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Performance study of parabolic trough solar collector using hybrid nanofluids under Jordanian weather conditions

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Abstract

The aim of this experimental and modeling work is to compare the thermal efficiency of two identical parabolic trough solar collector systems under weather conditions in Amman, Jordan, using a hybrid nanofluid of MWCNTs and Y2O3 with gum Arabic surfactant, and distilled water as the heat transfer fluid (HTF). One parabolic trough collector (PTC) uses a hybrid nanofluid at four different volumetric concentrations (0.01, 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1%), while the other uses water as a HTF. To prepare the nanofluids and check their stability, the thermal efficiency of the PTC was examined for different hybrid nanofluid concentrations compared to distilled water. The results showed that the 0.1% MWCNTs and Y2O3 hybrid nanofluid had the highest thermal efficiency of 44.24%, while water had a thermal efficiency of 19.32%. In addition, increasing the concentrations resulted in an improvement in the maximum optical efficiency. The maximum efficiency of 45% was obtained using 0.1% Vol. The Solidworks model was created according to experimental setup parameters and dimensions. The simulation was conducted under steady-state operating conditions, incorporating dimensional governing equations (continuity, momentum, and energy). A uniform heat flux was applied with two primary boundary conditions: the first one was at the receiver inlet where the fluid inlet temperature and mass flow rate were specified, whereas the second one was at the receiver outlet, where the outlet pressure was equivalent to the atmospheric pressure. The obtained experimental results have been compared using the Solidwork simulation model, which was created to determine the PTC’s outlet temperature and thermal efficiency. The comparative results demonstrated remarkable precision with an average outlet temperature of 0.03% and thermal efficiency of 0.9%.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area /m2

C :

Concentration ratio

C p :

Specific heat capacity/J kg K−1

D :

Diameter/m

\(f\) :

Focal length/m

\({F}_{{\text{R}}}\) :

Heat removal factor

G :

Solar direct beam intensity/W m−2

\(k\) :

Thermal conductivity/W m−1 K−1

L :

Length/m

\(\dot{m}\) :

Mass flow rate/kg s−1

Q :

Heat flux/W

T :

Temperature/K

U :

Overall heat loss coefficient/W m−2 K−1

W :

Width/m

α :

Useful

γ :

Intercept factor

\(\Delta \) p :

Pressure drop/Pa

ΔT :

Temperature difference/K

ε :

Emittance

η :

Efficiency/%

θ :

Incident angle/°

\({\varnothing }_{{\text{rim}}}\) :

Rim angle/°

τ :

Transmittance

ρ :

Density/kg m−3

\( \rho _{{\text{c}}} \) :

Reflectance

a:

Aperture

amb:

Ambient

ci:

Copper inner

co:

Copper outer

fm:

Fluid mean temperature

gi:

Glass cover inner

go:

Glass cover outer

in:

Inlet

L:

Loss

nf:

Nanofluid

np:

Nanoparticle

o:

Optical

out:

Outlet

s:

Solar

sun:

Sun

th:

Thermal

Useful:

Useful

GA:

Gum Arabic

HNF:

Hybrid nanofluid

HTF:

Heat transfer fluid

MWCNTs:

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes

PTC:

Parabolic trough collector

PTSCS:

Parabolic trough solar collector systems

TF:

Thermal fluid

Y2O3 :

Yttrium oxide

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Renewable Energy Technology Department, Applied Science Private University, Amman, 11937, Jordan

    Otabeh Al-Oran

  2. Mechanical Engineering Department, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, 11733, Jordan

    Nabeel Abu Shaban & Rafiq Manna

  3. Mechanical Engineering Department, The University of Jordan, Amman, 11942, Jordan

    Osama Ayadi & Ahmad A’saf

  4. Department of Energy Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Muegyetem Rkp.3., Budapest, 1111, Hungary

    Ferenc Lezsovits

Authors
  1. Otabeh Al-Oran
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Al-Oran, O., Shaban, N.A., Manna, R. et al. Performance study of parabolic trough solar collector using hybrid nanofluids under Jordanian weather conditions. J Therm Anal Calorim 149, 3981–3998 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-024-12961-8

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