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Enhanced heat transfer in a parabolic trough solar receiver by inserting rods and using molten salt as heat transfer fluid

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  • Chang, Chun
  • Sciacovelli, Adriano
  • Wu, Zhiyong
  • Li, Xin
  • Li, Yongliang
  • Zhao, Mingzhi
  • Deng, Jie
  • Wang, Zhifeng
  • Ding, Yulong

Abstract

With the aim to enhance the reliability and overall heat transfer performance of a parabolic trough receiver, concentric rod and eccentric rod are introduced as turbulators, and the flow and convective heat transfer characteristics of molten salt in a parabolic trough receiver are analyzed. A three-dimensional model was developed and has been validated with experimental results and empirical equations. Highly non-uniform heat flux was provided by a novel parabolic trough collector. The result shows that both concentric rod insert and eccentric rod insert can enhance the heat transfer performance effectively. For a parabolic trough receiver with a concentric rod insert, with the increasing of dimensionless diameter B, the normalized Nusselt number is about 1.10 to 7.42 times over a plain parabolic trough receiver. The performance evaluation criteria can't reasonably evaluate the effect of B growth on the comprehensive heat transfer performance. By introducing integrated performance factor, it can give a reasonable solution, and it shows that the integrated performance factor has a significance decreases with the increase of Reynolds number when B is larger than 0.8. With B increasing, the integrated performance factor of parabolic trough receiver with concentric rod insert decreasing under a certain Reynolds number. For an eccentric rod insert, the performance evaluation criteria and the integrated performance factor decrease with the increasing of Reynolds number under a certain dimensionless eccentricity H. The performance evaluation criteria decreases from about 1.84 to 1.68 times over a plain parabolic trough receiver when H is 0.8. Moreover, the temperature distribution can be uniformed and the maximum temperature on the absorber tube also can be remarkably reduced with the increasing of B and H under a certain Reynolds number, which helps to reduce the thermal deflection and increase the reliability for a parabolic trough receiver.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang, Chun & Sciacovelli, Adriano & Wu, Zhiyong & Li, Xin & Li, Yongliang & Zhao, Mingzhi & Deng, Jie & Wang, Zhifeng & Ding, Yulong, 2018. "Enhanced heat transfer in a parabolic trough solar receiver by inserting rods and using molten salt as heat transfer fluid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 337-350.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:220:y:2018:i:c:p:337-350
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.03.091
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    5. Chen, Zhuo & Han, Xinyue & Ma, Yu, 2024. "Performance analysis of a novel direct absorption parabolic trough solar collector with combined absorption using MCRT and FVM coupled method," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    6. Piotr Bogusław Jasiński, 2021. "Numerical Study of Heat Transfer Intensification in a Circular Tube Using a Thin, Radiation-Absorbing Insert. Part 2: Thermal Performance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, July.
    7. Zaharil, H.A. & Hasanuzzaman, M., 2020. "Modelling and performance analysis of parabolic trough solar concentrator for different heat transfer fluids under Malaysian condition," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 22-41.
    8. Kaood, Amr & Abubakr, Mohamed & Al-Oran, Otabeh & Hassan, Muhammed A., 2021. "Performance analysis and particle swarm optimization of molten salt-based nanofluids in parabolic trough concentrators," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 1045-1062.
    9. 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.
    10. 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).
    11. Peng, Hao & Li, Meilin & Liang, Xingang, 2020. "Thermal-hydraulic and thermodynamic performance of parabolic trough solar receiver partially filled with gradient metal foam," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    12. El-Bakry, M. Medhat & Kassem, Mahmoud A. & Hassan, Muhammed A., 2021. "Passive performance enhancement of parabolic trough solar concentrators using internal radiation heat shields," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(P1), pages 52-66.
    13. Peng, Hao & Guo, Wenhua & Li, Meilin, 2020. "Thermal-hydraulic and thermodynamic performances of liquid metal based nanofluid in parabolic trough solar receiver tube," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    14. Madadi Avargani, Vahid & Norton, Brian & Rahimi, Amir, 2021. "An open-aperture partially-evacuated receiver for more uniform reflected solar flux in circular-trough reflectors: Comparative performance in air heating applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 11-24.
    15. Zhang, Shunqi & Liu, Ming & Zhao, Yongliang & Liu, Jiping & Yan, Junjie, 2022. "Energy and exergy analyses of a parabolic trough concentrated solar power plant using molten salt during the start-up process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PC).
    16. Jing-hu, Gong & Yong, Li & Jun, Wang & Lund, Peter, 2023. "Performance optimization of larger-aperture parabolic trough concentrator solar power station using multi-stage heating technology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).

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