Nanofluid-Based Direct Absorption Solar Collectors

This chapter presents a two-dimensional model for the conservation of energy in a parallel-plate nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collector (NDASC) under laminar flow. It introduces a term describing the source of heat which accounts for reflected radiation. The chapter proposes a case study to consider two alternative sources of black-body radiation, the first is a heat lamp at 3158 K, and the second is the sun at 5800 K. The chapter discusses many contributions to the literature, future complementary work could be extremely valuable to the field of NDASC design. Nanofluids also have different optical properties compared to their base fluids. Concentrating solar collectors are used to power turbines and generate electricity. A parabolic trough solar collector is one example of a solar collecting system that can be used to generate electricity or heat for an industrial process. Nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collectors are a relatively new technology, and the scientific literature surrounding them is evolving at a rapid pace.