Performance investigation of CuO-paraffin wax nanocomposite in solar water heater during night

Abstract To overcome the limitation of power and energy, various strategies have been developed which focuses on the utilisation of the renewable sources of energy. One of the techniques is to harness the solar energy in solar water heater for heating purpose. To enhance the effect and maximize utilization of solar energy as well as availability of warm water over night, phase changing materials (paraffin wax) are used as a thermal energy reservoir. But the problem linked with Paraffin is that it has low thermal conductivity and so to enhance it, nanoparticles are widely used. In this paper, the behaviour of nano CuO with varying concentration of paraffin has been examined and its effect in its performance has been studied. As the variation in concentration of nano CuO particles in CuO-PCM nanocomposite increases, temperature of CuO-PCM composite, outlet temperature of water, and heat transfer decreases in solar water heater.