Heat transfer enhancement techniques using different inserts in absorber tube of parabolic trough solar collector: A review

Abstract

Various collector technologies are prevalent for harnessing of solar energy. Some of the most common types are flat plate and evacuated tube collectors. Parabolic trough collectors are not commercialized other than large industrial set up because these collectors occupy larger land area along with higher cost of installation. It becomes important for the researcher to device new technologies that would reduce the cost and hereby promote sustainable renewable energy technologies. Heat transfer enhancement techniques like tube turbulators mainly twisted tape, wire coils, metal foam, corrugations, fins, and use of nano fluid are among the several alternatives. The present review focuses on research done in enhancement of heat transfer rate in PTC using above techniques considering the work done from 2015-2023. An effort has been made to compare the output of such techniques after exhaustive literature survey. The enhancement in heat transfer rate by dimensionless Nusselt number Nu/Nup. Where, Nu is the Nusselt number for PTC absorber tube when use with turbulator and Nup is the Nusselt number for plain absorber tube. Similar comparison is made for f/fp which is related to friction factor encountered and when compared to smooth tube. From the literature it is evident that Nu/Nup has a range from 1.2-10 when using different turbulator and f/fp has a range of 1.02-10.2 which is mainly dependent on geometry. These results prove efficacy of using tube turbulators in PTC absorber thereby promoting interest for further exploration especially with experimental investigation which is seldom reported in the literature. Moreover, previous research is not sufficient as direct comparison among these techniques is not reported. This critical study reports direct comparison of above techniques.

Keywords

• Inserts
• Parabolic Trough Solar Collector
• Pressure Drop
• Thermal Enhancement

References

1. [1] Sharma M, Jilte R. A review on passive methods for thermal performance enhancement in parabolic trough solar collectors. Int J Energy Res 2021;45:4932–4966. [CrossRef]
2. [2] Price H, Lüpfert E, Kearney D, Zarza E, Cohen G, Gee R, et al. Advances in parabolic trough solar power technology. J Sol Energy Eng 2002;124:109–125. [CrossRef]
3. [3] Jebasingh VK, Herbert GJ. A review of solar parabolic trough collector. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2016;54:1085–1091. [CrossRef]
4. [4] Sonawane T, Patil P, Chavhan A, Dusane BM. A review on heat transfer enhancement by passive methods. Int Res J Engineer Technol 2016;3:1567–1574.
5. [5] Şahin HM, Baysal E, Dal AR, Şahin N. Investigation of heat transfer enhancement in a new type heat exchanger using solar parabolic trough systems. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2015;40:15254–15266. [CrossRef]
6. [6] Vahidifar S, Kahrom M. Experimental study of heat transfer enhancement in a heated tube caused by wire-coil and rings. J Appl Fluid Mech 2015;8:885–892. [CrossRef]
7. [7] Diwan K, Soni MS. Heat transfer enhancement in absorber tube of parabolic trough concentrators using wire-coils inserts. Univ J Mech Engineer 2015;3:107–112. [CrossRef]
8. [8] Yılmaz İH, Mwesigye A, Göksu TT. Enhancing the overall thermal performance of a large aperture parabolic trough solar collector using wire coil inserts. Sustain Energy Technol Assess 2020;39:100696. [CrossRef]

