Solar Energy 155 (2017) 608–619

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Solar Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Theoretical analysis to determine the efficiency of a CuO-water

nanofluid based-flat plate solar collector for domestic solar water
heating system in Myanmar
Nang Khin Chaw Sint a, I.A. Choudhury a,⇑, H.H. Masjuki a, H. Aoyama b
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
b
Department of System Design Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 223-8522 Yokohama, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The efficiency of a flat plate solar collector using water based CuO nanofluid as a working fluid is analyzed
Received 9 June 2016 theoretically. A mathematical model and a program, written in MATLAB code were used for calculating
Received in revised form 15 November 2016 the efficiency of a flat plate solar collector for a domestic solar water heating system considering weather
Accepted 24 June 2017
conditions of a city in Myanmar. This calculation includes three aspects. Firstly, the maximum solar
energy availability for the flat plate solar collector tilted at the optimum angle was estimated.
Secondly, the convective heat transfer coefficient of nanofluid was calculated as a function of volume con-
Keywords:
centration and size of the nanoparticle. Thirdly, the overall heat loss coefficient of the flat plate solar col-
Flat plate solar collector
Optimum tilt angle
lector was calculated using a method of iteration. Through these calculations, the collector efficiency was
CuO nanofluid obtained as a function of volume concentration and size of the nanoparticle. The results showed increas-
Collector efficiency ing in collector efficiency by increasing the volume concentration up to 2% while the effect of nanopar-
ticle size on the efficiency was marginal. The use of the CuO-water nanofluid as a working fluid could
improve the efficiency of flat plate solar collector up to 5% compared with water as a working fluid under
the same ambient, radiant and operating conditions.
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction mental benefit. However, current solar water heating systems

