Effect of metal oxide nanofluids on the performance of passive solar still single slope for two different absorbent plates

This study aims to improve the performances of a solar still single slope using metal oxide nanofluid (Al₂O₃–water, Cu₂O–water, and TiO₂–water). The numerical study was carried out for the climatic conditions of Agadir, Morocco, with different concentrations of nanofluids inside a basin equipped with an absorber plate with two different absorptivities. The numerical study is based on thermal balance equations applied on different solar system components and solved using the Runge Kutta method. The numerical model is validated by comparing our results with the literature available data. A comparison study of the effect of these nanofluids on solar still productivity is done. The results show that the productivity of the solar still using nanoparticles Cu₂O, TiO₂, and Al₂O₃ are 7.38, 7.1, and 7.064 kg m⁻² day⁻¹, respectively. It is obtained that the maximum efficiency of the solar still is found to be 55.27% by using cuprous oxide nanoparticles. Furthermore, an enhancement in solar still productivity of 6.36%, 19.54%, and 33.25% is obtained by dispersing 1%, 3%, and 5% volume fraction of Cu₂O nanoparticles in pure water, respectively compared to the conventional solar. Moreover, the impact of the absorptivity of the absorber plate on the solar still effectiveness is investigated. Two types of coatings are considered to change the absorber plate absorptivity. The results indicate that the efficiencies of the solar system are 58.81% and 51.77% using an absorber plate with 0.95 and 0.85 of absorptivity, respectively.     

Thermal hydraulic analysis of supercritical water reactor cooled by TiO2 nanofluid

Heat transfer study of nanofluids as coolant in SCWRs core has been performed at Helwan University. A thermal hydraulic code has been produced to study the effect of TiO₂ nanofluid water based as a coolant with comparison with pure water as a coolant. Various volume fractions of nanoparticles TiO₂ (2, 6 and 10%) were used in order to investigate its effects on reactor thermalhydraulic characteristics. Based on Parameters of a SCW Canadian Deuterium Uranium nuclear reactor (CANDU), the fuel assembly was modeled to study the effect of nanoparticles volume fraction on thermos-physical properties of basic fluid and the temperature distribution of fuel, cladding surface and coolant in axial direction. The theoretical results showed that the density, viscosity and thermal conductivity of the coolant increases with the increase of nanoparticles volume fraction, contrasting to specific heat, which decreases with the increase in nanoparticles volume fraction.     

Efficiency and effectiveness enhancement of an intercooler of two‐stage air compressor by low‐cost Al2O3/water nanofluids

The present study was aimed to utilize low‐cost alumina (Al₂O₃) nanoparticles for improving the heat transfer behavior in an intercooler of two‐stage air compressor. Experimental investigation was carried out with three different volume concentrations of 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1.0% Al₂O₃/water nanofluids to assess the performance of the intercooler, that is, counterflow heat exchanger at different loads. Thermal properties such as thermal conductivity and overall heat transfer coefficient of nanofluid increased substantially with increasing concentration of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles. Specific heat capacity of nanofluids were lower than base water. The intercooler performance parameters such as effectiveness and efficiency improved appreciably with the employment of nanofluid. The efficiency increased by about 6.1% with maximum concentration of nanofluid, that is, 1% at 3‐bar compressor load. It is concluded from the study that high concentration of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles dispersion in water would offer better heat transfer performance of the intercooler.     

Three‐dimensional computational comparison of mini pinned heat sinks using different nanofluids: Part one—the hydraulic‐thermal characteristics

The hydraulic‐thermal characteristics of 3D pinned heat sink designs have been numerically compared as the first part of a three‐part investigation. Five different pin geometries (circular, square, triangular, strip, and elliptic pins) and an unpinned heat sink with three types of nanofluids (Al₂O₃–H₂O, SiO₂–H₂O, and CuO–H₂O) are considered for laminar forced convection. The range of Reynolds number is from 100 to 1000, and volume fractions vary between 0% and 5%. The finite volume method is employed to solve the Navier–Stokes and energy equations by employing a SIMPLE algorithm for a computational solution. Three parameters are presented—the Nusselt number, the bottom temperature, and the hydrothermal performance of the heat sink with pressure drop data. The findings indicated that the overall hydrothermal performance of elliptic‐pinned (EP) heat sinks produces the most substantial value of 3.10 for pure water. For different nanofluids, the SiO₂–water nanofluids with EPs have the most significant hydrothermal performance. Also, this factor is enhanced with an increase in nanofluid concentration up to nearly 3.34 for 5% of SiO₂–water. Consequently, applying the elliptic‐pinned heat sinks is recommended with pure water for considering an increase in the pressure drop, with 5% of SiO₂–water nanofluids, regardless of an enlargement of pressure drop for heat‐dissipation applications.     

Numerical studies on heat and fluid flow of nanofluid in a partially heated vertical annulus

A numerical investigation on natural convective heat transfer of nanofluid (Al₂O₃+water) inside a partially heated vertical annulus of high aspect ratio (352) has been carried out. The computational fluid dynamics solver Ansys Fluent is used for simulation and results are presented for various volume fraction of nanoparticles (0‐0.04) at different heat flux values (3‐12 kW/m²). Two well‐known correlations for evaluating thermal conductivity and viscosity have been used. Thus different combinations of the available correlations have been set to form four models (I, II, III, and IV). Therefore, a detailed analysis has been executed to identify effects of thermophysical properties on heat transfer and fluid flow of nanofluids using different models. The results show enhancement in heat transfer coefficient with volume fraction of nanoparticles. Highest enhancement achieved is found to be 14.17% based on model III, while the minimum is around 7.27% based on model II. Dispersion of nanoparticles in base fluid declines the Nusselt number and Reynolds number with different rates depending on various models. A generalized correlation is proposed for Nusselt number of nanofluids in the annulus in terms of volume fraction of nanoparticles, Rayleigh number, Reynolds number, and Prandtl number.     