9. [9] Valizade M, Heyhat MM, Maerefat M. Experimental study of the thermal behavior of direct absorption parabolic trough collector by applying copper metal foam as volumetric solar absorption. Renew Energy 2020;145:261–269. [CrossRef]
10. [10] Wang P, Liu DY, Xu C. Numerical study of heat transfer enhancement in the receiver tube of direct steam generation with parabolic trough by inserting metal foams. Appl Energy 2013;102:449–460. [CrossRef]
11. [11] Reddy KS, Kumar KR, Ajay CS. Experimental investigation of porous disc enhanced receiver for solar parabolic trough collector. Renew Energy 2015;77:308–319. [CrossRef]
12. [12] Jamal-Abad MT, Saedodin S, Aminy M. Experimental investigation on a solar parabolic trough collector for absorber tube filled with porous media. Renew Energy 2017;107:156–163. [CrossRef]
13. [13] Khattar MZ, Heyhat MM. Exergy, economic and environmental analysis of a direct absorption parabolic trough collector filled with porous metal foam. Energies 2022;15:8150. [CrossRef]
14. [14] Zheng ZJ, Li MJ, He YL. Thermal analysis of solar central receiver tube with porous inserts and non-uniform heat flux. Appl Energy 2017;185:1152–1161. [CrossRef]
15. [15] Peng H, Li M, Liang X. Thermal-hydraulic and thermodynamic performance of parabolic trough solar receiver partially filled with gradient metal foam. Energy 2020;211:119046. [CrossRef]
16. [16] Kumar BN, Reddy KS. Numerical investigations on metal foam inserted solar parabolic trough DSG absorber tube for mitigating thermal gradients and enhancing heat transfer. Appl Therm Engineer 2020;178:115511. [CrossRef]
17. [17] Peng H, Li M, Hu F, Feng S. Performance analysis of absorber tube in parabolic trough solar collector inserted with semi-annular and fin shape metal foam hybrid structure. Case Stud Therm Engineer 2021;26:101112. [CrossRef]
18. [18] Okonkwo EC, Abid M, Ratlamwala TA. Comparative study of heat transfer enhancement in parabolic trough collector based on modified absorber geometry. J Energy Engineer 2019;145:04019007. [CrossRef]
19. [19] Jaramillo OA, Borunda M, Velazquez-Lucho KM, Robles M. Parabolic trough solar collector for low enthalpy processes: An analysis of the efficiency enhancement by using twisted tape inserts. Renew Energy 2016;93:125–141. [CrossRef]
20. [20] Mwesigye A, Bello-Ochende T, Meyer JP. Heat transfer and entropy generation in a parabolic trough receiver with wall-detached twisted tape inserts. Int J Therm Sci 2016;99:238–257. [CrossRef]
21. [21] Bhakta AK, Panday NK, Singh SN. Performance study of a cylindrical parabolic concentrating solar water heater with nail type twisted tape inserts in the copper absorber tube. Energies 2018;11:204. [CrossRef]
22. [22] Rawani A, Sharma SP, Singh KDP. Enhancement in thermal performance of parabolic trough collector with serrated twisted tape inserts. Int J Thermodyn 2017;20:111–119. [CrossRef]
23. [23] Jafar KS, Sivaraman B. Performance characteristics of parabolic solar collector water heater system fitted with nail twisted tapes absorber. J Engineer Sci Technol 2017;12:608–621.
24. [24] Isravel RS, Raja M, Saravanan S, Vijayan V. Thermal augmentation in parabolic trough collector solar water heater using rings attached twisted tapes. Mater Today Proc 2020;21:127–129. [CrossRef]
25. [25] Hosseinalipour SM, Rostami A, Shahriari G. Numerical study of circumferential temperature difference reduction at the absorber tube of parabolic trough direct steam generation collector by inserting a twisted tape in superheated region. Case Stud Therm Engineer 2020;21:100720. [CrossRef]
26. [26] Borunda M, Garduno-Ramirez R, Jaramillo OA. Optimal operation of a parabolic solar collector with twisted-tape insert by multi-objective genetic algorithms. Renew Energy 2019;143:540–550. [CrossRef]
27. [27] Rawani A, Kumar A, Singh P, Ansu AK. Performance analysis of cylindrical parabolic solar collector with twisted tape on solar radiation. Mater Today Proc 2021;47:3064–3067. [CrossRef]
28. [28] Elton DN, Arunachala UC. Twisted tape based heat transfer enhancement in parabolic trough concentrator–an experimental study. IOP Conf Ser Mater Sci Engineer 2018;376:012034. [CrossRef]
29. [29] Arunachala UC. Experimental study with analytical validation of energy parameters in parabolic trough collector with twisted tape insert. J Sol Energy Engineer 2020;142:031009. [CrossRef]
30. [30] Thapa S, Samir S, Kumar K. Performance evaluation of solar parabolic trough receiver using multiple twisted tapes with circular perforation and delta winglet. Proc Inst Mech Engineer E 2022;236:1296–1307. [CrossRef]
