Heat transfer and entropy generation through nanofluid filled direct absorption solar collector

Sustainable energy generation is one of the most important challenges facing society today. Solar energy is one of the best sources of renewable energy with minimal environmental impact which offers a solution. The present work investigates the heat transfer performance and entropy generation of forced convection through a direct absorption solar collector. The working fluid is Cu-water nanofluid. The simulations focus specifically on the effect of solid volume fraction of nanoparticle and Reynolds number on the mean Nusselt number, mean entropy generation, Bejan number and collector efficiency. Also Isotherms and heatfunction are presented for various solid volume fraction and inertia force. The governing partial differential equations are solved using penalty finite element method with Galerkins weighted residual technique. The results show that both the mean Nusselt number and entropy generation increase as the volume fraction of Cu nanoparticles and Reynolds number increase. The results presented in this study provide a useful source of reference for enhancing the forced convection heat transfer performance while simultaneously reducing the entropy generation. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.