IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v231y2018icp1132-1145.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Direct absorption solar collector (DASC) modeling and simulation using a novel Eulerian-Lagrangian hybrid approach: Optical, thermal, and hydrodynamic interactions

Author

Listed:
  • Sharaf, Omar Z.
  • Al-Khateeb, Ashraf N.
  • Kyritsis, Dimitrios C.
  • Abu-Nada, Eiyad

Abstract

A novel two-way coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian hybrid approach was used to model nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collectors via a transient in-house code. By capturing the discrete nature of nanoparticles as well as motion and temperature slips between the carrier and dispersed phases, the proposed approach overcomes limitations of fully-continuous models by coupling the fully-resolved local nanoparticle concentration with the nanofluid optical and thermal properties. In particular, it was established that the non-uniform distribution of nanoparticles results in the spatially non-uniform attenuation of solar radiation due to spatial variations in the nanofluid optical properties. Moreover, the volumetric absorption and temperature fields were computed and compared to the conventional fully-continuous fields generated based on a homogeneous nanoparticle distribution assumption. The Reynolds number was found to have a strong effect on the local nanoparticle distribution in the flow of a nanofluid in a direct absorption solar collector, which greatly affects optical and thermal properties and performance of the nanofluid and collector. A critical flow Reynolds number was identified, after which the assumption of a homogenous particle distribution becomes inacceptable, and the homogeneous, fully-continuous modeling approach yields inaccurate results. In particular, the fully-continuous Eulerian modeling approach increasingly overestimates solar radiation extinction in vicinity of the channel top surface with an increase in Reynolds number, especially for Reynolds numbers ≥1. Effects on the coupled optical, thermal, and hydrodynamic interactions within the direct absorption solar collector due to the deviation of local nanoparticle distribution from the commonly-used homogeneous-nanoparticle-distribution assumption were investigated. Namely, new insights have been gained with regards to the impact of transverse nanoparticle migration, flow Reynolds number, mean nanoparticle concentration, and nanoparticle material type on the nanofluid temperature distribution, spectral radiation heat flux distribution, nanofluid optical properties, and collector optical and thermal performance metrics and losses. It was found that nanofluid optical properties in the visible radiation spectrum are highly dependent on the local nanoparticle concentration, which is in contrast to the infrared spectrum, where variations in the nanoparticle distribution have little effect on optical properties. The obtained results systematically identify the limitations of conventional direct absorption solar collector design tools and propose a new modeling approach that resolves those limitations as well as expands our physical understanding of the coupled optical, thermal, and hydrodynamics interactions within a volumetric absorption system.

