Application of Nanofluids in Thermal Performance Enhancement of Parabolic Trough Solar Collector: State-of-the-Art

• Published in: Applied sciences Vol. 9; no. 3; p. 463
• Main Authors: Olia, Hamed, Torabi, Mohammadamin, Bahiraei, Mehdi, Ahmadi, Mohammad Hossein, Goodarzi, Marjan, Safaei, Mohammad Reza
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 29.01.2019
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Computational fluid dynamics; Computer applications; Convection; Efficiency; entropy generation; Exergy; exergy analysis; Flow rates; Fluid dynamics; Fluids; Heat conductivity; Heat transfer; Heat transfer coefficients; Hydrodynamics; Mass flow rate; Mechanical engineering; nanofluid; Nanofluids; Nanoparticles; Optimization; parabolic trough solar collectors; Photovoltaic cells; Pressure; Pressure drop; Renewable resources; Solar collectors; Solar energy; Sun; Thermodynamic efficiency; thermodynamic performance; Working fluids; Iran; United States > US; Vietnam
• ISSN: 2076-3417; 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app9030463

The present review paper aims to document the latest developments on the applications of nanofluids as working fluid in parabolic trough collectors (PTCs). The influence of many factors such as nanoparticles and base fluid type as well as volume fraction and size of nanoparticles on the performance of PTCs has been investigated. The reviewed studies were mainly categorized into three different types of experimental, modeling (semi-analytical), and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The main focus was to evaluate the effect of nanofluids on thermal efficiency, entropy generation, heat transfer coefficient enhancement, as well as pressure drop in PTCs. It was revealed that nanofluids not only enhance (in most of the cases) the thermal efficiency, convection heat transfer coefficient, and exergy efficiency of the system but also can decrease the entropy generation of the system. The only drawback in application of nanofluids in PTCs was found to be pressure drop increase that can be controlled by optimization in nanoparticles volume fraction and mass flow rate.