Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Processes
Volume
9
Issue
2
First Page
1
Last Page
22
Publisher
MDPI
School
School of Engineering
RAS ID
38922
Funders
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Research Management Centre
Abstract
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. A flat plate solar collector (FPSC) was analytically studied, with functionalized graphene nanoplatelets (f-GNPs) as its working fluid. Four samples (wt % nanofluids) were prepared in different base fluids such as ethylene glycol (EG), distilled water (DW):EG (70:30), and DW:EG (50:50). Experimental results (via DW) were used to verify the effectiveness of the analytical model. Some of the operating conditions were taken into account in this research, including temperatures, power, and mass flow rates. Experimental techniques were used to elucidate the modified nanofluids’ physicochemical properties, such as its particle sizes, stability, and morphology, involving electron microscopes (EMs), UV–VIS, and X-ray techniques. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were applied to test the thermal analysis. The findings confirmed that the use of f-GNPs nanofluids enhanced the performance of the FPSC relative to the use of base fluids for all testing conditions. The maximum enhancement of the collector’s effectiveness at a mass flow rate of 1.5 kg min−1 and a weight concentration of 0.1 wt %, increased to 12.69%, 12.60%, and 12.62% in the case of EG, DW:EG (70:30), and DW:EG (50:50), respectively. The results also confirmed an improvement in both the heat gain (FR(τα)) and heat loss (FRUL) coefficients for the f-GNPs nanofluid.
DOI
10.3390/pr9020302
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Alawi, O. A., Kamar, H. M., Mallah, A. R., Mohammed, H. A., Sabrudin, M. A. S., Hussein, O. A., ... Najafi, G. (2021). Graphene nanoplatelets suspended in different basefluids based solar collector: An experimental and analytical study. Processes, 9(2), article 302. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9020302