Evaluation of wavy direct absorption solar collector (DASC) performance
using different nanofluids

M. Hatami, D. Jing

PII: S0167-7322(16)33702-3
DOI: doi: 10.1016/j.molliq.2016.12.072
Reference: MOLLIQ 6755

To appear in: Journal of Molecular Liquids

Received date: 20 November 2016

Revised date: 14 December 2016
Accepted date: 19 December 2016

Please cite this article as: M. Hatami, D. Jing, Evaluation of wavy direct absorption solar
collector (DASC) performance using different nanofluids, Journal of Molecular Liquids
(2016), doi: 10.1016/j.molliq.2016.12.072

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Evaluation of Wavy Direct Absorption Solar Collector (DASC)

Performance Using Different Nanofluids

M. Hatamia,1,2, D. Jing1

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1
International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power
Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

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2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Esfarayen University of Technology, Esfarayen, North Khorasan, Iran

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Abstract

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In this paper, thermal performance of a wavy nanofluid-based direct absorption solar
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collector (DASC) is evaluated using finite element method (FEM) by FlexPDE commercial

package software. After presenting the governing equations and solving them by FEM, TiO2, Al2O3
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and CuO nanoparticles are considered to make water-based nanofluid in the collector. Due to three
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different wall types in the problem (bottom wavy wall, flat top wall and vertical side walls) and

three different boundary condition types (insulated, constant heat flux and constant temperature),
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the problem is solved for the more appropriate conditions. For all tested nanofluids, the effect of

nanoparticles volume fraction is also investigated on the local/average Nusselt numbers. Results
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show that wavy collectors have larger maimum Nusselt number compared to flat plate collectors.

Furthermore, the most Nusselt numbers are reported for TiO2 nanoparticles in the little volume

fractions.

Keywords: DASC; Nanofluid; FlexPDE; Nusselt number; FEM

1. Introduction

1
a Corresponding author, Tel/Fax:+98-915-718-6374

E-mails: m.hatami@xjtu.edu.cn, m.hatami2010@gmail.com

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Solar energy i.e. energy from the sun provide consistent and steady source of solar power

throughout the year. As our non-renewable resources are set to decline in the years to come, it is

important for us to move towards renewable sources of energy like wind, hydropower, biomass and

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tidal. Solar energy is not only sustainable, it is renewable and this means that we will never run out

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of it. It is about as natural a source of power as it is possible to generate electricity. Requires little

maintenance, silent producer of energy, no noise made from photovoltaic panels are other

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advantages of solar energy [1]. Recently, Gorji and Ranjbar [2] evaluated the effect of varying

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geometry on the overall thermal performance a nanofluid based direct absorption solar collector

(DASC). They used Box–Behnken design and response surface methodology to study and optimize
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the main and interaction effects of the dimensions on the system overall thermal performance.

Although they considered rectangular shape for the solar collector, but Nasrin and Alim [3]
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investigated the thermal performance for a wavy solar collector filled by nanofluids numerically.

Except of experimental and numerical works in this field, some researchers worked analytically on
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the nanofluids treatment in solar applications. Ahmad Khan et al. [4] analyzed the three-
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dimensional flow of nanofluid over an elastic sheet stretched non-linearly in two lateral directions
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under the solar radiation using Runge-Kutta method. In another analytical study, Cregan and Myers

[5] considered a system of two differential equations; a radiative transport equation describing the

propagation of solar radiation through the nanofluid and an energy equation for the steady state,

two-dimensional model of an inclined nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collector.

Turkyilmazoglu [6] evaluated the alumina nanoparticles effect on thermal performance of a water

based solar collector analytically. Solution of particle’s motion in different fluids media has been

considered by the authors widely [7-10].

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Comparison of the single and two-phase modeling for the nanofluids has been considered by the

researchers. For instance, Haghshenas Fard et al. [11] compared the results of the single phase and

two-phase numerical methods for nanofluids in a circular tube. They reported that for Cu-water the

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average relative error between experimental data and CFD results based on single-phase model was

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16% while for two-phase model was 8%. In another numerical study, Göktepe et al. [12] compared

these two models for nanofluid convection at the entrance of a uniformly heated tube which found

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the same results and confirm the accuracy of two-phase modeling. Mohyud-Din et al. [13] in an

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analytical study, considered the three dimensional heat and mass transfer with magnetic

effects for the flow of a nanofluid between two parallel plates in a rotating system. As one
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of their main outcomes, thermophoresis and Brownian motion parameters are directly related to

heat transfer but are inversely related to concentration profile. Also they found that the higher
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Coriolis forces decrease the temperature boundary layer thickness. Three-dimensional flow of

nanofluids under the radiation (due to solar or etc.) has been analyzed by Hayat et al. [14] and Khan
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et al. [15]. They also computed and examined the effects of different parameters on the velocity,
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temperature, skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number of nanofluid flow. Other works of
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nanofluids flow and heat transfer analysis can be found in [16-30].

