Applications of nanofluids in solar energy: A review of recent advances
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the recent advances in the nanofluids' applications in solar energy systems, i.e., solar collectors, photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems, solar thermoelectric devices, solar water heaters, solar-geothermal combined cooling heating and power system (CCHP), evaporative cooling for greenhouses, and water desalination.
Abstract: Solar energy systems (SESs) are considered as one of the most important alternatives to conventional fossil fuels, due to its ability to convert solar energy directly into heat and electricity without any negative environmental impact such as greenhouse gas emissions. Utilizing nanofluid as a potential heat transfer fluid with superior thermophysical properties is an effective method to enhance the thermal performance of solar energy systems. The purpose of this review paper is the investigation of the recent advances in the nanofluids’ applications in solar energy systems, i.e., solar collectors (SCs), photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems, solar thermoelectric devices, solar water heaters, solar-geothermal combined cooling heating and power system (CCHP), evaporative cooling for greenhouses, and water desalination.
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TL;DR: An attempt has been made to scrutinize the applications of artificial neural network (ANN) as an intelligent system-based method for optimizing and the prediction of different solar energy devices’ performance.
389 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors seek the attention of young scholars and experts working in the field of heat transfer by discussing the applications and challenges of hybrid nanofluids with a concise discussion on its history, synthesis techniques, thermophysical properties, research gaps, future directions, current status, and the leading groups, organizations and countries around the world.
312 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review of thin film-based solar steam generation (SG) devices with respect to their physical mechanisms, fabrication methods, structure, advantages, and disadvantages is presented.
182 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focused on the application of hybrid nanofluids containing reduced graphene oxides decorated with silver nanoparticles in volumetric solar absorbers, and the results indicated that the prepared nanoparticles can be employed for direct absorption solar collectors over a short period of solar irradiation time, even at a low illumination intensity of one sun.
144 citations
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TL;DR: A simple and intuitive picture that describes the plasmon response of complex nanostructures of arbitrary shape is presented, an electromagnetic analog of molecular orbital theory, that can be understood as the interaction or "hybridization" of elementary plasmons supported by nanostructure of elementary geometries.
Abstract: We present a simple and intuitive picture, an electromagnetic analog of molecular orbital theory, that describes the plasmon response of complex nanostructures of arbitrary shape. Our model can be understood as the interaction or "hybridization" of elementary plasmons supported by nanostructures of elementary geometries. As an example, the approach is applied to the important case of a four-layer concentric nanoshell, where the hybridization of the plasmons of the inner and outer nanoshells determines the resonant frequencies of the multilayer nanostructure.
3,587 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that a "nanofluid" consisting of copper nanometer-sized particles dispersed in ethylene glycol has a much higher effective thermal conductivity than either pure or pure glycol or even polyethylene glycol containing the same volume fraction of dispersed oxide nanoparticles.
Abstract: It is shown that a “nanofluid” consisting of copper nanometer-sized particles dispersed in ethylene glycol has a much higher effective thermal conductivity than either pure ethylene glycol or ethylene glycol containing the same volume fraction of dispersed oxide nanoparticles. The effective thermal conductivity of ethylene glycol is shown to be increased by up to 40% for a nanofluid consisting of ethylene glycol containing approximately 0.3 vol % Cu nanoparticles of mean diameter <10 nm. The results are anomalous based on previous theoretical calculations that had predicted a strong effect of particle shape on effective nanofluid thermal conductivity, but no effect of either particle size or particle thermal conductivity.
3,551 citations
TL;DR: A survey of the various types of solar thermal collectors and applications is presented in this paper, where an analysis of the environmental problems related to the use of conventional sources of energy is presented and the benefits offered by renewable energy systems are outlined.
2,620 citations
TL;DR: It has been found nan ofluids have a much higher and strongly temperature-dependent thermal conductivity at very low particle concentrations than conventional fluids, which can be considered as one of the key parameters for enhanced performances for many of the applications of nanofluids.
Abstract: Nanofluids are potential heat transfer fluids with enhanced thermophysical properties and heat transfer performance can be applied in many devices for better performances (i.e. energy, heat transfer and other performances). In this paper, a comprehensive literature on the applications and challenges of nanofluids have been compiled and reviewed. Latest up to date literatures on the applications and challenges in terms of PhD and Master thesis, journal articles, conference proceedings, reports and web materials have been reviewed and reported. Recent researches have indicated that substitution of conventional coolants by nanofluids appears promising. Specific application of nanofluids in engine cooling, solar water heating, cooling of electronics, cooling of transformer oil, improving diesel generator efficiency, cooling of heat exchanging devices, improving heat transfer efficiency of chillers, domestic refrigerator-freezers, cooling in machining, in nuclear reactor and defense and space have been reviewed and presented. Authors also critically analyzed some of the applications and identified research gaps for further research. Moreover, challenges and future directions of applications of nanofluids have been reviewed and presented in this paper. Based on results available in the literatures, it has been found nanofluids have a much higher and strongly temperature-dependent thermal conductivity at very low particle concentrations than conventional fluids. This can be considered as one of the key parameters for enhanced performances for many of the applications of nanofluids. Because of its superior thermal performances, latest up to date literatures on this property have been summarized and presented in this paper as well. However, few barriers and challenges that have been identified in this review must be addressed carefully before it can be fully implemented in the industrial applications.
1,558 citations