Energy consumption in building sector has been rising due to
the increase in global population. Parts of the major energy con-
sumption in building sector are space heating, air-conditioning,
and water heating systems. Hot water demand in various applica-
tions contributes an important proportion of energy consumption
in building sector. Most of the water heating systems rely on the
electric power which is generated by the burning of fossil fuels
(e.g., natural gas and coal). Due to increasing demand for energy,
many types of research have been carried out to exploit renewable
energy sources alternative to fossil fuels. Solar energy stands out
from other available alternatives energy sources for desirable envi-
ronmental and safety aspects. One of the most simple and direct
applications of solar energy is the conversion solar radiation into
heat energy. So, water heating systems have become popular in
utilizations of solar energy. Solar water heating system without
any fuel costs is not only the key solution for reducing building
energy consumption but also for the well-intentioned environ-
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: imtiaz@um.edu.my (I.A. Choudhury).
(SWHSs) are not yet commercial because of its cost and installation
as the overall size is bigger compared to electric water heaters
(EWHs). Moreover, the efficiency is also low. But probably saving
the operating cost in the long run and reducing the environmental
impact raised by the conventional water heaters leads to the use of
SWHSs for heating water in both residential and industrial sectors.
SWH systems are generally very simple in operation as only
solar radiation is used to heat domestic water. The major compo-
nent of an SWH system is the solar collector that captures the
incoming solar radiation and converts it into heat and then trans-
fers that heat to a working fluid flowing through the collector tube.
Then the heated working fluid transfers the heat into the domestic
water in a storage tank for any application as desired (Kalogirou,
2004). Because of this working principle, the performance of solar
collector strongly influences the performance of the SWHSs. The
higher performance of the solar collector can give a better perfor-
mance of a solar water heating system. In order to operate at high
efficiency, firstly the collector has to maximize the absorption of
incident solar radiation and secondly it has to keep the useful ther-
mal gain much higher than the thermal losses from it (Eisenmann
et al., 2004).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2017.06.055
0038-092X/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 N.K.C. Sint et al. / Solar Energy 155 (2017) 608–619
Among various types of solar collectors, flat plate solar collector
is the most intensively used type of collectors for domestic solar
water heating and solar space heating applications where low
and medium temperature are required (Kalogirou, 2003). Flat plate
solar collector is simple in design, low in cost, easy to construct and
requires little maintenance. However, it has relatively low effi-
ciency compared to other types of collectors because some major
drawbacks limit the efficiency of this collector. One of them is high
thermal losses (from the absorber plate to the surrounding)
because of the absence of optical concentration and the presence
of larger area from where heat is lost (Bhatt et al., 2011). Other is
the use of conventional working fluids such as water, ethylene gly-
col and oil which are inherently poor heat transfer fluids. The poor
heat transfer properties (absorption properties) of these fluids
obstruct the effectiveness of heat transfer to the fluid. These draw-
backs cause the reduction in efficiency of the collector. Therefore,
there are still continuous efforts to improve the efficiency of the
flat plate solar collectors.
Enhancement of energy collection by the collector can compen-
sate the heat losses from the collector. In the case of flat plate solar
collector, the collected energy can be maximized by setting its
angle of tilt with the horizontal (with respect to the ground) in
an optimum position for a particular day or a specific period. As flat
plate solar collector is always installed in a fixed position, the solar
radiation received by the collector and the heat losses from the col-
lector vary with its tilt angle with the horizontal (Morcos, 1994;
Elminir et al., 2006). Thus, the accurate determination of the opti-
mum tilt angle and to adjust this tilt angle from time to time is
essential for maximizing energy collection. The optimum tilt angle
can be adjusted for various specified period and this adjustment
depends on the location and the operational limitations. For exam-
ple, some studies have been made on the tilt angle of the flat plate
solar collectors and reported that the optimum tilt angle is almost
equal to the value of latitude angle of the relevant location when
the optimum tilt angle is adjusted once in a year. However, some
other studies recommended two times adjustment in a year, one
is for summer and another one is for a winter season. Whereas
some studies reported that the daily adjustment of optimum tilt
angle gives the maximum receiving energy rather than the
monthly, seasonal and annual adjustments (Moghadam et al.,
2011).
In addition, enhancement of heat transfer in solar collectors can
improve the thermal performance. Augmenting heat transfer (from
the absorber to the fluid flowing inside the collector tube) can
enhance heat transfer in the solar collector. The higher the heat
transfer to the fluid, the higher is the heat transfer coefficient of
fluids (hfi Þ and the lesser is the overall heat loss coefficient (U L ).
Overall, the collector efficiency factor (F 0 ) would be increased. This
leads to more useful heat gain and consequently the better effi-
ciency would be obtained (Duffie and Beckman, 2013). In this
regard, one of the simple methods for augmenting the heat transfer
to the fluid is to use working fluids with advanced heat transfer
properties. As nanofluids are the suspension of metallic or non-
metallic nanoparticles with a diameter smaller than 100 nm in a
base fluid, they have higher thermal conductivities when com-
pared to the thermal conductivities of base fluids such as water,
oil, and ethylene glycol (Choi, 1995; Wang et al., 1999; Eastman
et al., 2001). The high thermal conductivity fluids could gain more
heat from the collector absorber and reduce the heat losses from
the absorber to the surrounding.
Over the last few years, some research works have been made
on the solar thermal collector augmented with nanofluids to
improve the efficiency, to obtain the smaller size and to compact
the design (Faizal et al., 2013). Tyagi et al. (2009) carried out a the-
oretical investigation using Al2O3/water nanofluid on the direct
609
absorption solar collector (DASC) and observed that the collector’s
efficiency increased significantly not only by varying the particle
volume fraction but also the glass cover transmittance and collec-
tor height. Taylor et al. (2011) investigated experimentally gra-
phite/therminol VP-1 nanofluids on 10–110 MW solar power
tower collector and observed 5–10% improvement in efficiency
while using the nanofluids in the receiver section. Otanicar et al.
(2010) carried out experimental and numerical studies by using
nanofluids (Carbon Nanotube, Graphite & Silver) on direct absorp-
tion solar collectors (DASC). The results showed that nanofluids
improved the efficiency up to 5%. Khullar et al. (2012) investigated
therminol VP-1 based aluminum nanofluid with 0.05% volume
concentration both theoretically and experimentally on concen-
trating parabolic solar collector (CPSC). The results showed 5–
10% increase in thermal efficiency when compared with the con-
ventional CPSC. He et al. (2011) studied experimentally two differ-
ent nanofluids (TiO2/water & CNT/water) on vacuum tube solar
collector in different weather patterns. The results showed the
temperature of CNT/water nanofluid to be higher and the CNT/
water nanofluid was more suitable for vacuum tube solar collector
application. Lu et al. (2011) observed 30% increase in thermal per-
formance of evacuated tubular solar collector using CuO nanofluid
instead of water only. There is a very limited number of research
works in the area of a flat plate solar collector (FPSC) using
nanofluids as a working fluid for augmenting the collector perfor-
mance. Yousefi et al. (2012a, 2012b) investigated experimentally
the effect of Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotube (MWCNT)-water and
Al2O3-water nanofluid with Triton X-100 as a surfactant on the
efficiency of flat plate solar collector. Their results have shown a
substantial increase in the efficiency of flat plate solar collector
by increasing the weight fraction of MWCNTs from 0.2% to 0.4%
while there is the increase in 28.3% efficiency with 0.2% weight
fraction of Al2O3-water nanofluid.
The review of the literature shows that the tilt angle change of
solar radiation falling on the collector surface is related to the local
climatic condition, geographic latitude and the period of its use.
Hence, different locations will have different optimum tilt angle
for a yearly used solar collector. Likewise, the thermo-physical
properties change of nanofluid mainly depends on the volume con-
centration and size of the nanoparticle as well as on operating tem-
perature of nanofluids. Therefore, it is necessary to predict the
optimum operating parameters, like optimum tilt angle for maxi-
mizing solar incident and optimum volume concentration and size
of nanoparticle for the preparation of nanofluid in order to maxi-
mize the efficiency of the nanofluid-based solar thermal collector.
The prime focus of this study is the use of the CuO-water nanofluid
as a working fluid in a flat plate solar collector installed at the opti-
mum tilt angle for a domestic solar water heating system. The
attention is focused on analyzing theoretically the maximum
enhancement in efficiency of a CuO nanofluid based flat plate solar
collector. The analysis has been based on total solar radiation
reaching the collector absorber plate, heat transfer of working fluid
(with respect to the thermo-physical properties of CuO/water
nanofluid), and overall heat losses from the collector (with respect
to the tilt angle of the collector).
2. Parameter estimation methodology
This study considers that the efficiency of FPSC depends mainly
on three main parameters which are (i) incident solar radiation on
tilted surface, (ii) convective heat transfer coefficient of working
fluid (nanofluid) flowing through the tubes in the collector and
(iii) overall heat loss from the collector. A mathematical model
and a MATLAB based simulation program were used for evaluating
these parameters to ascertain the collector efficiency. The first
610 N.K.C. Sint et al. / Solar Energy 155 (2017) 608–619