Geothermal and solar energy–based multigeneration system for a district

In this study, parabolic trough collector with an integrated source of geothermal water is used with regenerative Rankine cycle with an open feedwater heater, an electrolyzer, and an absorption cooling system. The absorption fluids used in the solar collectors were Al₂O₃‐ and Fe₂O₃‐based nanofluids. Detailed energetic and exergetic analyses are done for the whole system including all the components. A comparative analysis of both the used working fluids is done and plotted against their different results. The parameters that are varied to change the output of the system are ambient temperature, solar irradiance, the percentage of nanofluids, the mass flow rate of the geothermal well, the temperature gradient of the geothermal well that had an effect on the net power produced, and the outlet temperature of the solar collector overall energetic and exergetic efficiencies. Other useful outputs by this domestic integrated multigeneration system are the heating of domestic water, space heating (maintaining the temperature at 40°C‐50°C), and desalination of seawater (flash distillation). The hydrogen production rate for both the fluids diverges with each other, both producing average from 0.00490 to 0.0567 g/s.     

扭带结构影响管内传热与熵产的研究进展

随着工业技术不断发展,传统换热管的传热方式已经无法满足高热流密度下的热量输运要求。扭带插入物是一种能够有效提高换热管传热效率的强化传热元件,以其结构简单、加工容易的特点受到了很多学者的关注和研究。管内流体的传热性能及熵产往往作为评价换热管性能的重要参数,因此扭带结构与流动工质对这些参数的影响成为近年来研究的重点。本文主要综述了近十年来不同结构扭带对管内传热与熵产影响的研究进展。首先,将文献中研究的扭带按照几何结构进行分类,阐述和分析了不同类型扭带对换热管的传热、熵产以及综合性能的影响,试图找出几何结构与换热管传热性能以及熵产之间的联系。其次,介绍了扭带与纳米流体复合传热技术的研究进展。最后,归纳了研究人员为达到传热性能最大化以及熵产最小化而建立的传热和熵产模型,并对模型的优缺点进行了评价。     

纳米粒子掺杂太阳盐复合材料热物性研究

在聚光式太阳能系统中,熔盐被视为良好的储热材料,具有成本低、使用安全、低饱和蒸汽压等特点。合理改善其热物性可实现太阳能高效利用,掺杂纳米颗粒可提高熔盐的储热及传热性能。在之前工作中,采用高温静态熔融法将纳米氧化铝（Nano alumina,NA2）掺杂于太阳盐（SS,质量分数为60%的硝酸钠与质量分数为40%的硝酸钾的混合物）中,获得了具有较高比热容的纳米流体（NA2-SS,N2S）。在此基础上,采用相同方法将纳米石墨粉（GP）和NA2同时掺杂于SS中（NA2-GP-SS,N2GS）,利用差式扫描量热法和瞬态平面热源法对体系比热和导热进行测试。结果表明,优化样品为N2GS-4,比热容与原样SS相比提升21.79%,导热提升20.69%,在高温状态下具有较好的热稳定性。N2GS-4作为一种硝酸盐基纳米复合蓄热材料在热能存储系统中具有广阔的应用前景。     

太阳能集热用导热油纳米流体的稳定性及中温集热特性

提出将纳米颗粒分散于导热油基液形成一种具有强的光吸收性能的纳米流体,能够直接在无吸收涂层的透明真空管内吸收太阳能进行光热转换,用于太阳能中温集热。首先探讨了导热油-Cu O纳米流体稳定性的影响因素,获得了制备过程中最佳的改性油酸量为2.3 m L/1g Cu O。在室外聚光工况下,实验测试了导热油-Cu O纳米流体在无涂层的透明真空管内直接吸收式中温集热特性,并与镀膜真空管集热性能进行了试验对比。结果显示,在150℃以下集热工况,纳米流体在该透明集热管的集热效率要高于传统吸收镀膜集热管,验证了该新型中温集热方法的可行性。     

表面活性剂对Cu-H_2O和ZrO_2-H_2O纳米流体稳定性的影响

通过添加表面活性剂制备了Cu-H2O和Zr O2-H2O纳米流体,研究了十二烷基苯磺酸钠、十六烷基三甲基溴化铵和辛基苯基聚氧乙烯醚等表面活性剂对Cu-H2O和Zr O2-H2O纳米流体分散稳定性的影响;并利用分子动力学方法计算出不同表面活性剂分子与Cu/Zr O2颗粒表面的相互作用能。结果发现添加表面活性剂可较大程度地提升纳米流体的稳定性,而尤以添加十二烷基苯磺酸钠的效果最为明显,计算结果也显示十二烷基苯磺酸钠分子与Cu/Zr O2间的吸附作用最强。此外,还模拟了SDBS与Cu-H2O纳米流体中Cu颗粒的吸附行为。