Effects of hybrid nanofluids and turbulator on efficiency improvement of parabolic trough solar collectors

• Published in: Engineering analysis with boundary elements Vol. 148; pp. 114 - 125
• Main Authors: Esmaeili, Zeinab, Akbarzadeh, Sanaz, Rashidi, Saman, Valipour, Mohammad Sadegh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2023
• Subjects: Conical helical gear rings; Entropy generation; Heat transfer; Nanofluids; Parabolic trough collector; Solar Collectors; Turbulators; Nanofluids; Entropy generation; Conical helical gear rings; Solar Collectors; Turbulators; Parabolic trough collector; Heat transfer
• ISSN: 0955-7997; 1873-197X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enganabound.2022.12.024

•The exergy and thermal analysis of a parabolic trough collector using conical helical gear rings with Al2O3Cu/water hybrid nanofluid are numerically investigated.•The effect of Reynolds number on the variation of the Nusselt number and the pressure drop is considered.•The use of turbulator and hybrid nanofluids can decrease the thermal entropy generation. The simultaneous use of turbulators and nanofluids as the working fluid is an effective strategy for improving the thermal performance of parabolic solar collectors (PTCs). In the present study, a three-dimensional numerical simulation was used to investigate the effects of using a turbulator and adding hybrid nanoparticles on the heat transfer rate and entropy generation in a parabolic trough collector. Two types of turbulators are used, one of which is completely new. The heat transfer coefficient, friction coefficient, thermal entropy, viscous entropy, and Bejan number are also studied. Conical helical gear rings used as discs in the absorber tube have shown that the heat transfer increases by 35.7% compared to the case without turbulators. Also, in this case, the total entropy generation decreases by 32.8%. In all cases, the Bejan number is greater than 0.9, which indicates the predominance of thermal entropy generation.