Flat Plate Solar Collector’s Response (Thermal Efficiency) Optimization by Temperatures and Nanofluid Based Input Parameters Using Taguchi Based S/N (Signal to Noise) Ratio Analysis

Abstract

Solar energy, which is a renewable source of energy can be assimilated by flat plate solar collectors housed in naval
ships. The main factor that influences the work of device such as flat plate solar collector is its thermal efficiency and if its high, it indicates high rate of energy conversion which has several applications in solar water heating, space heating, solar cookers, industrial process heat, and desalination and distillation. Such equipment installed in naval ships can solve the requirement of excess energy needed for its movement and operation and can lessen the dependence on fossil fuels, a primary energy source used in naval ships. In this research, four operating process parameters like inlet, plate, outlet temperatures and nanofluid type (Al₂O₃, CuO, and water) are optimized for maximizing the efficiency of flat plate solar collector by Taguchi method. In Taguchi analysis having L9 orthogonal array the response optimization manifested that inlet temperature was the top ranked factor having its percentage contribution as 68.4%, 40.625% and 38.29% at three different flowrates.