily until the evening, as
HNCPCM samples and their percentage improvements
illustrated in Figure 4, for all the cases of experiments.
have presented in Table 5. Recent work indicated that
The maximum radiation had recorded in the late noon
thermal conductivity had enhanced up to 33.34% by
during the days of experiments. The variation in PCM/
mixing 2.0% mass of SiO 2 nanoparticles within the par­
HNCPCM temperature had observed for all the cases and
affin matrix (Manoj Kumar, Mylsamy, and
presented in Figure 6. It could have observed that the
Saravanakumar 2019), which is evidentially 32.22%
PCM/HNCPCM temperature increased steeply between 11
lower than values reported in this present investigation.
a.m. and 2 p.m. due to the excessive energy available at this
It is an unblemished witness of hybrid nanoparticles’
time frame. The results were carefully noted down and
synergetic potential in improving the thermal character­
discussed in the following sections.
istics of paraffin. Further, it could be comprehended

Table 4. Thermo-physical properties of PCM and HNCPCMs.

Thermal Storage medium
Thermo-physical properties PCM (Pure paraffin) HNCPCM 1 HNCPCM 2 HNCPCM 3
Melting point (°C) 63.74 63.27 62.81 63.09
Latent heat during melting (kJ/kg) 140.2 136.1 133.7 111.2
Solidification point (°C) 57.01 57.06 58.79 58.21
Latent heat during solidification (kJ/kg) 134.6 129.4 127.8 95.4
Degree of super cooling (°C) 6.73 6.21 4.02 4.88
878 P. MANOJ KUMAR ET AL.

Table 5. Thermal conductivity of PCM and HNCPCMs.
Thermal conduc­
Materials tivity (W/mK)
PCM (Pure paraffin) 0.18
HNCPCM 1 0.231
HNCPCM 2 0.26
HNCPCM 3 0.298
3.2.1. First law investigation on the system in different
cases
The energy transfiguration of the system has been dealt with
and deliberated by the first law examination. The flow inside
the tubes is due to the thermosyphon effect and governed by
density variation. During the process, the hot water continu­
ously moves up inside the tank absorbing solar radiation,
whereas the warm water moves down the tubes, and a natural
current is prevailing.
Figure 7 illustrates the disparity in the hourly energy effi­
ciency of the system for all five cases. The variations followed
the bell-shaped curves for all the cases. Predominantly, the first
and second cases (without PCM and with pure paraffin)
showed the gradual increase in energy efficiency till noon and
slowly dipped down after reaching the highest value. Distinctly,
the other three cases (with different mass percentages hybrid
nanoparticles) maintained a high hourly efficiency than the
previous two cases; it is an indication of enrichment in heat
transport properties of the paraffin with hybrid nanoparticles.
The highest hourly efficiency had noticed around 2 p.m. during
all the cases of the experiment. It shows that the PCM/
HNCPCM was its peak energy-absorbing mode in terms of
phase change, during the aforementioned period.
The highest hourly efficiency had noticed as 87.77% for the
fourth case (with HNCPCM 2), followed by 86.63%, 85.04%,
84.87%, and 76.18% for the fifth, third, second and first cases
(with HNCPCM 3, with HNCPCM 1, with paraffin, and with­
out PCM), respectively. It vividly illustrates that the
incorporation of PCM/HNCPCM improved the thermal sto­
Percentage improvement in rage capacity of the AGSWH to a larger extent. Figure 8
Thermal conductivity (%) demonstrates the daily energy efficiency achieved for the dif­
0
28.33
ferent cases of the experiment. The maximum efficiency
44.44 attained as 78.14% for HNCPCM 2. It is 19.4% higher than
65.56 the first case, 8.5% more than that of the second case, 2.58%
superior than HNCPCM 1, and 0.22% (closely same) surplus
than HNCPCM 3.
Al-Kayiem and Lin (2014) conducted a similar kind of
experiment on a flat plate collector for different inclinations.
They mixed copper nanoparticles alone with paraffin to pre­
pare a nanocomposite PCM and integrated the same with the
collector plate. They claimed the improvement in the efficiency
of the flat plate collector as 4.4% for nanocomposite PCM,
which was very nominal and 15% lesser than the present
work. Another work reported a 16.04% enhancement of energy
efficiency when integrating nano-SiO2 composite PCM with
a similar kind of system, which is also 4.36% inferior to this
present experimental result (Kumar and Mylsamy 2019).
Hence, it unveiled that the use of hybrid nanoparticles in
paraffin and integrating it inside the storage tank would be
more beneficial. Further, it could have understood that by
adding nanoparticles more than 1.0 mass% would not further
complement the performance of the system, on the other hand,
it may end up in additional material cost. The reduced perfor­
mance of the system at higher mass percentages of nanoparti­
cles would have accredited to the deterioration of latent heat
stowage of base PCM at a higher mass of nanoparticles, and it
could have clarified from Table 4 that the declination in par­
affin’s latent heat was substantial while adding 2.0 mass frac­
tion of hybrid nanoparticles in it.
3.2.2. Second law investigation on the system in different
cases
Second law efficiency was calculated based on the exergy con­
tent of the thermodynamic system with regard to reference