In the present study, an application of nanofluids for a wavy wall direct absorption solar collector is

introduced and the authors aim to investigate the heat transfer and collector performance by a

numerical technique for solving the nonlinear governing equation. The comparison of flat plate

solar collector and different nanoparticles on the Nusselt number is investigated in current study.

2. Problem description

Fig. 1-a displays a schematic diagram of a sinusoidal solar collector. The fluids in the collector are

water-based nanofluids containing TiO2 nanoparticles (Table 1 is presented for the physical

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properties). The nanofluids are assumed incompressible and the flow is considered to be laminar. It

is considered that water and nanoparticles are in thermal equilibrium and no slip occurs among

them. The solar collector contains a glass cover plate on the top surface and a dark colored

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undulating absorber plate on the bottom which is considered to be wavy wall as shown in Fig. 1-a

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and b as schematic of the problem and a sample generated mesh. The density of the nanofluid is

approximated by the Boussinesq model. Amplitude of wave Am = 0.04 and number of wave λ = 5.5

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are assumed. L and H are the length and average height of this physical model. The governing

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equations for steady, laminar, natural convection inside the solar collector in the form of Navier-

Stokes and energy equation are taken from Nasrin and Alim [3] as
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The continuity equation

u v (1)
 0
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x y
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The momentum equations in x and y directions:

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 u u  p   2u  2u  (2)
nf  u  v      nf  2 2
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 x y  x  x y 

 v v  p   2v  2v  (3)
 v      nf  2  2   g   nf T  TC 
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nf  u
 x y  y  x y 

the energy equation

T T   2T  2T  (4)
u v   nf  2  2
x y  x y 

The density of the nanofluid, nf , depends on the solid volume fraction,  and can be expressed as

[3]

nf  1    f  s (5)

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To model the effective viscosity of the nanofluid, Pak and Cho correlation is used and can be

expressed as follows [3]

nf   f 1  39.11  533.9 2  (6)

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Thermal expansion coefficient(  ) can be expressed as [3]

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 nf  1      f    s (7)

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The effective thermal diffusivity is

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knf (8)
 nf 
 C  p nf
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The effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid, is approximated using Maxwell-Garnetts

model as [3]
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  ks  2k f   2  k f  ks   (9)
knf  k f  
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  ks  2k f     k f  ks  
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The heat capacitance of the nanofluid

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 C 
p nf  1     C p     C p 
f s
(10)
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It is convenient to solve the governing equations in non-dimensional forms and hence following

scales are used to get the non-dimensional governing equations:

x (11)
X
L
y
Y
L
uL
U
f
vL
V
f
pL2
P
f v 2f

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T  Tc

Tw  Tc

The non-dimensional governing parameters considered in the present simulation are as follows:

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vf (12)
Pr 
f
g  f L3 Tw  Tc 

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Ra 
vf f

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Using the above mentioned scale, the non-dimensional forms of continuity, momentum and energy

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Eqs:

U V (13)
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 0
X Y

U U  P vnf   2U  2U  (14)
U V  f    
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X Y nf X v f  X 2 Y 2 
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V V f P vnf   2V  2V  Ra 1      f     s (15)
U V      
X Y nf Y v f  X 2 Y 2  Pr nf  f
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   nf 1   2  2  (16)
U V    
X Y  f Pr  X 2 Y 2 
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The local Nusselt number on the wavy wall can be expressed as:

 (17)
Nuloc  
n
where n is the direction normal to the wavy surface. For solution of the governing equations, for all solid

boundaries U=V=0, while different temperature conditions are considered for boundaries as Table 2. A

s seen in this table, for top plate, due to solar radiation, two constant heat flux and constant temperature bou

ndary conditions are considered and for the bottom wavy wall, insulted and constant temperature condition

s are suggested.

