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Enhanced heat transfer in a parabolic trough solar receiver by inserting rods and using molten salt as heat transfer fluid

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  • Chang, Chun
  • Sciacovelli, Adriano
  • Wu, Zhiyong
  • Li, Xin
  • Li, Yongliang
  • Zhao, Mingzhi
  • Deng, Jie
  • Wang, Zhifeng
  • Ding, Yulong

Abstract

With the aim to enhance the reliability and overall heat transfer performance of a parabolic trough receiver, concentric rod and eccentric rod are introduced as turbulators, and the flow and convective heat transfer characteristics of molten salt in a parabolic trough receiver are analyzed. A three-dimensional model was developed and has been validated with experimental results and empirical equations. Highly non-uniform heat flux was provided by a novel parabolic trough collector. The result shows that both concentric rod insert and eccentric rod insert can enhance the heat transfer performance effectively. For a parabolic trough receiver with a concentric rod insert, with the increasing of dimensionless diameter B, the normalized Nusselt number is about 1.10 to 7.42 times over a plain parabolic trough receiver. The performance evaluation criteria can't reasonably evaluate the effect of B growth on the comprehensive heat transfer performance. By introducing integrated performance factor, it can give a reasonable solution, and it shows that the integrated performance factor has a significance decreases with the increase of Reynolds number when B is larger than 0.8. With B increasing, the integrated performance factor of parabolic trough receiver with concentric rod insert decreasing under a certain Reynolds number. For an eccentric rod insert, the performance evaluation criteria and the integrated performance factor decrease with the increasing of Reynolds number under a certain dimensionless eccentricity H. The performance evaluation criteria decreases from about 1.84 to 1.68 times over a plain parabolic trough receiver when H is 0.8. Moreover, the temperature distribution can be uniformed and the maximum temperature on the absorber tube also can be remarkably reduced with the increasing of B and H under a certain Reynolds number, which helps to reduce the thermal deflection and increase the reliability for a parabolic trough receiver.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang, Chun & Sciacovelli, Adriano & Wu, Zhiyong & Li, Xin & Li, Yongliang & Zhao, Mingzhi & Deng, Jie & Wang, Zhifeng & Ding, Yulong, 2018. "Enhanced heat transfer in a parabolic trough solar receiver by inserting rods and using molten salt as heat transfer fluid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 337-350.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:220:y:2018:i:c:p:337-350
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.03.091
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    4. Varun, K. & Arunachala, U.C. & Elton, D.N., 2020. "Trade-off between wire matrix and twisted tape: SOLTRACE® based indoor study of parabolic trough collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 478-492.
    5. Piotr Bogusław Jasiński, 2021. "Numerical Study of Heat Transfer Intensification in a Circular Tube Using a Thin, Radiation-Absorbing Insert. Part 2: Thermal Performance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, July.
    6. 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.
    7. Kaood, Amr & Abubakr, Mohamed & Al-Oran, Otabeh & Hassan, Muhammed A., 2021. "Performance analysis and particle swarm optimization of molten salt-based nanofluids in parabolic trough concentrators," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 1045-1062.
    8. Evangelos Bellos & Christos Tzivanidis, 2018. "Enhancing the Performance of Evacuated and Non-Evacuated Parabolic Trough Collectors Using Twisted Tape Inserts, Perforated Plate Inserts and Internally Finned Absorber," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-28, May.
    9. Liu, Peng & Dong, Zhimin & Xiao, Hui & Liu, Zhichun & Liu, Wei, 2021. "Thermal-hydraulic performance analysis of a novel parabolic trough receiver with double tube for solar cascade heat collection," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    10. 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).
    11. El-Bakry, M. Medhat & Kassem, Mahmoud A. & Hassan, Muhammed A., 2021. "Passive performance enhancement of parabolic trough solar concentrators using internal radiation heat shields," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(P1), pages 52-66.
    12. 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).
    13. Madadi Avargani, Vahid & Norton, Brian & Rahimi, Amir, 2021. "An open-aperture partially-evacuated receiver for more uniform reflected solar flux in circular-trough reflectors: Comparative performance in air heating applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 11-24.
    14. Zhang, Shunqi & Liu, Ming & Zhao, Yongliang & Liu, Jiping & Yan, Junjie, 2022. "Energy and exergy analyses of a parabolic trough concentrated solar power plant using molten salt during the start-up process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PC).
    15. Jing-hu, Gong & Yong, Li & Jun, Wang & Lund, Peter, 2023. "Performance optimization of larger-aperture parabolic trough concentrator solar power station using multi-stage heating technology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).

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