Study on the performance of a flat plate solar water heater using a hybrid nanofluid

Abstract

Solar thermal energy-based water heating system is an efficient approach for meeting industrial and household hot water needs. Solar water heater systems rely heavily on the efficacy of the solar collectors. In the present investigation, the impact of using a hybrid nanofluid containing copper oxide (CuO) as well as magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles as the heating absorbing liquid on the operational effectiveness of a flat-plate solar collector-based water heater (FPSH) was examined. The nanomaterials volume proportion have been fixed to 0.2 % (0.1 % CuO nanoparticles and 0.1 % MgO nanoparticles) and the two different rate of flow such as 0.0167 and 0.0334 kg/sec was used. The trials were piloted at the location 27.1767° N, 78.0081° E in North India during April 2021. The findings indicate that using hybrid nanofluid as solar collector circulating fluid boosts the FPSH's performance in contrast to using water. The outlet water temperature as well as efficacy of the system had shown a better improvement with the help of hybrid nanofluid. Further, the hybrid nanofluid with a flow rate of 0.0167 kg/sec improved the FPSH efficacy by 43.3 %.