Energy, exergy and economic assessments of shell and tube condenser using hybrid nanofluid as coolant

Abstract

The energy, exergy and economic assessments of a shell and tube condenser of 580 MW nuclear power plant have been carried out using different water-based hybrid nanofluids such as Al2O3 + MWCNT, Al2O3 + Ag, Al2O3 + Cu and Al2O3 + TiO2 as coolant. The effect of nanoparticle concentration on reductions of coolant requirement, pumping power and operating cost has been investigated. The results reveal that Al2O3 + MWCNT shows the highest reduction of coolant mass flow rate of 3.6%. The effectiveness of shell and tube condenser enhances with the addition of nanoparticles. The reduction of the pressure drop is maximum for Al2O3 + MWCNT hybrid nanofluid (5.8%) and minimum for Al2O3 + Ag (3.7%) at 1% volume concentration. Therefore, Al2O3 + MWCNT requires 11.2% less pumping power followed by Al2O3 + TiO2 (10.9%), Al2O3 + Cu (10.2%) and Al2O3 + Ag (9.6%) as compared to the base fluid. Al2O3 + Ag shows maximum (29.97%) and Al2O3 + MWCNT shows minimum (29.81%) second law efficiency at 1% volume concentration. Al2O3 + MWCNT hybrid nanofluid yields maximum saving of operating cost (11.1%) and Al2O3 + Ag shows minimum (9.62%) at 1% volume concentration. However, Al2O3 + Ag shows payback period about 247 years and Al2O3 + TiO2 about 9.8 years. Hence, the payback period needs to be reduced before practical implementation, which may be possible by reducing the nanoparticle cost and increasing nanofluid stability.