1000
Instantaneous Solar Radiation (W/m2)

800

600

400

200
24.01.19 (Without PCM)
03.02.19 (With PCM)
19.02.19 (With HNCPCM 1)
0 05.03.19 (With HNCPCM 2)
16.03.19 (With HNCPCM 3)

Time of the Day (Hour)

Figure 4. Variation of solar radiation during the days of the experiment.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GREEN ENERGY 879

39

36

Atmospheric Temperature (°C)

33

30

27

24 24.01.19 (Without PCM)

03.02.19 (With PCM)
19.02.19 (With HNCPCM 1)
21
05.03.19 (With HNCPCM 2)
16.03.19 (With HNCPCM 3)
18

Time of the Day (Hours)

Figure 5. Variation of atmospheric temperature during the days of the experiment.

70
Temperature of PCM (03.02.19)
65 Temperature of HNCPCM 1 (19.02.19)
Temperature of HNCPCM 2 (05.03.19)
Temperature of HNCPCM 3 (16.03.19)
Temperature Variation (°C)

60

55

50

45

40

35

30

25

Time of the Day (Hour)

Figure 6. Variation of PCM/HNCPCM temperature during the days of the experiment.

atmospheric conditions. It depends on the quality of energy
availability. Usually, energy is conserved, but exergy is accu­
mulated. High exergy efficiency indicates the higher-level per­
formance of the system.
Figure 9 depicts the variation in hourly exergy efficiency
during the experiment for all five cases. The hourly exergy
efficiency had slowly and steadily increased and rapidly fell
down after attaining its extreme height at around 2 p.m. for
all the cases of the experiment. It divulged that the exergy
content of the system had increased during the charging of
the PCM/HNCPCM, and then started falling after the ultimate
charging of PCM/HNCPCM. The maximum hourly exergy
efficiency acknowledged as 7.68% for the fourth case
(HNCPCM 2). Whereas for the first, second, third, and fifth
cases, it was observed as 5.62%, 6.76%, 7.24%, and 7.58%,
respectively. Again, similar to energy efficiency, the exergy
efficiency of the AGSWH had also improved with the help of
PCM/HNCPCM, as recommended by Gurturk et al. (2017).
Relatively, the smaller value of exergy efficiency shows the high
irreversibilities and low exergy content of the system.
880 P. MANOJ KUMAR ET AL.

100

90

80

Energy efficiency (%)

70

60

50

40

30
Without PCM (24.01.19)
20 With PCM (03.02.19)
With HNCPCM 1 (19.02.19)
10
With HNCPCM 2 (05.03.19)
0 With HNCPCM 3 (16.03.19)

Time of the Day (Hour)

Figure 7. Variation of hourly energy efficiency during the days of the experiment.

Figure 8. Daily energy efficiency for the five cases of the experiment.

