IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v13y2020i15p3776-d388428.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessment and Evaluation of the Thermal Performance of Various Working Fluids in Parabolic Trough Collectors of Solar Thermal Power Plants under Non-Uniform Heat Flux Distribution Conditions

Author

Listed:
  • Nabeel Abed

    (Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Civil engineering, School of Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester M1 3BB, UK
    Mechanical Technical Department, Technical Institute of Anbar, Middle Technical University, Baghdad 10074, Iraq)

  • Imran Afgan

    (Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Civil engineering, School of Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester M1 3BB, UK
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, UAE)

  • Andrea Cioncolini

    (Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Civil engineering, School of Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester M1 3BB, UK)

  • Hector Iacovides

    (Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Civil engineering, School of Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester M1 3BB, UK)

  • Adel Nasser

    (Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Civil engineering, School of Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester M1 3BB, UK)

Abstract

Changing the heat transfer fluid (HTF) is a viable approach to study the corresponding effect on the thermal and hydraulic performances of parabolic trough collectors (PTC). Three categorized-types of pure fluids are used in this study; water, Therminol ® VP-1 and molten salt. The parametric comparison between pure fluids is also studied considering the effect of various inlet fluid temperatures and different Reynolds ( R e ) numbers on the thermal performance. Two low-Reynolds turbulence models are used; Launder and Sharma (LS) k-epsilon and Shear Stress Transport (SST) k-omega models. In order to assess the performance of each fluid, a number of parameters are analyzed including average Nusselt ( N u ) number, specific pressure drop distributions, thermal losses, thermal stresses and overall thermal efficiency of the PTC system. Results confirmed that changing the working fluid in the PTC enhances the overall heat transfer thereby improving thermal efficiency. For a temperature-range of (320–500) K, the Therminol ® VP-1 performed better than water, resulting in higher N u numbers, lower thermal stresses and higher thermal efficiencies. On the other hand, for the common temperature-range, both Therminol ® VP-1 and molten salt preformed more or less the same with Therminol ® VP-1 case depicting lower thermal stresses. The molten salt is thus the best choice for high operating temperatures (up to 873 K) as it does not depict any significant reduction in the overall thermal efficiency at high temperatures; this leads to a better performance for the Rankine cycle. For the highest tested Reynolds number for an inlet fluid temperature of 320 K, a comparison of heat transfer performance (Nusselt number) and the overall thermal efficiency between Therminol ® VP-1 and water showed that Therminol ® VP-1 is the best candidate, whereas the molten salt is the best choice for a higher inlet temperature of 600 K. For example, at an inlet temperature of 320 K, the Nusselt number and overall thermal efficiency of therminol VP-1 were 910 and 49% respectively as opposed to 443 and 38% for water. On the other hand, at the higher inlet temperature of 600 K, these two parameters (Nusselt number and overall thermal efficiency) were recorded as 614 and 41 % for molten salt and 500 and 39 % for Therminol ® VP-1.

