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Thermo-hydraulic analysis of EuroTrough solar collector with dimpled absorber tubes and nanofluid: coupling MCRT and CFD methods

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Abstract

This paper numerically investigates the performance of the EuroTrough-parabolic trough solar collector. The heat flux distribution on the absorber tube is evaluated by the Monte Carlo Ray Tracing (MCRT) method. To enhance the heat transfer, using a dimpled absorber tube instead of a plain absorber tube, and using nanofluid instead of Therminol® VP-1 is recommended. To simulate the radiation, the surface-to-surface model is implemented. Heat transfer, Performance Evaluation Criteria (PEC), and Darcy-Weisbach friction factor evaluate collector performance. Usually, these parameters are calculated when methods of increasing heat transfer are utilized. PEC increases to at most 1.18 if the dimpled absorber tube is used. Also, the results show that the temperature at the bottom of the absorber tube decreases significantly. Moreover, eight vortexes are created within the tube cross-section, which means that the flow is turbulent and mixing of flow occurs. By increasing the depth of the dimple and reducing the pitch of the dimple, these vortices approach each other in pairs and eventually join together. Moreover, turbulent kinetic energy increases with increasing the depth of the dimple and decreasing the pitch of the dimple. Using nanofluid results in the reduction of heat transfer due to intensification of the laminar sublayer.

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Abbreviations

Cp :

Specific heat (J/kg K)

DD:

Depth of dimple

D:

Diameter (m)

D ω :

Cross-diffusion term

FVM:

Finite volume method

f:

Darcy-Weisbach friction factor

G k :

Generation of κ

G ω :

Generation of ω

HTF:

Heat transfer flud

h:

Convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K)

k:

Thermal conductivity (W/mK)

LCR:

Local concentration ratio

L:

Length (m)

MCRT:

Monte Carlo Ray Tracing

ṁ :

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

Nu:

Nusselt number

PD:

Pitch of dimple

PEC:

Performance Evaluation Criteria

PTC:

Parabolic trough collector

Pr:

Prandtl number

p:

Pressure (Pa)

Re:

Reynolds number

S2S:

Surface-to-surface

T:

Temperature (K)

V:

Velocity (m/s)

Y k :

Dissipation of κ

Y ω :

Dissipation of ω

Γ k :

Effective diffusivity for κ

Γ ω :

Effective diffusivity for ω

ε :

Emmisivity

θ:

Angular coordinate

κ :

Turbulent kinetic energy

μ:

Dynamic viscosity (Ns/m2)

ρ:

Density (kg/m3)

ϕ:

Concentration

ω:

Specific dissipation rate

amb:

Ambient

f :

Fluid

g :

Glass cover

i:

Inlet

nf:

Nanofluid

p:

Particle

sk:

Sky

w:

Wall

wi:

Wind

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

    Arash Rezaei Gorjaei, Ramin Haghighi Khoshkhoo, Fatemeh Joda & Sahand Majidi

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  1. Arash Rezaei Gorjaei
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  2. Ramin Haghighi Khoshkhoo
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  3. Fatemeh Joda
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  4. Sahand Majidi
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Correspondence to Ramin Haghighi Khoshkhoo.

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The original online version of this article was revised due to incorrect Figure 7.

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Rezaei Gorjaei, A., Haghighi Khoshkhoo, R., Joda, F. et al. Thermo-hydraulic analysis of EuroTrough solar collector with dimpled absorber tubes and nanofluid: coupling MCRT and CFD methods. Heat Mass Transfer 58, 1829–1842 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-022-03219-w

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