Analysis on the Influence of Nanoparticles of Alumina, Copper Oxide, and Zirconium Oxide on the Performance of a Flat-Plate Solar Water Heater

In this work, a solar flat-plate collector integrated with four riser tubes having 0.5 m(2) area is designed and fabricated. Experiments were conducted using three working nanofluids, namely, alumina, copper oxide, and zirconium oxide, along with the base working fluid water of different weight fractions. The efficiency of collector and storage tank is calculated using the ASHRAE method, and the obtained results were compared. The experimental result shows that alumina nanofluid influences the collector efficiency nearly about 17% for the collector and 13.5% for the storage tank compared to the base working fluid water. The efficiency of the solar collector by appending 0.4% Al2O3, CuO, ZrO2, and water is found to be 55, 51.3, 47, and 38%, respectively. Experimental results raveled that the addition of nanoparticles to water as heat transfer fluid enhances the heat transfer, thereby increasing the efficiency of the collector.