Numerical analysis and design of a novel solar photovoltaic thermal system using finned cooling channel structures embedded with air/TiO2–water nano bi-fluid

• Published in: Solar energy Vol. 269; p. 112368
• Main Authors: El Hadi Attia, Mohammed, Zayed, Mohamed E., Kabeel, A.E., Khelifa, Abdelkrim, Irshad, Kashif, Rehman, Shafiqur
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-02-2024
• Subjects: Air/TiO2–water nano bi-fluid; Comparative performance analysis; Cost analysis; Finned tube cooling channel; Numerical investigation; Optimal nanoparticle concentration; Finned tube cooling channel; Optimal nanoparticle concentration; Comparative performance analysis; Cost analysis; Air/TiO2–water nano bi-fluid; Numerical investigation
• ISSN: 0038-092X; 1471-1257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2024.112368

•PV/T collector with dual exchangers cooling by air/TiO2–water nano bi-fluid is studied.•Influences of cooling tube structure, solar flux, and TiO2 nanoparticle concentration are analyzed.•1.0% TiO2 nanoparticle concentration and eight parallel longitudinal fins outperformed the PV/T performance.•Thermal efficiencies of bi-fluid PV/T with finned and non-finned cooling channels are 56.30% and 50.40%.
The suboptimal cooling efficiency of solar PV panels stands as a significant bottleneck affecting their electrical performance. The concept of a bi-fluid photovoltaic thermal (BFPVT) system based on the usage of double exchangers cooling with simultaneously using two types of coolants recently offers a promising strategy for the multiplication of the electrical and thermal performances of PVT systems. Hence, this study presents a detailed 3-D numericalinvestigation and comparative performance analysis ona BFPVT based on the simultaneous cooling with both natural air and water/TiO2 nanofluid under two structures of cooling channels (finned and non-finned configurations). A parametric analysis is conducted to assess the impact of varying concentrations of TiO2 nanoparticles (ranging from 0.0 to 1.0 %) to determine the optimal concentration of TiO2–water nanofluids that yield the highest cooling rates and thermal efficiency in BFPVT collectors. In addition, an energic analysis of the simulated BFPVT systems is developed to determine the average daily thermal efficiency and nano-bifluid temperature rise under the investigated configurations. The results indicated that as the concentration of TiO2–water nanofluid increases, both the water outlet temperature and air outlet temperature also rise, thus remarkably improve the cooling rates and thermal efficiency of the proposed BFPVT system. Moreover, it is optimistically revealed the BFPVT configuration with 1.0 % TiO2 nanoparticle concentration and eight parallel longitudinal fins outperformed the BFPVT performance amongst the investigated configurations. At these conditions, the peak hourly thermal efficiency of the air and TiO2–water BFPVT for the finned and non-finned configurations are estimated as 78.6 % and 70.8 %, respectively, at a continuous TiO2–water flow at a rate of 0.015 kg/s, along with a concurrent airflow. Moreover, the mean daily thermal efficiency is computed as 56.3 % and 50.4 % for the finned and non-finned configurations at the same optimal conditions.