Suggested Citation

  • Sharaf, Omar Z. & Al-Khateeb, Ashraf N. & Kyritsis, Dimitrios C. & Abu-Nada, Eiyad, 2018. "Direct absorption solar collector (DASC) modeling and simulation using a novel Eulerian-Lagrangian hybrid approach: Optical, thermal, and hydrodynamic interactions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 1132-1145.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:231:y:2018:i:c:p:1132-1145
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.09.191
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261918314971
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.09.191?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. Dugaria, Simone & Bortolato, Matteo & Del Col, Davide, 2018. "Modelling of a direct absorption solar receiver using carbon based nanofluids under concentrated solar radiation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(PB), pages 495-508.
    2. Potenza, Marco & Milanese, Marco & Colangelo, Gianpiero & de Risi, Arturo, 2017. "Experimental investigation of transparent parabolic trough collector based on gas-phase nanofluid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 560-570.
    3. Bhalla, Vishal & Tyagi, Himanshu, 2018. "Parameters influencing the performance of nanoparticles-laden fluid-based solar thermal collectors: A review on optical properties," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 12-42.
    4. Brekke, Nick & Dale, John & DeJarnette, Drew & Hari, Parameswar & Orosz, Matthew & Roberts, Kenneth & Tunkara, Ebrima & Otanicar, Todd, 2018. "Detailed performance model of a hybrid photovoltaic/thermal system utilizing selective spectral nanofluid absorption," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 683-693.
    5. Amjad, Muhammad & Raza, Ghulam & Xin, Yan & Pervaiz, Shahid & Xu, Jinliang & Du, Xiaoze & Wen, Dongsheng, 2017. "Volumetric solar heating and steam generation via gold nanofluids," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 393-400.
    6. Mallah, Abdul Rahman & Kazi, S.N. & Zubir, Mohd Nashrul Mohd & Badarudin, A., 2018. "Blended morphologies of plasmonic nanofluids for direct absorption applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 505-521.
    7. Anasis, John G. & Khalil, Mohammad Aslam Khan & Butenhoff, Christopher & Bluffstone, Randall & Lendaris, George G., 2018. "A Combined Energy and Geoengineering Optimization Model (CEAGOM) for climate and energy policy analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 246-255.
    8. Widyolar, Bennett & Jiang, Lun & Ferry, Jonathan & Winston, Roland, 2018. "Non-tracking East-West XCPC solar thermal collector for 200 celsius applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 521-533.
    9. Bhalla, Vishal & Khullar, Vikrant & Tyagi, Himanshu, 2018. "Experimental investigation of photo-thermal analysis of blended nanoparticles (Al2O3/Co3O4) for direct absorption solar thermal collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 616-626.
    10. Delfani, S. & Karami, M. & Behabadi, M.A. Akhavan-, 2016. "Performance characteristics of a residential-type direct absorption solar collector using MWCNT nanofluid," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(P1), pages 754-764.
    11. Chen, Meijie & He, Yurong & Wang, Xinzhi & Hu, Yanwei, 2018. "Complementary enhanced solar thermal conversion performance of core-shell nanoparticles," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 735-742.
    12. Karami, M. & Akhavan-Bahabadi, M.A. & Delfani, S. & Raisee, M., 2015. "Experimental investigation of CuO nanofluid-based Direct Absorption Solar Collector for residential applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 793-801.
    13. Lee, Seung-Hyun & Choi, Tae Jong & Jang, Seok Pil, 2016. "Thermal efficiency comparison: Surface-based solar receivers with conventional fluids and volumetric solar receivers with nanofluids," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P1), pages 404-417.
    14. Zeng, Jia & Xuan, Yimin, 2018. "Enhanced solar thermal conversion and thermal conduction of MWCNT-SiO2/Ag binary nanofluids," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 809-819.
    15. Martínez-Rodríguez, Guillermo & Fuentes-Silva, Amanda L. & Picón-Núñez, Martín, 2018. "Solar thermal networks operating with evacuated-tube collectors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 26-33.
    16. Fuentes-Cortés, Luis Fabián & Ma, Yan & Ponce-Ortega, Jose María & Ruiz-Mercado, Gerardo & Zavala, Victor M., 2018. "Valuation of water and emissions in energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 518-528.
    17. Ratismith, Wattana & Favre, Yann & Canaff, Maxime & Briggs, John, 2017. "A non-tracking concentrating collector for solar thermal applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 39-46.
    18. Chen, Meijie & He, Yurong & Zhu, Jiaqi & Wen, Dongsheng, 2016. "Investigating the collector efficiency of silver nanofluids based direct absorption solar collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 65-74.
    19. Wang, Jianxiao & Zhong, Haiwang & Ma, Ziming & Xia, Qing & Kang, Chongqing, 2017. "Review and prospect of integrated demand response in the multi-energy system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 772-782.
    20. Raj, Pankaj & Subudhi, Sudhakar, 2018. "A review of studies using nanofluids in flat-plate and direct absorption solar collectors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 54-74.
    21. Mehrali, Mohammad & Ghatkesar, Murali Krishna & Pecnik, Rene, 2018. "Full-spectrum volumetric solar thermal conversion via graphene/silver hybrid plasmonic nanofluids," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 103-115.
    22. Gorji, Tahereh B. & Ranjbar, A.A., 2017. "Thermal and exergy optimization of a nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 274-287.
    23. Mahalingam, Brinda & Orman, Wafa Hakim, 2018. "GDP and energy consumption: A panel analysis of the US," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 208-218.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bozorgi, Mehran & Ghasemi, Kasra & Mohaghegh, Mohammad Reza & Tasnim, Syeda Humaira & Mahmud, Shohel, 2023. "Optimization of silver/water-based porous wavy direct absorption solar collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 1387-1401.
    2. Du, Shen & Xia, Tian & He, Ya-Ling & Li, Zeng-Yao & Li, Dong & Xie, Xiang-Qian, 2020. "Experiment and optimization study on the radial graded porous volumetric solar receiver matching non-uniform solar flux distribution," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    3. Muzamil Hussain & Syed Khawar Hussain Shah & Uzair Sajjad & Naseem Abbas & Ahsan Ali, 2022. "Recent Developments in Optical and Thermal Performance of Direct Absorption Solar Collectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-23, September.
    4. Xiao, Lan & Gan, Li-Na & Wu, Shuang-Ying & Chen, Zhi-Li, 2021. "Temperature uniformity and performance of PV/T system featured by a nanofluid-based spectrum-splitting top channel and an S-shaped bottom channel," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 929-941.
    5. Mallah, Abdul Rahman & Zubir, M.N.M. & Alawi, Omer A. & Kazi, S.N. & Ahmed, W. & Sadri, R. & Kasaeian, Alibakhsh, 2022. "Experimental study on the effects of multi-resonance plasmonic nanoparticles for improving the solar collector efficiency," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 1204-1223.

