Thermal Analysis of a Steam Generator Coupled with Storage Tank Using Nanofluids as Heat Transfer Fluid

In this paper, a steam generator coupled with a storage tank is designed and fabricated to produce steam at a faster rate using nanofluids. The system is fabricated using cheap and locally available materials. Water with copper oxide nanoparticles is used in a steam generator to produce steam at 140 °C at 4 bar which is stored in the storage tank. The objective is to reduce energy consumption by the system to produce steam. The steam generator is experimentally studied to investigate heat transfer characteristics with or without nanoparticles in water as heat transfer fluid (HTF). It has been observed that the thermal efficiency of a steam generator is 73% with water as HTF and 91% with water + 4 g copper oxide nanoparticles (NPs) as HTF. There is a 10.91% reduction in charging time with nanofluids as HTF which results in an increase in thermal efficiency. Reduction in charging time has a direct impact on the cost of energy and carbon dioxide emissions. It was observed that there is a 10.91% reduction in the cost of energy and a 0.36 kg reduction in CO2 emission with water + 4 g NPs as heat transfer fluid.