Numerical investigation of direct absorption solar collector using nanofluids: a review

Abstract

Research on direct absorption solar collector (DASC) has been quite intensive in the past decade. Solar thermal collector plays a vital role to determine the performance of DASC by utilized the heat transfer fluid to harvest the energy while the use of nanofluid (nanoparticle dispersion in a base fluid) enhanced the thermal conductivity. A lot of researchers have studied the influence of several parameters such as collector geometry and nanoparticle materials on the solar thermal collector efficiency for the past decade. This paper presents a recent progress on numerical modelling of nanofluid direct absorption solar collector (NDASC) for different type of geometry including flat type, parabolic trough and cylindrical tube. In this review, a more comprehensive numerical methods and solar collector geometry on NDASC are summarized. Finally, some recommendations are presented for future research guidance.