Assessment of the thermal enhancement methods in parabolic trough collectors
File(s)10.1007%2Fs40095-017-0255-3.pdf (1.08 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Bellos, Evangelos
Tzivanidis, Christos
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Parabolic trough collector is an emerging solar technology for achieving the sustainability. Numerous studies have been focused on their performance evaluation and many techniques have been suggested for improving their thermal efficiency. The objective of this paper is to determine the impact of various thermal enhancement techniques on the thermal efficiency improvement of the PTC. The most usual techniques for increasing the thermal performance of parabolic trough collectors are the use of inserts, internal fins, metallic foams and the dimpled absorbers. A parametric analysis is conducted using different values of the thermal enhancement ratio (Nusselt number to the Nusselt number of the smooth absorber case). According to the final results, the thermal efficiency enhancement can reach up to 2% when the Nusselt number is about 2.5 times greater compared to the reference case and the inlet temperature is equal to 600 K. Moreover, in this case, the thermal losses are approximately 22% lower than in the respective reference case. For higher Nusselt number ratios, the thermal enhancement presents relatively small increase. This analysis is performed with a developed thermal model in Engineering Equation Solver (EES) which is validated with the literature results.
Date Issued
2017-11-29
Date Acceptance
2017-11-15
Citation
International Journal of Energy and Environmental Engineering, 2017, 9 (1), pp.59-70
ISSN
2251-6832
Publisher
Springer
Start Page
59
End Page
70
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Energy and Environmental Engineering
Volume
9
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000426037500005&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Energy & Fuels
PTC
Thermal enhancement
Nusselt number
Performance assessment
ORGANIC RANKINE-CYCLE
INTERNALLY FINNED ABSORBERS
ABSORPTION COOLING SYSTEM
HEAT-TRANSFER ENHANCEMENT
SOLAR POWER TECHNOLOGY
TWISTED TAPE INSERTS
LONGITUDINAL FINS
RECEIVER
TUBE
PERFORMANCE
Publication Status
Published