attention is focused to find the optimum tilt angle for a flat plate 1 þ cos b 1  cos b
IT ¼ Ib Rb þ Id þ Iqg ð1Þ
solar collector facing south in Taunggyi, a city of Myanmar, on 2 2
the basis of maximizing the total solar radiation (IT ) falling on
the collector surface over a specific period of time. The second where b is the tilt angle of collector, qg is the diffuse ground reflec-
attention is focused on the evaluation of convective heat transfer tance factor (which is equal to 0.2 for bare ground) and the beam
coefficient (hfi ) of a water based CuO nanofluid flowing inside the radiation on horizontal surface is given by Ib ¼ I  Id . The geometric
tube of the flat plate solar collector as the working fluid. The con- factor, Rb , for the collector surfaces in the northern hemisphere

vective heat transfer coefficient is computed through the Nusselt tilted toward the equator (surface azimuth angle c ¼ 0 ) and the
number of nanofluids as a function of nanoparticle volume concen- diffuse radiation on horizontal surface, Id ; dependent of the clear-
tration and size. Then, the thermal losses (described by collector ness index, kT , are determined according to the relations given in
overall heat loss coefficient, (U L ) from the collector tilted at the reference (Duffie and Beckman, 2013; Erbs et al., 1982). The total
optimum position was calculated considering the operating and solar radiation on the horizontal surface, I, can be expressed as
ambient temperature for the coldest winter month of the year. follows:
Once the values were obtained, they were used to compute the p cos x  cos xs
theoretical efficiency of the flat plate solar collector using MATLAB I¼H ða þ b cos xÞ  ð2Þ
24 sin xs  p180
xs
cos xs
program is shown in Fig. 1.
where constants are given by a ¼ 0:409 þ 0:5016 sinðxs  60Þ;
2.1. Estimation of total solar radiation on tilted surface, IT b ¼ 0:6609  0:4767 sinðxs  60Þ; hour angle x ¼ ð360=24Þ t
and sunset hour angle xs ¼ cos1 ð tan / tan dÞ where / and d are
Liu and Jordan (1963) considered the total solar radiation on the site latitude angle and solar declination angle. The monthly mean
tilted surface, IT , as the sum of beam radiation, isotropic diffuse daily solar radiation intensity on a horizontal surface, H, is esti-
radiation, and solar radiation diffusely reflected from the ground mated according to the Rietveld model (Rietveld, 1978) which is
and obtained the equation for an hour as follows: believed to be applicable anywhere in the world.

Fig. 1. Calculation process flow chart.

 N.K.C. Sint et al. / Solar Energy 155 (2017) 608–619
For optimum tilt angle, bopt , which gives the maximum solar
radiation on the flat plate solar collector in a specific period, the
derivative of IT with respect to b must be zero, i.e. dIT =db ¼ 0. In
this study, the bopt calculation was based on maximizing the solar
radiation reaching on a tilted collector surface using the Morcos
model (Morcos, 1994) and is given by:
bopt ¼ tan1 fcos cðcos d sin / cos x  sin d cos /Þ=½sd ð1  qg Þ
 cos hz =2sb  qg cos hz =2 þ sin dsin/
þ cos d cos / cos xg
where the transmission coefficient for beam and diffusion radiation
are given by sb ¼ ao þ a1 expðk= cos hz Þ; sd ¼ 0:2710  0:2939sb
where constants ao , a1 and k are determined according to the rela-
tions given in reference (Morcos, 1994) and the angle of incident of
the beam radiation on the horizontal surface, hz is given by
cos hz ¼ cos d cos / cos x þ sin d sin / (Duffie and Beckman, 2013).
Using the above relations, maximum total solar radiation on an
optimum tilted surface is calculated for the specific days of the
year. The collector location considered in this study is at Taunggyi
city, Myanmar (Latitude = 21 °470 N, Longitude = 97 °10 E, Alti-
tude = 1436 m above sea level.
2.2. Estimation of convective heat transfer coefficient, hfi
Once the solar radiation is incident on the collector absorber
plate, it raises the temperature of the absorber plate above the
ambient temperature and the process of heat loss from the absor-
ber to the surrounding starts. If the working fluid flowing inside
the collector tubes removes too much heat, the temperature of
the absorber decreases, and reduces heat loss. Therefore, it is useful
to know the characteristic of heat transfer to the fluid for the sim-
ulation of the collector performance. Convective heat transfer takes
place whenever a fluid contacts with a solid surface due to the
temperature difference between the surface and the fluid. The con-
vective heat transfer coefficient of fluid flowing inside a circular
tube can be calculated from the equation of dimensionless Nusselt
number as follows:
Nuk
hfi ¼
Di
In the above equation, hfi is the heat transfer coefficient, Nu is
the Nusselt number, k is the thermal conductivity of the fluid flow-
ing in the tube and Di is the inside diameter of the tube. In general,
Nusselt number is related to the dimensionless Reynolds number
and Prandtl number. For the pure fluid flowing in a tube in the lam-
inar and turbulent region, the correlations for the estimation of
Nusselt numbers are as follows (Yunus, 1998):
Nu ¼ 3:66 ðFully dev eloped laminar flowÞ
Nu ¼ 0:023Re0:8 Pr0:4 ðTurbulent flowÞ
Li and Xuan (2002) proposed the general form of Nusselt num-
ber relating to nanofluids for a laminar (Re 6 2300) and turbulent
flow (Re > 2300) by the following relations:
Nunf ¼ 0:4328ð1
þ 11:285/0:754
p Pe0:218
d ÞRe0:333
nf Pr0:4
nf ðFor laminar flowÞ
Nu ¼ 0:0059ð1:0
þ 7:6286/0:6886 Pe0:001 ÞRe0:9238 Pr 0:4 ðFor turbulent flowÞ
p d nf nf
In the above equations, the dimensionless numbers are given by
Reynolds number Re ¼ V qnf Di =lnf ; Prandtl number
Pr ¼ lnf C pnf =knf ; Peclet number Ped ¼ Vdp =anf where V is the mean
611
flow velocity, dp is the diameter of nanoparticle, lnf and C pnf are the
dynamic viscosity and specific heat capacity of nanofluid respec-
tively. Thermal diffusivity and density of the nanofluid are given
by anf ¼ knf =ðq  C p Þnf and (Pak and Cho, 1998).
The dimensionless numbers defining Nusselt number are a
function of thermo-physical properties of nanofluid (viscosity,
lnf , specific heat capacity, C pnf , thermal conductivities, knf , and
density, qnf ). There are various correlations available for estimating
the thermo-physical properties of nanofluids. Azmi et al. (2010)
ð3Þ developed the regression equations for estimation of nanofluids
properties such as lnf , knf , and C pnf as a function of volume
concentration, /p , particle size, dp , and temperature, T nf . The
regression equation for nanofluid viscosity, considering the
particle size, concentration and temperature applicable for
13 < dp < 170 nm; 0:03 < /p < 4%; 15 < T nf < 72  C is given by:

   
T nf dp
lnf ¼ lw 0:9042 þ 0:1245/p  0:08445 þ 0:6436
72 170
ð9Þ
The regression equation for nanofluid thermal conductivity,
considering the particle size, concentration and temperature appli-
cable for 13 < dp < 150 nm; 0 < /p < 20%; 20 < T nf < 70  C is
given by:

   
T nf dp
knf ¼ kw 0:9808 þ 0:0142/p þ 0:2718  0:1020
70 150
ð10Þ
The regression equation for nanofluid specific heat, considering
the particle volume concentration and temperature applicable for
0 < /p < 6%; 20 < T nf < 70  C, is given by:
T nf
C pnf ¼ C pw ð1:036  0:0298/p  0:07261½ Þ ð11Þ
70
where the subscript w and nf refer to water and nanofluid respec-
tively and the physical properties of water (qw ; lw ; kw ; C pw Þ are
determined using the regression equations in Table 1 (Azmi et al.,
2010). Using the above relations, the thermo-physical properties
of nanofluid defining the dimensionless numbers (Re, Pe, Pr, and
ð4Þ Nu) were calculated as a function of particle volume concentration
for different nanoparticle sizes in a nanofluid. These dimensionless
numbers are used to obtain the convective heat transfer coefficient,
hfi , of nanofluid.
2.3. Estimation of overall heat loss coefficient, U L
The distributions of absorbed solar energy on the collector
absorber plate are the useful energy gain by the working fluid
ð5Þ and the thermal losses from the absorber plate. These losses
cause the reduction of the collector efficiency. If all losses occur
ð6Þ to a common sink temperature, T a , the overall heat losses
coefficient, U L , is the sum of top, bottom and edges coefficients
and can be obtained by the following correlation (Duffie and
Beckman, 2013) :
UL ¼ Ut þ Ub þ Ue ð12Þ
where U b ¼ kins =dins , the back heat loss coefficient considering heat
ð7Þ loss due to conduction through the back insulation of the solar col-
lector; U e ¼ ðUAÞedge =Ac , the edge heat loss coefficient based on the
collector area, Ac, assuming the heat loss is due to one-
ð8Þ dimensional sideways heat flow around the perimeter of the collec-
tor. The major heat loss of the collector is from the top through the
glass cover when compared to bottom and edges losses. The top
heat loss coefficient, U t , is considered as the heat losses due to con-
vection and radiation from the absorber plate (Klein, 1975):
612 N.K.C. Sint et al. / Solar Energy 155 (2017) 608–619

Table 1
Regression equations for water properties applicable for ð25 6 T w 6 100  CÞ.