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3. Finite Element Method (FEM)

A finite element method is characterized by a variational formulation, a discretization strategy,

one or more solution algorithms and post-processing procedures. A typical work out of this method

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involves (1) dividing the domain of the problem into a collection of subdomains, and (2)

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systematically recombining all sets of element equations into a global system of equations for the

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final calculation. In the finite element method, the solution region is considered as built up of many

small, interconnected sub-regions called finite elements. The solution of a general continuum

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problem by the finite element method always follows an orderly step-by-step process [26]. In this

study FEM is applied based on FlexPDE commercial code which is fast and accurate code.
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4. Results and discussions
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As describe above, in the first step the governing equation is solved by FEM using different
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boundary conditions for solid walls when the channel is filled by nanofluids. In the calculations, it
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is assumed that Re=50, φ=0.05, Pr=6.2 and Ra=10e5. For the upper plate, due to solar radiation,
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constant heat flux and constant temperature conditions are assumed in different cases while for the

bottom wavy plate and side walls in addition to these two boundary conditions, insulated wall is
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also considered as new boundary conditions. Table 2 show the six boundary conditions obtained

from combination of these statuses. We tested all these six boundary conditions and found that

B.C.3 and B.C.6 are the most suitable cases due to the Nusselt number reports and are more near to

realistic conditions. Fig. 2 is presented when the side walls are insulated and bottom wavy wall in

constant temperature and the top plate is under the constant solar heat flux (B.C.3). In velocity and

stream line contours, vortexes are completely evident due to wavy shape of the solar channel, in

this situation, Nusselt number is negative due to heat transfer direction as depicted in isotherm lines

of Fig. 2 and local Nusselt number in Fig. 3. To prevent from this problem, it is possible to define

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another constant heat flux boundary condition such as dθ/dx=-1. Figs. 4 and 5 are contour plot and

Nusselt number for natural convection of TiO2 nanofluid in wavy channel when the bottom wall is

in constant temperature and the side walls are insulated. This case is also a realistic condition with

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maximum local Nusselt number around 17.5 in the peak points. In next step, the effect of different

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nanoparticles (TiO2, Al2O3 and CuO) on the average Nusselt number for a wavy collector and a flat

solar collector is investigated which results are presented in Table 3. As seen in this Table, TiO2 in

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low volume fraction has more average Nusselt number on the bottom plate compared to other

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nanoparticles. Furthermore this table shows that flat plate collector has larger average Nusselt

number compared to wavy wall. Fig. 6 and 7 compares the results of these two type of collectors,
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graphically and Fig. 8 reveals that wavy collectors have larger local Nusselt number due to angle of

the wave on the heat absorption. The effect of different nanoparticles type and nanoparticle volume
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fraction on the average Nusselt number for these two types of the collectors is depicted via Fig. 9.

This figure confirm that average Nusselt number for the lower plate will reach to the higher values
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by using the TiO2-water nanofluid in little volume fractions. Fig. 10 is presented to show the effect
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of CuO nanoparticles volume fraction on the local Nusselt number which says that larger values for
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φ makes higher values in the peak points of local Nusselt numbers.

To analysis and discuss on the influence of φ and Ra number on the average Nusselt number,

contours of Fig. 11 are depicted. This figures emphasis that Ra has not a very significant effect on

the Nusselt number, while increasing the φ, makes a decrease on the Nusselt number. If we define a

goal with the “maximum Nusselt number”, desirability analysis in the Fig. 12 also confirms that the

best situation to reach to this goal is φ=0.03 and Ra=1000.

5. Conclusion

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In this paper, FlexPDE FEM numerical code have been successfully applied to find the

solution of 2D modeling of heat transfer for nanofluids flow in wavy and flat plate direct absorption

solar collectors. Three different nanofluids are considered, TiO2, Al2O3 and CuO which results says

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that TiO2 in low volume fraction has more average Nusselt number on the bottom plate compared

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to other nanoparticles. Furthermore these outcomes confirmed that flat plate collector has larger

average Nusselt number compared to wavy wall while wavy collector has greater local Nusselt

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number in peak points of the wavy shape channel.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation
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of China (No. 51422604, 21276206) and the National 863 Program of China (No.

2013AA050402).This work was also supported by the China Fundamental Research Funds for the
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Central Universities.
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Table 1. Thermal properties of base fluid (water) and nanoparticles

Properties Unit Water Al2O3 TiO2 CuO

Heat capacitance Jkg−1∙K−1 4179 765 686.2 531.8
Density kg⋅m−3 997.1 3970 4250 6320
Wm−1⋅K−

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Thermal 0.613 40 8.95 76.5
1
conductivity
Thermal expansion K−1 2.1×10−4 0.85×10−5 0.9×10−5 1.80×10−5

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coefficient
Dynamic viscosity Ns∙m−2 0.001003 - - -

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Table 2. Different boundary conditions for the solar collector

Boundary condition number Bottom plate Side walls Top plate

B.C.1 Insulated Constant temperature Constant heat flux
B.C.2 Constant temperature Constant temperature Constant heat flux

