Thermal Performance Enhancement of Parabolic Trough Collector: A New Generalized Correlation for the Optimum Diameter of the Absorber Tube

Thermal Performance Enhancement of Parabolic Trough Collector: A New Generalized Correlation for the Optimum Diameter of the Absorber Tube

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© 2024 by IJETT Journal
Volume-72 Issue-7
Year of Publication : 2024
Author : Anissa GHOMRASSI, Hatem MHIRI, Philippe BOURNOT
DOI : 10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V72I7P117

How to Cite?

Anissa GHOMRASSI, Hatem MHIRI, Philippe BOURNOT, "Thermal Performance Enhancement of Parabolic Trough Collector: A New Generalized Correlation for the Optimum Diameter of the Absorber Tube," International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology, vol. 72, no. 7, pp. 157-167, 2024. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V72I7P117

Abstract
The Parabolic Trough Solar Collector’s (PTC) performance is enhanced by optimizing the absorber geometry. The proposed numerical method involves two essential steps. In the initial step, the Solar Heat Flux (SHF) focuses on a focal line, which is measured using Soltrace tools. The next phase involves optimizing the receiver’s thermal performance with the use of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modelling. A sequence of numerical simulations is accomplished using Soltrace software and CFD code to investigate the impact of varying the receiver diameter. The numerical findings illustrate that the receiver diameter has a substantial impact on the performance of the PTC. Indeed, the results demonstrate that the increase in the receiver diameter improves the outlet temperature. However, it is undeniable that there exists an optimum receiver diameter beyond which the tube exit temperature decreases. As a result, a new correlation of the receiver tube’s optimum diameter is consequently inferred to generalize this latter outcome. The correlation coefficient of determination (R2) is 95.8%.

Keywords
Empirical correlation, FVM method, MCRT method, PTC, Receiver tube optimum diameter.

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