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Simultaneous use of TiO2/oil nanofluid and metallic-insert as enhancement of an evacuated tube solar water heater

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Abstract

Solar water heaters represent a crucial component of sustainable energy systems, offering the potential to reduce energy costs and limit carbon emissions. This study focuses on the investigation of energy and exergy efficiency enhancement in evacuated tube solar water heaters deployed in the hot climate of Dezful, Iran. Specifically, the study evaluates the impact of engine-oil as a circulation fluid within copper U-tubes positioned inside evacuated tubes, with the addition of TiO2 nanoparticles in two concentrations (0.2 mass% and 0.4 mass%). Additionally, the study assesses the effectiveness of a metallic twisted tape insert within the U-tubes to augment the heat transfer rate, with the aim of improving the overall efficiency and performance of the system. In the assessments, the thermal efficiency diagram was divided by three phases and the behavior of each one was elaborated. As results, employing metallic-insert leads to 1.5 °C more water temperature. Moreover, 5.6 °C difference between 0.4 mass% TiO2 + insert and the base case was observed in the evening which results in 24.4% and 25.52% higher thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency, respectively.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area (m2)

C p :

Specific heat (J kg−1 K−1)

EX:

Exergy (W)

G :

Solar irradiation (W m−2)

P :

Power (W)

\(\dot{{\varvec{Q}}}\) :

Heat emitted to the surrounding (W)

S :

Entropy generation (W K−1)

T :

Temperature (°C)

V :

Voltage (V)

ΔT :

Temperature difference (°C)

\(\dot{m}\) :

Flow rate of circulating nanofluid (kg s−1)

f :

Fluid

\(\eta\) :

Energy efficiency (%)

\(\Psi\) :

Exergy efficiency (%)

\(\rho\) :

Density (kg m−3)

\(\phi\) :

Mass concentration (%)

amb:

Ambient

i:

Input

o:

Output

sun:

Sun

th:

Thermal

sky:

Sky

el:

Electrical

Lost:

Lost

gen:

Generation

pump:

Pump

np:

Nano particle

nf:

Nanofluid

bf:

Base fluid

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Jundi-Shapur University of Technology, Dezful, Iran

    Marzieh Lotfi & Mostafa Ali-Sinaei

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jundi-Shapur University of Technology, Dezful, Iran

    Mohammad Firoozzadeh

  3. Renewable Energy Laboratory, Jundi-Shapur University of Technology, Dezful, Iran

    Mohammad Firoozzadeh

Authors
  1. Marzieh Lotfi
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  2. Mohammad Firoozzadeh
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  3. Mostafa Ali-Sinaei
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Contributions

ML: Supervision, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Writing-Review & Editing. MF: Methodology, Writing-Original Draft, Visualization. MA-S: Investigation, Visualization.

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Correspondence to Marzieh Lotfi.

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Lotfi, M., Firoozzadeh, M. & Ali-Sinaei, M. Simultaneous use of TiO2/oil nanofluid and metallic-insert as enhancement of an evacuated tube solar water heater. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 9633–9647 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-023-12339-2

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