Properties Regression equations

h i
Density qw ¼ 1000  1:0  ðT w 4:0Þ2
 0:07%
119000þ1365T w 4ðT w Þ2
Viscosity lw ¼ 0:00169  4:25263e  5  T w þ 4:9255e  7  ðT w Þ2  2:09935e  9ðT w Þ3  2:75%
Specific heat C pw ¼ 4217:629  3:20888  T w þ 0:09503ðT w Þ2  0:00132ðT w Þ3 þ 9:415e  6ðT w Þ4 2:5497e  8ðT w Þ5  2:64%
Thermal conductivity kw ¼ 0:56112 þ 0:00193  T w  2:601529e  6  ðT w Þ2  6:08803e  8ðT w Þ3  1:4%

2 31
2.5. Estimation of collector efficiency, g
6 Ng 17 rðT pm þ T a ÞðT 2pm þ T 2a Þ
Ut ¼ 4 h ie 5 þ 2Ng þf 1þ0:133ep
ð13Þ
C ðT pm T a Þ hw 1
þ  Ng The collector efficiency is defined as the ratio of the actual use-
T pm ðN g þf Þ eP þ0:00591Nhw eg
ful energy gain over a specific period of time to the incident solar
energy over the same period. This actual useful energy gain is
where N g is the number of glass cover, T pm and T a are the mean equal to the collector heat removal factor, F R , times the maximum
plate temperature and the ambient temperature, eP band eg are possible useful energy gain. The factor F R is a quality relating the
the glass cover and absorber plate emissivity, wind heat transfer actual energy gain of a collector to the useful heat gain if the whole
coefficient is given by hw ¼ 5:7 þ 3:8V (McAdams, 1954); the collector surface were at the fluid inlet temperature and it can be
parameters are given by f = (1 + 0.089hw  0.116 hw ep) (1 determined according to the relation given in reference (Duffie
+ 0.07866Ng ); e = 0.430(1–100/Tpm); C = 520(1–0.000051 b2 ) for and Beckman, 2013). Knowing the overall heat loss coefficient
0° < b < 70° and for 70° < b < 90°, use b = 70° respectively. and the collector heat removal factor, the mean plate temperature,
Using the above relations, the overall heat loss coefficient, U L , is T pm , can be calculated by the relation given in reference (Duffie and
calculated. The selected environmental, operating and design con- Beckman, 2013). The obtained value is compared with the initial-
ditions of the solar collector for the calculation are shown in ized mean plate temperature. The iterative calculation process is
Table 2. necessary until T pm is closed to the initial value to obtain the final
value of U L and F R for estimating the thermal efficiency of the flat
plate solar collector. Finally, the thermal efficiency of the flat plate
2.4. Estimation of collector efficiency factor, F0 solar collector can be computed by the following equation:
 
After knowing the convective heat transfer coefficient, hfi , and Qu ðT i  T a Þ
g¼ ¼ F R ðsaÞ  F R U L ð15Þ
the overall heat loss coefficient, U L , the collector efficiency factor, I T Ac IT
F 0 , can be obtained by Eq. (14) (Duffie and Beckman, 2013). The col- For a given solar collector and operating conditions, the collec-
lector efficiency factor is defined as the ratio of the actual useful tor efficiency varies only with heat removal factor, F R and overall
heat gain to the useful heat gain that would result if the collector heat loss coefficient, U L . So that the efficiency is obtained as a func-
absorber temperature is equal to the local fluid temperature and tion of particle volume concentration and particle sizes of
is given by: nanofluid.

