Performance investigation of solar ORC using different nanofluids

Abstract

A parabolic solar dish concentrator, as the heat source of an organic Rankine cycle (ORC), can be used for power generation. Different types of tubular cavity receivers with different nanofluids can be considered for use in the solar dish collector to improve its efficiency. In the current research, an ORC with three different cavity receivers including hemispherical, cubical, and cylindrical are investigated using three nanofluids: Al2O3/oil, CuO/oil, and SiO2/oil. A numerical model is validated using experimental data. The ORC analysis is done for a constant evaporator pressure of 2.5 MPa, and condenser temperature of 38 °C. Methanol is employed as the ORC’s working fluid and a non-regenerative, ideal ORC system with different turbine inlet temperatures is considered. Furthermore, a fixed solar heat transfer fluid flow rate of 60 mL/s and dish diameter of 1.9 m is investigated. Results show that, compared to pure oil, the thermal efficiency of the cavity receivers increases slightly, and the pressure drop increases with the application of nanofluids. Furthermore, results show that the cubical cavity receiver, using oil/Al2O3 nanofluid, is the most efficient choice for application as the investigated solar ORC’s heat source.