Paper Title
Performance Evaluation Of A Nanofluid Based Parabolic Solar Collector – An Experimental Study
Abstract
An experimental study has been conducted to investigate the performance of a parabolic solar collector using
SiO2-H2O based nanofluid. Volumetric concentration of 0.01% and 0.05% has been used in the experiment to prepare the
nanofluid. The different volume flow rates employed in the experiment are 20 l/h, 40 l/h and 60 l/h. Surfactants are not used
while preparing the nanofluids. Sonication is done by using ultra bath sonicator to enhance the stability and dispersion of
nanoparticles in water. Magnetic stirrer with hot plate system has been used for stirring purpose to mix the nanoparticles in
water before sonication. Manual tracking mechanism has been used for tracking the sun position during the day. From the
results, it has been found that SiO2-H2O based nanofluid has comparatively higher efficiency at higher volume flow rates.