IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v156y2015icp398-412.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Thermodynamic optimisation of the performance of a parabolic trough receiver using synthetic oil–Al2O3 nanofluid

Author

Listed:
  • Mwesigye, Aggrey
  • Huan, Zhongjie
  • Meyer, Josua P.

Abstract

In this paper, results of a thermodynamic analysis using the entropy generation minimisation method for a parabolic trough receiver tube making use of a synthetic oil–Al2O3 nanofluid as a heat transfer fluid are presented. A parabolic trough collector system with a rim angle of 80° and a concentration ratio of 86 was used. The temperature of the nanofluid considered was in the range of 350–600K. The nanofluid thermal physical properties are temperature dependent. The Reynolds number varies from 3,560 to 1,151,000, depending on the temperature considered and volume fraction of nanoparticles in the base fluid. Nanoparticle volume fractions in the range 0⩽ϕ⩽8% were used. The local entropy generation rates due to fluid flow and heat transfer were determined numerically and used for the thermodynamic analysis. The study shows that using nanofluids improves the thermal efficiency of the receiver by up to 7.6%. There is an optimal Reynolds number at each inlet temperature and volume fraction for which the entropy generated is a minimum. The optimal Reynolds number decreases as the volume fraction increases. There is also a Reynolds number at every inlet temperature and volume fraction beyond which use of nanofluids is thermodynamically undesirable.