1=U L
F0 ¼   ð14Þ 3. Results and discussion
W 1
U L ½DþðWDF
þ C1 þ pDh
1
b fi

3.1. Total solar radiation on tilted surface

where W, D, and Cb are tube spacing, tube diameter and bond con-
ductance, respectively. The standard fin efficiency factor is given by The total solar radiation on the flat plate solar collector surface
1=2 facing south tilted with the optimum angle in Taunggyi was esti-
F ¼ tanh½mðW  DÞ=2=mðW  DÞ=2 where m ¼ ðU L =kab dab Þ . For
the given collector in Table 2, the design parameters such as W, D, mated for the average day for each month in the year for in this
Cb are constant. Hence in this study, F 0 varies only with U L and hfi study.
so that F 0 is obtained as a function of particle volume concentration
and particle size of nanofluid. 3.1.1. Hourly optimum tilt angle
The hourly optimum tilt angles, bopt;h , for the average day for
each month in the year were computed based on the geometric
Table 2
data of Taunggyi city (Latitude = 20°470 N, longitude = 97 °10 E and
Specifications of design conditions for the solar collector.
altitude = 1436 m above sea level) in Myanmar by using MATLAB
Design parameter Value program. Taunggyi has the humid subtropical climate with three
Flat plate collector distinct seasons. The average temperature in summer (March to
Glazing Double glass May), rainy (June to October) and winter (November to February)
Collector area, Ac 2m
seasons are 22 °C, 20 °C and 16 °C respectively. Fig. 2 shows the
Adhesive resistance, 1/Cb Negligible
Absorber plate thickness, dabs 0.002 m variation hourly optimum tilt angle for the average day of each
Emissivity of the cover, eg 0.88 month in the year with daytime for a south- facing flat plate solar
Emissivity of the absorber, ep 0.92 collector in Tanuggyi. The value of the hourly optimum tilt angles
Thickness of the back insulation, din 0.08 m increases with daytime before solar noon and decreases after solar
Thickness of the side insulation 0.04 m
Thermal conductivity of the absorber plate, kabs 384 W/m K
noon during the months of April-September and the reverse trend
Thermal conductivity of the insulation plate, kin 0.05 W/m K of the curve occurs during the months of October-February. The
Effective product transmittance-absorptance, sa 0.84 maximum and minimum optimum tilt angle varying in the range
Tube center to center distance, W 0.15 m of (50–82°) and (40° to 2°) occurs in December and June respec-
Inner tube diameter, Di 0.04 m
tively. It is noticeable that the optimum tilt angles varying with the
 N.K.C. Sint et al. / Solar Energy 155 (2017) 608–619
Fig. 2. Variation of hourly optimum tilt angle for the average day for each month in the year.
daytime for the average day for the months of June and July are
observed to be negative. When the tilt angle is negative, the collec-
tor is facing the north and when it is positive, the collector is facing
the south. The hourly optimum tilts angle for the month of
September remains almost constant throughout daytime which is
approximately equal to the latitude angle.
3.1.2. Hourly total solar radiation on optimum tilted surface
The total solar radiation on the south-facing flat plate solar col-
lector for an hour, tilted with the optimum tilt angle (b = bopt;h ) at
solar noon, was computed for the average day for each month in
the year using the standard solar data of Taunggyi city. The set of
Eqs. (1)–(3) was used in the MATLAB program for this computa-
tion. Fig. 3 shows that the variation of hourly total solar radiation,
IT;h , on optimum tilted surface for the average day of each month.
The value of total solar radiation increases with daytime and
reaches its peak valve at solar noon. The highest total solar radia-
tion (3.8 MJ/m2 h) occurs in March at noon, and the lowest one is
1.8 MJ/m2 h in July at noon.
3.1.3. Monthly total solar radiation on tilted surface
The optimum tilt angle, bopt , for each month was calculated by
finding the average value of the hourly optimum tilt angles for
the average day for each month in the year. The solid line in
Fig. 3. Variation of hourly total solar radiation with the daytime on the tilted collector surface with the optimum tilt angle at solar noon.
613
Fig. 4 shows the variation of bopt for each month in the year. The
optimum tilt angle for a flat plate solar collector facing south is
56° in December. The optimum tilt angles for the month of May
to August are observed to be negative values. According to the
results, the collector must be set north facing during those months.
In this study, all the negative values of the optimum tilt angle were
considered zero (horizontally). This is due to the fact that the prac-
tical orientation for the collector installed in the northern hemi-
sphere is south facing with the positive tilt angle. The monthly
optimum tilt angles were used for estimating the monthly total
solar radiation, IT , for an hour on the tilted collector surface and
results show the bar graph in Fig. 4. The maximum monthly total
solar radiation occurs in March (summer month) with the tilt angle
of 26° and the value of 2.44 MJ/m2 h. The minimum one occurs in
July and August (rainy months) with the tilt angle of 0° and the
value of 1.3 MJ/m2 h.
3.2. Convective heat transfer coefficient, hfi
The heat transfer coefficient is calculated, using Eq. (4), and
plotted in relation to the particle volume concentration in nano-
fluid. In this calculation, the nanoparticle volume concentration
of (0 < /p < 4%Þ and nanoparticle size of (20 < dp < 150 nmÞ are
considered variables. The properties of CuO material for the
614 N.K.C. Sint et al. / Solar Energy 155 (2017) 608–619
Fig. 4. Variations of the monthly optimum tilt angle and total solar radiation for an hour throughout the year for the flat plate solar collector facing south.
water-based CuO nanofluid are considered according to Table 3
given in the reference (Abouali and Ahmadi, 2012). These proper-
ties are assumed to be constant at the operating temperature of
the collector considered in this study. With the increase in particle
volume concentration from 0.1 to 3.5%, the nanofluid density
increases from 990 to 1177 kg/m3 whereas for the specific heat
of nanofluid the value decreases from 4070 to 3646 J/kg m3 as
shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The figures also suggest that both value
of density and specific heat does not change with varying particle
size. Fig. 7 illustrates the thermal conductivity of nanofluid varia-
tion with the particle volume concentration in the range of 0.1–
3.5% for different particle diameters (20, 30, 60, 90, 120, 140 nm).
The thermal conductivity of nanofluid increases as the particle vol-
ume concentration increases in the base water but decreases as the
size of nanoparticle increases. The maximum value of 0.8082
W=m K occurs at 3.5% particle volume concentration with the par-
ticle diameter of 25 nm. From Eq. (9), the viscosity of nanofluid is
computed for various particle sizes and plotted as shown in
Fig. 8. The figure depicts that as the volume concentration
increases, the viscosity of the nanofluid increases; it also increases
with respect to increasing diameter of nanoparticle in the base
water. The viscosity value for 3.5% CuO nanofluid with the particle
diameter of 140 nm is 0.8540 103 kg/m3. Fig. 9 shows the value of
convective heat transfer coefficient range of 201–1540 W/m2 °K
with varying volume concentration (0.1–3.5%) and particle diame-
ter (i.e. 25 nm, 30 nm, 60 nm, 90 nm, 120 nm and 140 nm). The
heat transfer coefficient was found to be a strong function of the
volume concentration compared to the particle diameter. The
Table 3
Values of F R U L and F R ðsaÞ for the water-based collector and the CuO nanofluid-based
FPSC.
Working fluid Removed energy Absorbed energy
parameter F R U L parameter F R ðsaÞ
Water 3.362 0.761
CuO-nanofluid
(25 nm & 0.1% 3.445 0.784
concentration)
(25 nm & 0.5% 3.469 0.791
concentration)
(25 nm & 1.0% 3.477 0.793
concentration)
(25 nm & 2.0% 3.480 0.794
concentration)
increase in heat transfer coefficient with varying particle diameter
is more obviously at higher particle concentration than lower one.
3.3. Overall heat losses coefficient, U L
The specifications of the selected design condition for the flat
plate solar collector listed in Table 2 were used in Eqs. (12) and
(13) for computing overall heat loss coefficient of the flat plate
solar collector in this study. The mean plate temperature, T pm , is
the only variable for the overall heat loss coefficient, U L , especially
for the top loss coefficient, U t , when the other factors are constants
for the given flat plate solar collector. The overall heat loss coeffi-
cient was calculated for the month of December, the coldest winter
month with lowest average ambient air temperature (8 °C) and
average wind speed (1 km/h). The mass flow rate of the nanofluid
flowing through the absorber tubes was 0.02 kg/s, the recom-
mended test flow rate for liquid flat plate collector and an initial
guess for the mean plate temperature T pm was T i +10 °C (Duffie
and Beckman,2013). Fig. 10 presents the overall heat loss coeffi-
cient of the collector versus the particle volume concentration as
a function of particle size in the nanofluid. It was found that the
overall heat loss coefficient of the collector decreases with increase
in volume concentration of nanoparticle in nanofluid up to 2% of
volume concentration. Further increase in volume concentration
elevates the overall heat loss coefficient of the collector. The min-
imum value of overall heat loss coefficient occurs at 2% volume
concentration of nanoparticle for all particle sizes. However, the
nanofluid loading with a smaller particle size has higher heat loss
of the collector than with a larger particle size.
3.4. Collector efficiency, g
The heat transfer coefficient, hfi , and the overall heat losses coef-
ficient, U L , were used to obtain the collector efficiency factor, F 0 ,
and the heat removal factor, F R . The variation of the collector effi-
ciency factor, F 0 , with the particle volume concentrations for differ-
ent particle sizes is presented in Fig. 11. The factor F 0 increases
more rapidly at lower volume concentration loading in the nano-
fluid (i.e. 0.1–0.5%) than the higher one. It was also observed that
the lager the particle diameter, the higher the collector efficiency
factor. However, it is clear from the plot that the increase in collec-
tor efficiency factor due to increase in nanoparticle size is marginal
compared to increasing in particle concentration. The heat removal
factor, F R , is plotted in relation to particle volume concentrations
 N.K.C. Sint et al. / Solar Energy 155 (2017) 608–619 615

