The effects of incident solar radiation on the collector efficiency using coolant hybrid nanofluid via simulation of solar tower system with the parallel heat exchangers

Background: Green energy market will contribute to three fifth of the world's electric power generation and two fifths of the fuel market by the mid of the present century. The annual transient thermal performance simulation of a solar tower power plant with parallel heat exchanger is performed. Method: The heat transfer process for the two tanks is performed in which a heat loss from the tanks is considered. Two-phase heat transfer analysis at the heat exchanger is studied. The hourly reflected radiation is determined from DNI data. Nanofluid coolants are used for the flat-plate solar collector. Findings: It is found that the temperature profile of the melted salt at the exit of the receiver fluctuates with higher frequency. The appropriate performance of the solar collector using SiO2 dispersed nanoparticles in water, is also provided. GO-DW mono nanofluid shows a better performance; however, GO/SiO2-DW hybrid nanofluid has more cost-efficiency. (c) 2021 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.