Thermophysical properties measurements and numerical simulation of the yearly yield of a parabolic trough solar collector using nanofluids.

Nanofluids can be applied to increase the thermal efficiency of a parabolic trough solar collector (PTC) substituting the heat transfer base fluid. In this work, dynamic viscosity and thermal conductivity of a nanofluid made by Al2O3 nanoparticles in water were measured in a temperature range between 50 and 80°C. We present the results obtained from a simulation environment suitable to calculate the yearly yield of a PTC, using experimental data as input for the numerical simulation. In particular, we provide a direct comparison with the base fluid in order to verify the convenience in the adoption of certain concentrations of nanofluid.