Steady-State Energetic and Exergetic Performances of Single-Phase Natural Circulation Loop With Hybrid Nanofluids

Abstract

Energy and exergy performances of natural circulation loop (NCL) with various water-based hybrid nanofluids (Al2O3 + TiO2, Al2O3 + CNT, Al2O3 + Ag, Al2O3 + Cu, Al2O3 + CuO, Al2O3 + graphene) with 1% volumetric concentration are compared in this study. New thermophysical property models have been proposed for hybrid nanofluids with different particle shapes and mixture ratio. Effects of power input, loop diameter, loop height, loop inclination and heater/cooler inclination on steady-state mass flow rate, effectiveness, and entropy generation are discussed as well. Results show that both the steady-state mass flow rate and energy–exergy performance are enhanced by using the hybrid nanofluids, except Al2O3 + graphene, which shows the performance decrement within the studied power range. Al2O3 + Ag hybrid nanofluid shows highest enhancement in mass flow rate of 4.8% compared to water. The shape of nanoparticle has shown a significant effect on steady-state performance; hybrid nanofluid having cylindrical and platelet shape nanoparticles yields lower mass flow rate than that of spherical shape. Mass flow rate increases with the increasing loop diameter and height, whereas decreases with the increasing loop and heater/cooler inclinations. Both effectiveness and entropy generation increase with the decreasing loop diameter and height, whereas increasing the loop and heater/cooler inclinations. This study reveals that the particle shape has a significant effect on the performance of hybrid nanofluids in NCL, and the use of hybrid nanofluid is more effective for higher power.