Fig. 5. Variation of the density of CuO nanofluid with the particle volume concentration for different particle diameters.

Fig. 6. Variation of the specific heat of CuO nanofluid with the particle volume concentration for different particle diameters.

Fig. 7. Variation of the thermal conductivity of CuO nanofluid with the particle volume concentration for different particle diameters.
616 N.K.C. Sint et al. / Solar Energy 155 (2017) 608–619

Fig. 8. Variation of the viscosity of CuO-nanofluid with the particle volume concentration for different particle diameters.

Fig. 9. Variation of the heat transfer coefficient of CuO-nanofluid with the particle volume concentration for different nanoparticle diameters.

Fig. 10. Variation of overall heat loss coefficient with volume concentrations for different particle sizes.
 N.K.C. Sint et al. / Solar Energy 155 (2017) 608–619 617

Fig. 11. Variation of the collector efficiency factor with the volume concentration for different particle sizes.

for various particle sizes as shown in Fig. 12. It is noticeable that
the increases in the factor F R with increasing particle concentration
loading peaks at 2% of volume concentration and gradually drops
after 2% volume concentration. As the particle diameter increases
(for the same volume concentration), the factor F R increases
slightly. The maximum value of heat removal factor is found to
be around 0.946 at a volume concentration of 2% with 140 nm par-
ticle diameter in Fig. 12.
The temperature difference ðT i  T a Þ and total solar radiation, IT ,
were assumed constants in estimating the collector efficiency for
the selected month (December). Therefore, the collector efficiency
in Eq. (15) is a function of the two parameters, the absorbed energy
parameter F R ðsaÞ and the removed energy parameter F R U L in this
study.
Fig. 13 displays the variation of collector efficiency g with vol-
ume concentration of nanoparticles for different particle sizes in
the nanofluid. The collector efficiency increases with increase in
particle concentration in nanofluid up to 2% of volume concentra-
tion (for the same particle size) and gradually diminishes after 2%
volume concentration. This phenomenon is due to the increase in
the overall thermal loss coefficient of the collector U L at higher
volume concentration as depicted in Fig. 10. Also, the collector
efficiency curves of all particle loadings have shown that, a larger
particle diameter provides higher collector efficiency than that of
a smaller diameter in nanofluid. Fig. 13 suggests that for maximum
collector efficiency, a 2% volume concentration of nanoparticle is
optimal loading in the nanofluid. The minor collector efficiency
changes with respect to particle sizes. It is observed that the effi-
ciency of the water based CuO-nanofluid collector is higher than
that of water as a working fluid. The comparative result of F R U L
and F R ðsaÞ for the CuO nanofluid and the water in Table 3 revealed
that the collector efficiency is increased by 5%; by using of 2% CuO
nanofluid with 25 nm particle diameter as a working fluid.
Based on the results, it has been found that the enhanced heat
transfer of flat plate solar collector by the use of nanofluid is the
one of the driving factors for improved collector efficiency in solar
water heating application. Heat transfer enhancement in collector,
in turn, increases collector efficiency leading to a smaller and com-
pact design of solar collector. It will then reduce the cost and
energy needed to manufacture the solar collector due to reduction
of the material usage, cost and energy required in manufacturing
(Faizal et al., 2013). This trend could cause the initial cost of a
DSWH system to decrease, further decreasing payback period can
be achieved compared to that of the conventional DSWH system.

