Study of the performance of carbon an‎d metal-based nanofluids in flat-plate solar collectors

2/19/2026 12:00:00 AM

The continuous increase in global temperatures an‎d the need to reduce fossil fuel consumption have made the use of renewable energy sources a desirable option; especially solar energy systems, which are of great importance due to their wide availability an‎d cleanliness. Flat-plate solar collectors are one of the important technologies in the field of using solar energy for thermal applications at low to medium temperatures. These types of collectors are widely used due to their simple structure, low manufacturing cost, an‎d low maintenance requirements. However, the low thermal efficiency in conventional systems has faced challenges in their development an‎d wider application. The use of nanofluids as heat transfer fluids in flat-plate solar collectors has been considered as a new method, an‎d significant improvements in the performance of these systems have been reported. Carbon-based nanofluids have greater potential to increase thermal efficiency in these systems due to their superior thermophysical properties compared to metal-based nanofluids an‎d provide a good prospect for the development of solar thermal technologies. Despite previous studies, the comparison between carbon-based an‎d metal-based nanofluids in this type of collector has not been comprehensively investigated. In this thesis, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has been developed to eva‎luate the performance of the metal-based nanofluid water/Al₂O₃ an‎d two carbon-based nanofluids water/SWCNT an‎d water/MWCNT at mass concentrations of 1, 2 an‎d 3% in a simple flat plate solar collector (FPSC). Then, several performance indicators including the outlet temperature of the heat transfer fluid, absorber plate, collector tube, an‎d thermal efficiency are eva‎luated for each concentration of the selec‎ted nanofluids, an‎d the superior nanofluid was selec‎ted from the comparison of the collector performance indicators, an‎d finally, the collector performance for different radiations during the daytime hours has been investigated for the country of Iraq.

كلكتور خورشيدي صفحه تخت , نانوسيال پايه كربني , نانوسيال پايه فلزي , ارزيابي شاخص‌هاي عملكردي

Flat plate solar collector , carbon-based nanofluid , metal-based nanofluid , Performance indicators eva‎luation

Saad Al-Jlaihawi

Dr. Mahdi Moghimi