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Numerical analysis of the thermal and thermodynamic performance of a parabolic trough solar collector using SWCNTs-Therminol®VP-1 nanofluid

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  • Mwesigye, Aggrey
  • Yılmaz, İbrahim Halil
  • Meyer, Josua P.

Abstract

In this paper, energetic and exergetic performances of a parabolic trough solar collector using single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)-Therminol® VP-1 nanofluid were numerically investigated and presented. The main objective of this investigation was to determine the influence of high thermal conductivity SWCNTs suspended in the widely used heat transfer fluid, Therminol®VP-1 on the performance indicators of the parabolic trough solar collector. A parabolic trough system with a high concentration ratio of 113 was analyzed in this study. The thermo-physical properties of SWCNTs were taken as functions of nanotube length, nanotube diameter, and temperature, while the properties of Therminol®VP-1 were considered to be temperature dependent. The study involved determination of the actual heat flux profile through Monte Carlo ray tracing and the subsequent coupling of this heat flux profile to a computational fluid dynamics tool using user defined functions. The computational fluid dynamics tool was finite volume based, and the realizable k-ε model together with enhanced wall treatment were used for turbulence modeling. The entropy generation rates were obtained directly from the local velocity and temperature fields of the computed domain and later used in the exergy analysis. Results showed that although the heat transfer performance significantly improved with the use of SWCNTs, the increase in the thermal efficiency was not substantial. For the considered range of parameters, while the heat transfer performance increased up to 234%, the thermal efficiency increased around 4.4% as the volume fraction increased from 0 to 2.5%. The corresponding reduction in the entropy generation was about 70%.

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  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:119:y:2018:i:c:p:844-862
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.10.047
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    7. 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.
    8. 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).
    9. Hachicha, Ahmed Amine & Yousef, Bashria A.A. & Said, Zafar & Rodríguez, Ivette, 2019. "A review study on the modeling of high-temperature solar thermal collector systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 280-298.
    10. Gong, Jing-hu & Wang, Jun & Lund, Peter D. & Hu, En-yi & Xu, Zhi-cheng & Liu, Guang-peng & Li, Guo-shuai, 2020. "Improving the performance of a 2-stage large aperture parabolic trough solar concentrator using a secondary reflector designed by adaptive method," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 23-33.
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    12. Vahidinia, F. & Khorasanizadeh, H. & Aghaei, A., 2023. "Energy, exergy, economic and environmental evaluations of a finned absorber tube parabolic trough collector utilizing hybrid and mono nanofluids and comparison," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 185-199.
    13. Stanek, Bartosz & Grzywnowicz, Krzysztof & Bartela, Łukasz & Węcel, Daniel & Uchman, Wojciech, 2021. "A system analysis of hybrid solar PTC-CPV absorber operation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 635-653.
    14. 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).
    15. Yılmaz, İbrahim Halil & Mwesigye, Aggrey & Kılıç, Fatih, 2023. "Prioritization of heat transfer fluids in parabolic trough solar systems using CFD-assisted AHP-VIKOR approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 751-768.
    16. Mohammed, Hussein A. & Vuthaluru, Hari B. & Liu, Shaomin, 2022. "Thermohydraulic and thermodynamics performance of hybrid nanofluids based parabolic trough solar collector equipped with wavy promoters," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 401-426.
    17. Amein, Hamza & Akoush, Bassem M. & El-Bakry, M. Medhat & Abubakr, Mohamed & Hassan, Muhammed A., 2022. "Enhancing the energy utilization in parabolic trough concentrators with cracked heat collection elements using a cost-effective rotation mechanism," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 250-266.
    18. Nidal H. Abu-Hamdeh & Radi A. Alsulami & Muhyaddin J. H. Rawa & Mashhour A. Alazwari & Marjan Goodarzi & Mohammad Reza Safaei, 2021. "A Significant Solar Energy Note on Powell-Eyring Nanofluid with Thermal Jump Conditions: Implementing Cattaneo-Christov Heat Flux Model," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(21), pages 1-16, October.
    19. Hachicha, Ahmed Amine & Said, Zafar & Rahman, S.M.A. & Al-Sarairah, Eman, 2020. "On the thermal and thermodynamic analysis of parabolic trough collector technology using industrial-grade MWCNT based nanofluid," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 1303-1317.
    20. Kılıç, Fatih & Yılmaz, İbrahim Halil & Kaya, Özge, 2021. "Adaptive co-optimization of artificial neural networks using evolutionary algorithm for global radiation forecasting," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 176-190.
    21. 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).
    22. 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.

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