Fig. 12. Variation of the collector heat removal factor with the volume concentrations for different particle sizes.
618 N.K.C. Sint et al. / Solar Energy 155 (2017) 608–619
Fig. 13. Variation of the collector efficiency with the particle volume concentrations for different particle sizes.
This short payback period and long term benefit could offer wider
adoption of SWH technology. In addition, the required number of
collectors for the same capacity of the hot water demand for build-
ing or industrial application could reduce by using the nanofluid-
based FPSC compared to the conventional FPSC because of being
higher efficiency.
At the moment, the nanofluid production cost is certainly high
as it requires advanced and sophisticated equipment. However
with time, it is expected that nanofluid will be produced in com-
mercial scale and the cost will be reduced. So improvement in effi-
ciency is justified from cost perspective. As nanofluid cannot be
directly connected to either the water storage tank or integrated
with the building, a separate circulation loop of nanofluid is essen-
tial. This may be achieved by having heat exchanger where nano-
fluid as one of the heat exchanger fluids can transfer heat to the
water storage tank or building water supply system.
4. Conclusion
The efficiency of the CuO-water nanofluid based flat plate solar
collector for domestic water heating application was analyzed the-
oretically. This analysis has been performed for the given flat plate
solar collector with the operating conditions for the coldest winter
months of the location of interest. Based on the study, the follow-
ing conclusion can be drawn:
 Hourly optimum tilt angles, bopt,h, for the average day of each
month in the year were determined for Taunggyi city
(Latitude = 20°470 N), Myanmar. The monthly optimum tilt
angle for the collector changes throughout the year, it is to
notice that the monthly optimum tilt angle is the average
the hourly optimum tilt angles for the average day of each
month in the year. The monthly optimum tilt angles are
found to be negative for the months of May to August and
they are considered zero for the south facing solar collector.
The monthly optimum tilt angle for December, the coldest
winter month of Taunggyi city, is found to be 56° where
the total solar radiation incident on the collector surface
obtained for an hour is 1.74 MJ/m2.
 The monthly total solar radiation, incident on the collector sur-
face south facing, changes throughout the year with its maxi-
mum value of 2.44 MJ/m2 h in March (summer month) and
minimum value of 1.3 MJ/m2 h in July and August (rainy
month).
 With the mass flow rate of 0.02 kg/m2 s, the Reynolds number
of laminar value of less than 2300 is observed. The convective
heat transfer coefficient increases with increasing volume con-
centration and size of nanoparticle in nanofluid.
 The overall heat loss coefficient decreases with increase in vol-
ume concentration of nanoparticle in nanofluid up to 2% of vol-
ume concentration. Further increase in volume concentration
causes the heat loss to increase. This may be due to the relative
heat absorption rate of the nanofluid, flowing inside the tube at
the mass flow rate of 0.02 kg/m2 s, peaks at around 2% particle
volume concentration loading in the nanofluid. It is observed
that the larger the nanoparticle sizes in the nanofluid, the lower
the heat loss in the collector.
 With the increase in volume concentration of nanoparticle in
the nanofluid, the collector efficiency factor F0 is observed to
increase in the range of 0.9752–0.9935. Meanwhile, the
increases in the factor F R with increasing particle concentration
loading peaks at 2% of volume concentration and gradually
drops after 2% volume concentration due to higher heat losses.
 The collector efficiency near its maximum value is found when
the value of overall heat loss coefficient and heat removal factor
is at its minimum and maximum. It is observed that a 2% vol-
ume concentration appears optimal loading for the collector
nanofluid. A minor increase in the collector efficiency occurs
with the increase in nanoparticle sizes in the nanofluid. It can
be concluded according to the results that the collector effi-
ciency is a strong function of particle volume concentration
loading compared to particle size in nanofluid. A 5% increase
in the collector efficiency can be achieved in CuO-H2O nanofluid
at an optimal particle concentration of 2% (vol), with 25 nm par-
ticle size. Therefore, the use of nanofluid is the one of the driv-
ing factors for improved collector efficiency in solar water
heating application.
 Finally, at the moment, the nanofluid production cost is cer-
tainly high as it requires advanced and sophisticated equip-
ment. However with time, it is expected that nanofluid will be
produced in commercial scale and the cost will be reduced. So
improvement in efficiency is justified from cost perspective.
As nanofluid cannot be directly connected to either the water
storage tank or integrated with the building, a separate circula-
tion loop of nanofluid is essential. This may be achieved by hav-
ing heat exchanger where nanofluid as one of the heat
exchanger fluids can transfer heat to the water storage tank or
building water supply system
 N.K.C. Sint et al. / Solar Energy 155 (2017) 608–619
Acknowledgment
This research is supported by Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) under AUN/SEED-Net Collaborative Research with
Industry (CRI) Program.
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