Figure 10 shows the comparison of daily exergy efficiency
(second law efficiency) of the AGSWH among different cases of
experimentation. The maximum value of daily exergy effi­
ciency was showcased as 4.8% by the system with HNCPCM
2 (fourth case). It was 1.28% superior to the first case (without
PCM), 0.84% more than the second case (with pure paraffin),
0.44% higher than the third case (with HNCPCM 1), and 0.39%
higher than the fifth case (HNCPCM 3). Concerning exergy
efficiency, even a very small improvement in exergy efficiency
would ensure the substantial improvement in the performance
of the AGSWH. Hence, the assessments sturdily exemplify that
the incorporation of PCM and further with HNCPCM
impressively enhanced the quality of energy content in the
system. Precisely, the paraffin impregnated with 1.0 mass% of
hybrid nanoparticles (HNCPCM 2) provided better exergy
efficiency, compared to all the other cases. The second law
efficiency also evidenced that adding more than 1.0% mass of
hybrid nanoparticles would not further supplement the perfor­
mance of the AGSWH system. Despite supreme thermal
conductivity, the HNCPCM 3 could not able to deliver the
expected performance when integrated with AGSWH, due to
deterioration in the latent heat content of the paraffin at higher
mass fractions.
4. Conclusion
The AGSWH with an assimilated storage tank was fabricated
and exposed for the experimentation in five different cases, i.e.,
without PCM, with paraffin as PCM and with three composi­
tions of HNCPCMs (0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0% mass fraction of
hybrid nanoparticles within paraffin), under the real-time sun­
shine condition at Coimbatore, a Southern part of India. Equal
mass of SiO2 and CeO2 nanoparticles had used for preparing
HNCPCMs. The following conclusions have arrived after the
careful investigation:
● The dissemination of hybrid nanoparticles effectively
reformed the fusion and crystallization point of paraffin
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GREEN ENERGY 881

8 Without PCM (24.01.19)

With PCM (03.02.19)
7 With HNCPCM 1 (19.02.19)
With HNCPCM 2 (05.03.19)
6 With HNCPCM 3 (16.03.19)

Exergy Efficiency (%)

5

Time of the Day (Hour)

Figure 9. Variation of hourly exergy efficiency during the days of the experiment.

Figure 10. Daily exergy efficiency for the five cases of the experiment.

to curtail the supercooling. Likewise, the thermal conduc­ ● From the perception of daily energy and exergy efficiency,
tivity was improved by 28.34%, 44.45%, and 65.56%, with it is obviously ascertained that the paraffin with 1.0 mass
0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mass fractions of hybrid nanoparticles, % of hybrid nanoparticles is recommendable for extract­
respectively. ing maximum performance from the AGSWH under
● The daily energy efficiency of AGSWH was improved by natural circulation. Further, the results proved that the
10.9%, 16.82%, 19.4%, and 19.18%, with PCM, HNCPCM hybrid nanoparticles in paraffin fashioned a synergetic
1, HNCPCM 2, and HNCPCM 3, respectively. combination, and extensively improved the performance
Predominantly, the case with HNCPCM 2 had accom­ of the AGSWH compared to single type nanoparticles
plished maximum efficiency. Hence, the deliberations found in the literature.
ascertained that the assimilation of PCM/HNCPCM
adorned the thermal energy storage of the AGSWH
system. List of symbols
● The daily exergy efficiency of AGSWH was improved by
0.44%, 0.84%, 1.28%, and 0.89%, with PCM, HNCPCM 1, Ac Effective collecting area of the collector tubes (m2)
HNCPCM 2, and HNCPCM 3, respectively. Again, the am Liquefied portion of PCM (%)
maximum exergy improvement had observed in the case Cp,pcm Specific heat capacity of PCM (kJ/kg K)
Cp,w Specific heat capacity of water (kJ/kg K)
with HNCPCM 2. These outcomes proved that the inte­ Exin Exergy input to the system (kJ)
gration of PCM/HNCPCM enriched the exergy content Expcm Exergy stowed by PCM (kJ)
of the system. (Continued)
882 P. MANOJ KUMAR ET AL.

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MNRE Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
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