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B.C.3 Constant temperature Insulated Constant heat flux
B.C.4 Insulated Constant temperature Constant temperature
B.C.5 Constant temperature Constant temperature Constant temperature

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B.C.6 Constant temperature Insulated Constant temperature

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Table 3 Average Nusselt number for different wall type and nanoparticles

Wall type φ Al2O3 TiO2 CuO

0.03 4.5104 4.5606 4.5127

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Wavy wall 0.06 4.1182 4.2081 4.1229
0.09 3.7663 3.8878 3.7733
0.03 5.6494 5.7123 5.6523

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Flat wall 0.06 5.1581 5.2708 5.1640
0.09 4.7173 4.8695 4.7261

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(a)

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(b)
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(c)
Fig. 1 a) Schematic of the nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collector and b) Wavy Sample
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mesh generated and c) Flat plate solar collector

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-0.6 -0.6
-0. 55 -0.55 -0
.5.45
-0-0 -0. 4
-0 .545
-0. -0.4 -0.5.4 5
-0.35 -0.3 5 -0.3 -0 -0 . 35
Θ -0. 3 -0.25 .25 -0.2
-0. 2 -0.05 -0.1 -0. 2 -0 .1
5 5
-0.15 -0.0 -0 . 1 5
0 .0
-

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-0.005 0.005
0.025 0.005 -0.025
0.025 -0.005 0.005
Ψ 0.015 0.035 -0.025

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0.005 0.025
0.015
-0.005

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-0-0. 3.5 0 .3 0
-0 . 3 0.
7 .5
0.3

-0 . 1

5
0.5 0. 1 0.3

0.
U -0. 1 -0.3 -0.1
0. 3 0. 1

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-0.5
-0 .3

0. 5
0.5

1 0 . 1 -0 .3 00. 1
0. .5

-0
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0. 3
-0 0. 5

0. 5
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0.7
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0.
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1 -1. 1
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-0 . 9

0 . 1 -0 . 5
-0.7

0.7
0. 5 -0 . 1 0.07. 3
-0.1

.5

5 0.7
30

0.
0.1

-0
D
0.

.3

0.
-0 .
0.
3

1
TE

Fig. 2 Contours of isotherm lines, stream lines and velocities for B.C.3
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PT
-2

RI
Local Nusselt Number

-4

SC
-6

NU
-8
MA
-10

-12
D

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Channel Width
TE

Fig. 3 Local Nusselt number for bottom wavy wall in B.C.3

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θ 0.9 0.95
0.85
0.8
0.65 0.7 0.75 0.65
0.5 0.550.6 0.5
0.45
0.35 0.4 0. 25 0. 3 0.150. 1 0.35 0. 4 0.3
0. 05 0 . 2 0.25
0.1 0.0
5

PT
-0

05
-0 . 0 0 0 . 0 0 5

0. 00

0.0
-0 . 0 .01 5

.0
0.015
-0.005

5
15 5

0. 005 -0

0. 01

05
ψ

5
5
-0.015

00
RI
-0.
SC
0 0.2

-0 . 2
0. 4
-0.4
0.
4

0.4

.4
-0.4

0
2

-0
0.2 0 .2 0 -0 .

0
U

-0.6 0.2
0. 0. 0 0.
4 8 6

-0 . 2

0
NU
-02. 4

0.2
0 .6

0.2
-0 . 4
0

.2
-0 .

-0
0

0
-0

0. 1
0.3 .1 -0
.3 0.3

.3
3
MA

0 .3
00. . 3

-0 .

5 -0
0.7

0.5

-0.1
5

0 .1

0.5
0. 5

0.9
0. 1-0. 5

V
0. 9

-0.7

0.7
-0

-0
-0 . 1

-0.-10 7
-0 .
.7

.5

-0 . 5
0. 7

-.03 . 7

-0 .
.3
0.1

-01 -.05

-0
.1

0.
-0.1
-0 . 3

.1
-0

-0
0. 1

.1
D

Fig. 4 Contours of isotherm lines, stream lines and velocities for B.C.6
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PT
15
Local Nusselt Number

RI
SC
10

NU
5 MA
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
D

Channel Width
TE

Fig. 5 Local Nusselt number for bottom wavy wall in B.C.6

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θ 0.9 0.95
0.85 0.8 0.85
0.7 0.75 0.7
0.6 0.65 0.6
0.55 0.5 0.55
0.4 0.45 0.4
0.35 0. 35
0.35
0.15 0.2
0.1
0.2 0.15 00..2
1
5
0.0
0. 05

PT
0.95 0.9
0.85 0.8 0.85
0.7 0.75 0.7
0.65

RI
0.55 0.6 0.55 0.6
0.4 0.45 0.5 0.4
0.35 0.3 0.35
0.2 0.25 0.2
0.1 0.15 0.1 0.15

SC
0.05 0.05

ψ 0 0

-0 . 0
NU 1
001

-0 . 0 0

01
0
0.001
0. 00
0
-0 .

