Nanofluids have shown significant promise in the thermal enhancement of many industrial systems. They have been developed extensively in energy applications in recent years. Solar energy systems are one of the most promising renewables available to humanity and these are increasingly being redesigned to benefit from nanofluids. Most designs of solar collectors involve fixed (rigid) geometries which may be cylindrical, parabolic, tubular or flat-plate types. Modern developments in biomimetics have identified that deformable conduit structures may be beneficial for sustainable energy systems. Motivated by these aspects, in the current work we present a novel model for simulating a biomimetic peristaltic solar magnetohydrodynamic nanofluid-based pump. The working fluid is a magnetized nanofluid which comprises a base fluid containing suspended magnetic nano-particles. The novelty of the present work is the amalgamation of biomimetics (peristaltic propulsion), magnetohydrodynamics and nanofluid dynamics to produce a hybrid solar pump system model. Heat is transferred via distensibility of the conduit in the form of peristaltic thermal waves and buoyancy effects. An externally applied magnetic field achieves the necessary circuit design for generating Lorentzian magnetic body force in the fluid. A variable viscosity modification of the Buongiorno nanofluid model is employed which features thermophoretic body force and Brownian dynamic effects. To simulate solar loading conditions a thermal radiative flux model is also deployed. An asymmetric porous channel is investigated with multiple amplitudes and phases for the wall wavy motion. The channel also contains a homogenous, isotropic porous medium which is simulated with a modified Darcy model. Heat generation/absorption effects are also examined. The electrically-conducting nature of the nanofluid invokes magnetohydrodynamic effects. The moving boundary value problem is normalized and linearized using the lubrication approach. Analytical solutions are derived for axial velocity, temperature and nanoparticle volume fraction. Validation is conducted with Maple numerical quadrature. Furthermore, the salient features of pumping and trapping phenomena discourse briefly. The observations demonstrate promising features of the solar magnetohydrodynamic peristaltic nanofluid pump which may also be exploited in spacecraft applications, biological smart drug delivery etc.

Two-dimensional steady incompressible laminar Newtonian viscous convection-radiative heat transfer in a rectangular solar collector geometry is considered. The ANSYS FLUENT finite volume code (version 17.2) is used to simulate the thermo-fluid characteristics. Extensive details of computational methodology are given to provide engineers with a framework for simulating radiative-convection in enclosures. Meshindependence tests and validation are conducted. The influence of aspect ratio, Prandtl number (Pr), Rayleigh number (Ra) and radiative flux model on temperature, isotherms, velocity, and pressure is evaluated and visualized in colour plots. In addition, local convective heat flux is computed, and solutions are compared with the MAC solver for various buoyancy effects achieving excellent agreement. The P1 model is shown to better predict the actual influence of solar radiative flux on thermal fluid behaviour compared with the limited Rosseland model. With increasing Ra, the hot zone emanating from the base of the collector is found to penetrate deeper into the collector and rises symmetrically dividing into two vortex regions with very high buoyancy effect. With increasing Pr there is a progressive incursion of the hot zone at the solar collector base higher into the solar collector space and simultaneously a greater asymmetric behaviour of the dual isothermal zones.ANSYS FLUENT, aspect ratio, inite volume, MAC computational algorithm, radiative heat transfer, solar collector enclosure, thermal convection 1 | INTRODUCTION The interest in sustainable and renewable energy systems has witnessed significant expansion in the 21st century. Both land-based (terrestrial) and space-based (astronautical) types of solar collector have attracted considerable attention. Solar thermal collectors utilize the incoming radiation by converting it directly into heat whereas photovoltaics convert the radiation into electricity. Solar thermal systems therefore offer many desirable characteristics for propulsion, water and space heating.Space solar power collectors have multiple advantages over earth-based solar power plants. They receive more sun light, are unaffected by weather, free from the day-night cycle, and expensive storage can be avoided. 1,2 The types of geometric designs, which have been developed for spacecraft solar collectors, are generally similar to those of terrestrial systems. They invariably feature an enclosure (cavity) in which the solar radiation initiates and sustains a circulation flow field. The thermo-physics inevitably involves all three modes of heat transfer (conduction, convection, and radiation) although the individual contributions may vary with the particular design adopted, as elaborated by Kreith. 3 Several studies have confined attention to thermal conduction and radiation in spacecraft solar collectors, including Yang et al, 4 who studied three-dimensional anisotropic conduction and a simple radiation network model for collectors in deep cold space. The key mechanism in fluid-based solar collec...

A mathematical model is presented for the nonlinear steady, forced convection, hydromagnetic flow of electro-conductive magnetic nano-polymer with magnetic induction effects included. The transformed two-parameter, non-dimensional governing partial differential equations for mass, momentum, magnetic induction and heat conservation are solved with the local non-similarity method (LNM) subject to appropriate boundary conditions. Keller's implicit finite difference "box" method (KBM) is used to validate solutions. Computations for four different nanoparticles and three different base fluids are included. Silver nanoparticles in combination with various base fluids enhance temperatures and induced magnetic field and accelerate the flow. An elevation in magnetic body force number decelerates the flow whereas an increase in magnetic Prandtl number elevates the magnetic induction. Furthermore, increasing nanoparticle solid volume fraction is found to substantially boost temperatures. Applications of the study arise in advanced magnetic solar nano-materials (fluids) processing technologies.

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The water-based bioconvection of a nanofluid containing motile gyrotactic micro-organisms (moves under the effects of gravity) over a nonlinear inclined stretching sheet in the presence of a nonuniform magnetic field has been investigated. This regime is encountered in the bio-nanomaterial electroconductive polymeric processing systems currently being considered for third-generation organic solar coatings, anti-fouling marine coatings, etc. Oberbeck–Boussinesq approximation along with ohmic dissipation (Joule heating) is considered in the problem. The governing equations of the flow are nonlinear partial differential equations and are converted into ordinary differential equations via similarity transformations. These equations are then solved by the Finite Element Method. The effect of various important parameters on nondimensional velocity, temperature distribution, nanoparticle concentration, the density of motile micro-organisms is analyzed graphically in detail. It is observed from the obtained results that the flow velocity decreases with rising angle of inclination [Formula: see text] while temperature, nanoparticle’s concentration and density of motile micro-organisms increase. The local skin friction coefficient, Nusselt number, Sherwood number, motile micro-organism’s density number are calculated. It is noticed that increasing the Brownian motion and thermophoresis parameter leads to an increase in temperature of fluid which results in a reduction in Nusselt number. On the contrary, the Sherwood number rises with an increase in Brownian motion and thermophoresis parameter. Also, interesting features of the flow dynamics are elaborated and new future pathways for extension of the study identified in bio-magneto-nano polymers (BMNPs) for solar coatings.