Hydrothermal analysis for a parabolic solar unit with wavy absorber pipe and nanofluid

Parabolic system is regarded as a highly advanced solar technology. In this regard, the numerical simulation for thermal analysis of PTC with a wavy absorber pipe employing finite volume method was presented. The new wavy absorber tube within a solar system involving parabolic reflector has been investigated in the current article. Two phase model for a mixture of oil and CuO nanoparticles were applied. To find the amount of received heat to absorber, SolTrace were implemented. Turbulent flow has been simulated via k -E approach. Pitch number (P), Re, and fraction of nano-powder (4) have been examined. CuO/Oil was utilized as a working fluid. Contours of temperature, velocity, volume concentration, and exergy loss were presented. Increment in Re number from 5000 to 20,000 resulted in the reduction of friction factor by 28.96%, the heat transfer coefficient is improved by 180.13%, when 4 = 0.01, P=(0.4). As volume concentration elevates, friction factor, h, and outlet temperature were increased by 2.79%, 9.06%, and 0.56%, respectively. With the increment of P from 0 to 0.4, the f is increased by 57.33%, h is enhanced by 17.01% when 4 = 0.01, Re = 2e4. (C) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This article presents a numerical simulation for the thermal analysis of a parabolic trough collector (PTC) with a wavy absorber tube using the finite volume method. The study investigates the performance of a new wavy absorber tube in a solar system with a parabolic reflector. The results show that increasing the Reynolds number (Re) and the volume concentration can improve the heat transfer efficiency.