The launch is to take place at MEPhI, the university's press service reports.
Nanofluids are suspensions of water and nano-sized particles of carbon and metal oxides. The first popular research into nanofluids dates back to no more than 5-7 years ago, but now the entire world is conducting research into the possibility of using them for power generation.
In 2017, the research group headed by Boris Balakin, associate professor at MEPhI and the University of Bergen, won a Russian Science Foundation grant, allowing them to study the possibility of using nanofluids in power generation systems, plus creating a working prototype of a solar power generator.
"The novelty of our research was that nanofluids allow the solar heat to be converted more efficiently than traditional heat-transfer agents," said Pavel Struchalin, one of the developers and an assistant professor at MEPhI, in an interview with RIA Novosti. "First, we build an installation that converts sunlight into thermal energy of nanofluids, and then we turn it into electricity with the help of a turbine. Not a single scientific group in the world has come close to research like this."
Today, with the help of a specially developed test bench, the scientific group is carrying out research into the effect that the concentration of nanoparticles has on the steam production efficiency. Once the scientists add the remaining elements to the installation, it will start generating electricity using spring sunlight.