    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. Sharaf, Omar Z. & Al-Khateeb, Ashraf N. & Kyritsis, Dimitrios C. & Abu-Nada, Eiyad, 2019. "Energy and exergy analysis and optimization of low-flux direct absorption solar collectors (DASCs): Balancing power- and temperature-gain," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 861-872.
    2. Sainz-Mañas, Miguel & Bataille, Françoise & Caliot, Cyril & Vossier, Alexis & Flamant, Gilles, 2022. "Direct absorption nanofluid-based solar collectors for low and medium temperatures. A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    3. Xu, Yanyan & Xue, Yanqin & Qi, Hong & Cai, Weihua, 2021. "An updated review on working fluids, operation mechanisms, and applications of pulsating heat pipes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    4. Qin, Caiyan & Kim, Joong Bae & Lee, Bong Jae, 2019. "Performance analysis of a direct-absorption parabolic-trough solar collector using plasmonic nanofluids," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 24-33.
    5. Wang, Kongxiang & He, Yan & Kan, Ankang & Yu, Wei & Wang, Debing & Zhang, Liyie & Zhu, Guihua & Xie, Huaqing & She, Xiaohui, 2019. "Significant photothermal conversion enhancement of nanofluids induced by Rayleigh-Bénard convection for direct absorption solar collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    6. Kumar, Sanjay & Sharma, Vipin & Samantaray, Manas R. & Chander, Nikhil, 2020. "Experimental investigation of a direct absorption solar collector using ultra stable gold plasmonic nanofluid under real outdoor conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1958-1969.
    7. Zhu, Guihua & Wang, Lingling & Bing, Naici & Xie, Huaqing & Yu, Wei, 2019. "Enhancement of photothermal conversion performance using nanofluids based on bimetallic Ag-Au alloys in nitrogen-doped graphitic polyhedrons," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 747-755.
    8. Gupta, Varun Kumar & Kumar, Sanjay & Kukreja, Rajeev & Chander, Nikhil, 2023. "Experimental thermal performance investigation of a direct absorption solar collector using hybrid nanofluid of gold nanoparticles with natural extract of Azadirachta Indica leaves," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 1021-1031.
    9. Belekoukia, Meltiani & Kalamaras, Evangelos & Tan, Jeannie Z.Y. & Vilela, Filipe & Garcia, Susana & Maroto-Valer, M. Mercedes & Xuan, Jin, 2019. "Continuous flow-based laser-assisted plasmonic heating: A new approach for photothermal energy conversion and utilization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 517-524.
    10. Mehrali, Mohammad & Ghatkesar, Murali Krishna & Pecnik, Rene, 2018. "Full-spectrum volumetric solar thermal conversion via graphene/silver hybrid plasmonic nanofluids," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 103-115.
    11. Mallah, Abdul Rahman & Kazi, S.N. & Zubir, Mohd Nashrul Mohd & Badarudin, A., 2018. "Blended morphologies of plasmonic nanofluids for direct absorption applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 505-521.
    12. Tembhare, Saurabh P. & Barai, Divya P. & Bhanvase, Bharat A., 2022. "Performance evaluation of nanofluids in solar thermal and solar photovoltaic systems: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    13. Mallah, Abdul Rahman & Zubir, M.N.M. & Alawi, Omer A. & Kazi, S.N. & Ahmed, W. & Sadri, R. & Kasaeian, Alibakhsh, 2022. "Experimental study on the effects of multi-resonance plasmonic nanoparticles for improving the solar collector efficiency," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 1204-1223.
    14. Mojumder, Juwel C. & Aminossadati, Saiied M. & Leonardi, Christopher R., 2023. "Performance analysis of a concentrated direct absorption solar collector (DASC) with nanofluids using computational fluid dynamics and discrete ordinates radiation modelling (CFD-DORM)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 30-52.
    15. Vakili, Masoud & Yahyaei, Masood & Ramsay, James & Aghajannezhad, Pouria & Paknezhad, Behnaz, 2021. "Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system modeling to predict the performance of graphene nanoplatelets nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collector based on experimental study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 807-824.
    16. Ma, Ting & Guo, Zhixiong & Lin, Mei & Wang, Qiuwang, 2021. "Recent trends on nanofluid heat transfer machine learning research applied to renewable energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    17. Bhalla, Vishal & Khullar, Vikrant & Tyagi, Himanshu, 2018. "Experimental investigation of photo-thermal analysis of blended nanoparticles (Al2O3/Co3O4) for direct absorption solar thermal collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 616-626.
    18. Yang, Ruitong & Li, Dong & Arıcı, Müslüm & Salazar, Samanta López & Wu, Yangyang & Liu, Changyu & Yıldız, Çağatay, 2023. "Spectrally selective nanoparticle-enhanced phase change materials: A study on data-driven optical/thermal properties and application of energy-saving glazing under different climatic conditions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    19. Gorji, Tahereh B. & Ranjbar, A.A., 2017. "A review on optical properties and application of nanofluids in direct absorption solar collectors (DASCs)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 10-32.
    20. Muzamil Hussain & Syed Khawar Hussain Shah & Uzair Sajjad & Naseem Abbas & Ahsan Ali, 2022. "Recent Developments in Optical and Thermal Performance of Direct Absorption Solar Collectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-23, September.

    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:231:y:2018:i:c:p:1132-1145. 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.