Suggested Citation

  • Nabeel Abed & Imran Afgan & Andrea Cioncolini & Hector Iacovides & Adel Nasser, 2020. "Assessment and Evaluation of the Thermal Performance of Various Working Fluids in Parabolic Trough Collectors of Solar Thermal Power Plants under Non-Uniform Heat Flux Distribution Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-29, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:15:p:3776-:d:388428
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/15/3776/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/15/3776/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kaloudis, E. & Papanicolaou, E. & Belessiotis, V., 2016. "Numerical simulations of a parabolic trough solar collector with nanofluid using a two-phase model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 218-229.
    2. Bozorg, Mehdi Vahabzadeh & Hossein Doranehgard, Mohammad & Hong, Kun & Xiong, Qingang, 2020. "CFD study of heat transfer and fluid flow in a parabolic trough solar receiver with internal annular porous structure and synthetic oil–Al2O3 nanofluid," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 2598-2614.
    3. Sarafraz, M.M. & Tlili, I. & Tian, Zhe & Bakouri, Mohsen & Safaei, Mohammad Reza, 2019. "Smart optimization of a thermosyphon heat pipe for an evacuated tube solar collector using response surface methodology (RSM)," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 534(C).
    4. Muñoz-Anton, J. & Biencinto, M. & Zarza, E. & Díez, L.E., 2014. "Theoretical basis and experimental facility for parabolic trough collectors at high temperature using gas as heat transfer fluid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 373-381.
    5. 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.
    6. Benoit, H. & Spreafico, L. & Gauthier, D. & Flamant, G., 2016. "Review of heat transfer fluids in tube-receivers used in concentrating solar thermal systems: Properties and heat transfer coefficients," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 298-315.
    7. Sarafraz, M.M. & Safaei, M.R., 2019. "Diurnal thermal evaluation of an evacuated tube solar collector (ETSC) charged with graphene nanoplatelets-methanol nano-suspension," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 364-372.
    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. Tomasz Janusz Teleszewski & Mirosław Żukowski & Dorota Anna Krawczyk & Antonio Rodero, 2021. "Analysis of the Applicability of the Parabolic Trough Solar Thermal Power Plants in the Locations with a Temperate Climate," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-19, May.
    2. Alamdari, Pedram & Khatamifar, Mehdi & Lin, Wenxian, 2024. "Heat loss analysis review: Parabolic trough and linear Fresnel collectors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).

    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. 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).
    2. 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.
    3. 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).
    4. 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.
    5. 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).
    6. Moudakkar, Touria & El Hallaoui, Z. & Vaudreuil, S. & Bounahmidi, T., 2019. "Modeling and performance analysis of a PTC for industrial phosphate flash drying," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 1134-1148.
    7. Zaharil, Hafiz Aman, 2021. "An investigation on the usage of different supercritical fluids in parabolic trough solar collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 676-691.
    8. 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.
    9. Song, Jifeng & Tong, Kai & Luo, Geng & Li, Lei, 2017. "Influence of non-ideal optical factors in actual engineering on the safety and stability of a parabolic trough collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1293-1301.
    10. Bellos, Evangelos & Tzivanidis, Christos & Tsimpoukis, Dimitrios, 2018. "Enhancing the performance of parabolic trough collectors using nanofluids and turbulators," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 358-375.
    11. Abdala, Antar M.M. & Elwekeel, Fifi N.M., 2024. "Investigation of the performance of a parabolic trough collector outfitted with annular absorber tubes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    12. Yıldırım, Erdal & Yurddaş, Ali, 2021. "Assessments of thermal performance of hybrid and mono nanofluid U-tube solar collector system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 1079-1096.
    13. 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).
    14. Fuqiang, Wang & Ziming, Cheng & Jianyu, Tan & Yuan, Yuan & Yong, Shuai & Linhua, Liu, 2017. "Progress in concentrated solar power technology with parabolic trough collector system: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1314-1328.
    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. Rehan, Mirza Abdullah & Ali, Muzaffar & Sheikh, Nadeem Ahmed & Khalil, M. Shahid & Chaudhary, Ghulam Qadar & Rashid, Tanzeel ur & Shehryar, M., 2018. "Experimental performance analysis of low concentration ratio solar parabolic trough collectors with nanofluids in winter conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 742-751.
    17. Xiao, Gang & Zheng, Guanghua & Ni, Dong & Li, Qiang & Qiu, Min & Ni, Mingjiang, 2018. "Thermodynamic assessment of solar photon-enhanced thermionic conversion," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 134-145.
    18. Yanfeng Liu & Yaxing Wang & Xi Luo, 2020. "Design and Operation Optimization of Distributed Solar Energy System Based on Dynamic Operation Strategy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-26, December.
    19. Muhammad Suleman Malik & Naveed Iftikhar & Abdul Wadood & Muhammad Omer Khan & Muhammad Usman Asghar & Shahbaz Khan & Tahir Khurshaid & Ki-Chai Kim & Zabdur Rehman & S. Tauqeer ul Islam Rizvi, 2020. "Design and Fabrication of Solar Thermal Energy Storage System Using Potash Alum as a PCM," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, November.
    20. 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.

    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:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:15:p:3776-:d:388428. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.