Suggested Citation

  • Mwesigye, Aggrey & Huan, Zhongjie & Meyer, Josua P., 2015. "Thermodynamic optimisation of the performance of a parabolic trough receiver using synthetic oil–Al2O3 nanofluid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 398-412.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:156:y:2015:i:c:p:398-412
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.07.035
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261915008648
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.07.035?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Javadi, F.S. & Saidur, R. & Kamalisarvestani, M., 2013. "Investigating performance improvement of solar collectors by using nanofluids," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 232-245.
    2. Mwesigye, Aggrey & Bello-Ochende, Tunde & Meyer, Josua P., 2014. "Heat transfer and thermodynamic performance of a parabolic trough receiver with centrally placed perforated plate inserts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 989-1003.
    3. Mwesigye, Aggrey & Bello-Ochende, Tunde & Meyer, Josua P., 2014. "Minimum entropy generation due to heat transfer and fluid friction in a parabolic trough receiver with non-uniform heat flux at different rim angles and concentration ratios," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 606-617.
    4. Mwesigye, Aggrey & Bello-Ochende, Tunde & Meyer, Josua P., 2013. "Numerical investigation of entropy generation in a parabolic trough receiver at different concentration ratios," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 114-127.
    5. Mahian, Omid & Mahmud, Shohel & Heris, Saeed Zeinali, 2012. "Analysis of entropy generation between co-rotating cylinders using nanofluids," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 438-446.
    6. Ravi Kumar, K. & Reddy, K.S., 2009. "Thermal analysis of solar parabolic trough with porous disc receiver," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(9), pages 1804-1812, September.
    7. Godson, Lazarus & Raja, B. & Mohan Lal, D. & Wongwises, S., 2010. "Enhancement of heat transfer using nanofluids--An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 629-641, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yılmaz, İbrahim Halil & Mwesigye, Aggrey, 2018. "Modeling, simulation and performance analysis of parabolic trough solar collectors: A comprehensive review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 135-174.
    2. Zhu, Xiaowei & Zhu, Lei & Zhao, Jingquan, 2017. "Wavy-tape insert designed for managing highly concentrated solar energy on absorber tube of parabolic trough receiver," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1146-1155.
    3. Mwesigye, Aggrey & Meyer, Josua P., 2017. "Optimal thermal and thermodynamic performance of a solar parabolic trough receiver with different nanofluids and at different concentration ratios," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 393-413.
    4. Kumaresan, G. & Sudhakar, P. & Santosh, R. & Velraj, R., 2017. "Experimental and numerical studies of thermal performance enhancement in the receiver part of solar parabolic trough collectors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1363-1374.
    5. Ju, Xing & Abd El-Samie, Mostafa M. & Xu, Chao & Yu, Hangyu & Pan, Xinyu & Yang, Yongping, 2020. "A fully coupled numerical simulation of a hybrid concentrated photovoltaic/thermal system that employs a therminol VP-1 based nanofluid as a spectral beam filter," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    6. Salgado Conrado, L. & Rodriguez-Pulido, A. & Calderón, G., 2017. "Thermal performance of parabolic trough solar collectors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 1345-1359.
    7. Liu, Peng & Dong, Zhimin & Xiao, Hui & Liu, Zhichun & Liu, Wei, 2021. "Thermal-hydraulic performance analysis of a novel parabolic trough receiver with double tube for solar cascade heat collection," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    8. Li, Zeng-Yao & Huang, Zhen & Tao, Wen-Quan, 2016. "Three-dimensional numerical study on fully-developed mixed laminar convection in parabolic trough solar receiver tube," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1288-1303.
    9. Bitam, El Wardi & Demagh, Yassine & Hachicha, Ahmed A. & Benmoussa, Hocine & Kabar, Yassine, 2018. "Numerical investigation of a novel sinusoidal tube receiver for parabolic trough technology," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 494-510.
    10. Evangelos Bellos & Christos Tzivanidis, 2018. "Enhancing the Performance of Evacuated and Non-Evacuated Parabolic Trough Collectors Using Twisted Tape Inserts, Perforated Plate Inserts and Internally Finned Absorber," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-28, May.
    11. Cheng, Ze-Dong & He, Ya-Ling & Qiu, Yu, 2015. "A detailed nonuniform thermal model of a parabolic trough solar receiver with two halves and two inactive ends," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 139-147.
    12. Ajbar, Wassila & Parrales, A. & Huicochea, A. & Hernández, J.A., 2022. "Different ways to improve parabolic trough solar collectors’ performance over the last four decades and their applications: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    13. Mwesigye, Aggrey & Yılmaz, İbrahim Halil & Meyer, Josua P., 2018. "Numerical analysis of the thermal and thermodynamic performance of a parabolic trough solar collector using SWCNTs-Therminol®VP-1 nanofluid," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 844-862.
    14. Mwesigye, Aggrey & Bello-Ochende, Tunde & Meyer, Josua P., 2014. "Heat transfer and thermodynamic performance of a parabolic trough receiver with centrally placed perforated plate inserts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 989-1003.
    15. Zheng, Zhang-Jing & Li, Ming-Jia & He, Ya-Ling, 2017. "Thermal analysis of solar central receiver tube with porous inserts and non-uniform heat flux," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1152-1161.
    16. Abdulhamed, Ali Jaber & Adam, Nor Mariah & Ab-Kadir, Mohd Zainal Abidin & Hairuddin, Abdul Aziz, 2018. "Review of solar parabolic-trough collector geometrical and thermal analyses, performance, and applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 822-831.
    17. Chen, Sheng & Li, Wenhao & Yan, Fuwu, 2020. "Thermal performance analysis of a porous solar cavity receiver," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 558-569.
    18. Li, Yongcai & Jiao, Feng & Chen, Fei & Zhang, Zhenhua, 2021. "Design optimization and optical performance analysis on multi-sectioned compound parabolic concentrator with plane absorber," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 913-926.
    19. Manikandan, G.K. & Iniyan, S. & Goic, Ranko, 2019. "Enhancing the optical and thermal efficiency of a parabolic trough collector – A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 1524-1540.
    20. Bellos, Evangelos & Tzivanidis, Christos & Tsimpoukis, Dimitrios, 2017. "Multi-criteria evaluation of parabolic trough collector with internally finned absorbers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 540-561.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:156:y:2015:i:c:p:398-412. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.