Biosurfactant Augmented Characterization and Heat Transport Assessment of MWCNT-H2O Nanofluid in Solar Collector

This study presents a comparative analysis of the thermal performance of a flat plate solar collector featuring deionized water and MWCNT-water nanofluid with Gum Arabic, a bio-surfactant. A two-step method is adopted to formulate the nanofluid, which is utilized as a heat transport fluid to improve the thermal performance of a flat plate solar collector. A zeta potential analyzer is employed to characterize the nanofluid. The collector consists of a copper tube heat exchanger for closed-loop cyclic operation. Temperature, pressure and flow rate measurements are carried out. The comparative collector efficiency is investigated at 0.50 and 0.94 lpm flow rates and at MWCNT concentrations of 0.05 and 0.10 wt%, respectively. The thermal conductivity of the MWCNT-water nanofluid with Gum Arabic bio-surfactant exhibited a higher value than that of the SDS surfactant. The absorbed and removed energy parameters at 0.5 lpm for MWCNT-water (0.10 wt%) are found to be increased by 50.42% and 158.75%, respectively, when compared to the corresponding values obtained for DI water. The distribution of collector efficiency with time during the peak hours with maximum solar radiations suggests that a maximum thermal efficiency of 61% can be achieved for 0.94 lpm and 0.10 wt% of MWCNT nanoparticles.