A review of inclusion of nanofluids on the attainment of different types of solar collectors

Abstract

Energy is a basic necessity of survival on the planet earth. One of the most promising and excellent way of harnessing the solar energy is the implications of solar collectors. Sun is readily available for such kind of applications throughout the year. A large scale solar concentrator plant is required to convert sun energy into heat energy. This task is accomplished by various kind of solar collectors loaded with various kinds of nanofluids. In this work, the effect of introduction of different kinds of nano-particles mixed with base fluids in various kinds of solar collectors has been discussed. The search for the increment of heat gain of solar collectors lead the researchers to the use of various kinds of nanofluids such as carbon nanofluid, aluminum oxides nanofluid, silver nanofluid, copper oxide nanofluid and many more together with working liquid. It has been observed that the output increases several times by the inclusion of nanofluids as a working fluid in solar collectors. Therefore, various studies are underway to prove the importance of nanofluids as a base fluid in different types of collectors to seek the optimal action of nanofluids in different collectors. Lots of nanofluids are categorized according to the performance they give when they are used as an alternate fluid along with base fluids in solar stills. The action of some available nanofluids as a working fluid in different collectors has been reviewed in this article followed by the conclusion based on study.