Thermal analysis on a cascaded solar collector using nanofluid

In the present environment, solar energy is one of the vital forms of renewable energy available free of cost. Solar radiation can be harvested and converted as a useful form of energy. Systems are already available for the generation of thermal energy by concentrating solar energy using reflectors. Hence in the present work, to augment the thermal efficiency of the system, a cascaded solar collector with automatic tracking system is fabricated. In this, nano fluids Aluminium Oxide (Al2O3) and Copper Oxide (CuO)are used to raise the thermal energy of the system. The proposed system is a unique technique to harness the maximum solar radiation. A cascaded parabolic solar trough collector with single axis automatic tracking system along with quartz tube receiver was fabricated. The single axis automatic tracking system tracks the sun, from east to west direction. The quartz tube receiver is fixed at the focal point of the parabolic trough through which heat transfer fluid flows. At first, experiment was conducted using water as the heat transfer fluid. The experiment was then repeated with Aluminium Oxide nano fluid. From the literatures, it is found that Copper Oxide has high thermal conductivity, based on volume concentration and particle size, compared to Aluminium Oxide and water. Subsequently, Copper Oxide nano fluid was prepared with suitable volume fraction and adequate base fluid proportion and the experiment was conducted using this and the results were compared. It is observed that the Copper Oxide nano fluid gives higher thermal output than Aluminium Oxide nano fluid and water.