Investigating the effects of using MgO-CuO/water hybrid nanofluid in an evacuated solar water collector: A comprehensive survey

Abstract

In this work, the effects of utilizing MgO-CuO/water nanofluid on the energetic and exergetic performances of a heat pipe evacuated solar water collector have been analyzed experimentally. In this regard, two identical heat pipe evacuated solar water collectors have been installed. In the first system, deionized water has been utilized. In the second collector, newly prepared nanofluid have been used and both collectors have been tested under the same climatic conditions at three flow rates containing 0.016, 0.033 and 0.050 kg/s. According to the experimentally obtained outcomes, mean thermal efficiencies of the system using deionized water were obtained between 49.62-56.18%. Also, average thermal efficiencies of the system with MgO-CuO/water as working fluid were obtained between 69.89-77.21%. Average sustainability index values were attained in the range of 1.0271-1.0676 for both investigated systems. Moreover, utilizing hybrid nanofluid in the system reduced the payback period between 25.14-27.74%. The yearly CO2 savings for the system with and without nanofluid were attained between 0.307-0.343 and 0.217-0.251 ton/year, respectively. General outcomes of this study exhibited notable effects of utilizing MgO-CuO/water on improving the thermal performance of the heat pipe evacuated solar water collector.