0.0
0

2 0. 0
0

01
01
0 0
0

MA
0

0
4E 2E-

-4E-
-0 0 8
8

08
-0 8
6E

-2E-08
0

0
TE

Fig. 6 Comparison of θ and ψ between wavy and flat plate solar collector for Al2O3 nanoparticles when
Re=50, φ=0.03, Ri=0.01, Pr=6.2 and Ra=10e4
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U 0.01 0
.01

0. 0
-0

0 .01

0.02
0. 03
0.

2
-0. 02
0

-0.02
03

0
0-0

-0 .0 1
.01
0 0.0 -0 . 0 1

0 .0 1

0
2

0.03
2 04 .0

4
0..005
-0.02
00.0. .0 6

0
-0 . 0 1
-0

0.0
0.0

-0 . 0 2
04 0.0

-0
1 020 02
-0 .

3
-0. 20.

.0
01 0. 0 1

4
0

PT
0
-4E-07 0

RI
0 0
0 0

SC
0
V -0

0
.0 1

0. 0
-0 . 0 1 1 0.0

01 . 0
02
0. 03

0.01

0 .0 2
-0.01 0
-0 . 0

NU

3
0

-0 . 0
0.
. 03 0.05
-0-. 0
0 0 .30 20

05
4

-0. 0

2
-0-0.0.012
06

0
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2 -0
0.0 3

3
0.07
0.
-0 . 0 5
0. 04

00...000024.01

4.0 2
0 0.01

-0-0.0
.03
2

2
01 -0.02
-0. 0

2 -0
0.0

0.0
-0.
.0 -0. 0
5

0 .03 0. -0.02 0. 03 0. 01
-0 01
MA 1
0
5E-07 5E-07 1 .52E
2. 5E6-06
1.5E-0 1.5E-06
2.5E-06 . 5-0
E6-06
3.5E-0 6 3.5E-06
4.5E-06
4. 5E-06
4.5E-04.5E-06
6 4. 5E-06
5E-07

3. 5E-026. 5E 3.5E-06 6
E-0
-0 6 2.5E-06 3. 5

5 E-0 7
1.5E-06 1.5E-06
TE

5E-07 5E-07
Fig. 7 Comparison of U and V between wavy and flat plate solar collector for Al2O3 nanoparticles when
Re=50, φ=0.03, Ri=0.01, Pr=6.2 and Ra=10e4
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10

PT
Local Nusselt Number 6

RI
SC
4

NU
2
Wavy wall
MA Flat wall

0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Channel Width
Fig. 8 Local Nusselt number comparison between wavy and flat plate solar collector for Al2O3 nanoparticles
D

when Re=50, φ=0.03, Ri=0.01, Pr=6.2 and Ra=10e4

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4.6

4.4

Average Nusselt Number

PT
4.2

RI
SC
4

NU
Al2O3
TiO2
3.8 MA CuO

0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1

Phi
(a)
D

5.8
TE

5.6
P
Average Nusselt Number

CE

5.4

5.2
AC

Al2O3
4.8 TiO2
CuO

4.6
0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Phi
(b)
Fig. 9 Average Nusselt number for different nanoparticles a) Wavy wall and b) Flat wall collector when
Re=50, Ri=0.01, Pr=6.2 and Ra=10e4

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10

PT
Local Nusselt Number
6

RI
SC
4

NU
2
Phi=0.03
Phi=0.06
MA Phi=0.09
0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Channel Width
Fig. 10 Local Nusselt number for CuO nanoparticles in different nanoparticles volume fraction when Re=50,
D

Ri=0.01, Pr=6.2 and Ra=10e4

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PT
RI
SC
NU
Fig. 11 Effect of Ra and CuO nanoparticles volume fraction on average Nusselt number
MA
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RI
SC
NU
MA
Fig. 12 Desirability function for predicting the best Ra and φ to reach maximum Nusselt number
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Highlights:

 Wavy wall and flat plate solar collector’s performance are compared.

PT
 TiO2, Al2O3 and CuO-water nanolfuids are considered as the working fluids.

RI
 Wavy wall collector has smaller average Nusselt and greater local Nusselt numbers.

SC
 TiO2-water naofluid in smaller volume fractions had larger Nusselt number.

NU
MA
D
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