31. [31] Xiao H, Liu P, Liu Z, Liu W. Performance analyses in parabolic trough collectors by inserting novel inclined curved-twisted baffles. Renew Energy 2021;165:14–27. [CrossRef]
32. [32] Muter DM, Al-Hadithi MB. Numerical investigation of heat transfer enhancement in parabolic trough solar collector with twisted tape insert. Glob Sci J Mech Engineer 2021;1:1–15. Rawani A, Kumar A, Singh P, Ansu AK. Performance analysis of cylindrical parabolic solar collector with twisted tape on solar radiation. Mater Today Proc 2021;47:3064–3067.
33. [33] Afsharpanah F, Sheshpoli AZ, Pakzad K, Ajarostaghi SSM. Numerical investigation of non-uniform heat transfer enhancement in parabolic trough solar collectors using dual modified twisted-tape inserts. J Therm Engineer 2021;7:133–147. [CrossRef]
34. [34] Akbarzadeh S, Valipour MS. Energy and exergy analysis of a parabolic trough collector using helically corrugated absorber tube. Renew Energy 2020;155:735–747. [CrossRef]
35. [35] Benabderrahmane A, Benazza A, Hussein AK. Heat transfer enhancement analysis of tube receiver for parabolic trough solar collector with central corrugated insert. J Heat Transf 2020;142:062001. [CrossRef]
36. [36] Laaraba A, Mebarki G. Enhancing thermal performance of a parabolic trough collector with inserting longitudinal fins in the down half of the receiver tube. J Therm Sci 2020;29:1309–1321. [CrossRef]
37. [37] Bellos E, Tzivanidis C, Tsimpoukis D. Thermal enhancement of parabolic trough collector with internally finned absorbers. Sol Energy 2017;157:514–531. [CrossRef]
38. [38] Varun K, Arunachala UC, Elton DN. Trade-off between wire matrix and twisted tape: SOLTRACE® based indoor study of parabolic trough collector. Renew Energy 2020;156:478–492. [CrossRef]
39. [39] Bellos E, Tzivanidis C. Assessment of the thermal enhancement methods in parabolic trough collectors. Int J Energy Environ Engineer 2018;9:59–70. [CrossRef]
40. [40] Bellos E, Tzivanidis C. Enhancing the performance of evacuated and non-evacuated parabolic trough collectors using twisted tape inserts, perforated plate inserts and internally finned absorber. Energies 2018;11:1129. [CrossRef]
41. [41] Abbasian Arani AA, Memarzadeh A. Hydrothermal characteristics of a double flow parabolic trough solar collector equipped with sinusoidal-wavy grooved absorber tube and twisted tape insert. Int J Numer Methods Heat Fluid Flow 2022;32:2087–2121. [CrossRef]
42. [42] Heyhat MM, Valizade M, Abdolahzade S, Maerefat M. Thermal efficiency enhancement of direct absorption parabolic trough solar collector (DAPTSC) by using nanofluid and metal foam. Energy 2020;192:116662. [CrossRef]
43. [43] Ajbar W, Hernández JA, Parrales A, Torres L. Thermal efficiency improvement of parabolic trough solar collector using different kinds of hybrid nanofluids. Case Stud Therm Engineer 2023;42:102759. [CrossRef]
44. [44] Hamada MA, Ehab A, Khalil H, Abou Al-Sood MM, Sharshir SW. Thermal performance augmentation of parabolic trough solar collector using nanomaterials, fins and thermal storage material. J Energy Storage 2023;67:107591. [CrossRef]
45. [45] Heyhat MM, Khattar MZ. On the effect of different placement schemes of metal foam as volumetric absorber on the thermal performance of a direct absorption parabolic trough solar collector. Energy 2023;266:126428. [CrossRef]
46. [46] Esmaeili Z, Akbarzadeh S, Rashidi S, Valipour MS. Effects of hybrid nanofluids and turbulator on efficiency improvement of parabolic trough solar collectors. Eng Anal Bound Elem 2023;148:114–125. [CrossRef]
47. [47] Dezfulizadeh A, Aghaei A, Sheikhzadeh GA. Comprehensive 3E analyses of a parabolic trough collector equipped with an innovative combined twisted turbulator. Engineer Anal Bound Elem 2023;150:507–527. [CrossRef]
48. [48] Ghanbari G, Marzban A, Yousefzadeh S. Improving the thermal efficiency of parabolic trough collector equipped with combined turbulator containing two-phase magnetic hybrid nanofluid. Engineer Anal Bound Elem 2023;155:565–583. [CrossRef]
49. [49] Chakraborty O. Influence of spinning flower structure inserts in the thermal performance of LS-2 model of parabolic trough collector with ternary hybrid nanofluid. Renew Energy 2023;210:215–228. [CrossRef]
50. [50] Abed N, Afgan I, Cioncolini A, Iacovides H, Nasser A. Effect of various multiple strip inserts and nanofluids on the thermal–hydraulic performances of parabolic trough collectors. Appl Therm Engineer 2022;201:117798. [CrossRef]
51. [51] Pazarlıoğlu HK, Ekiciler R, Arslan K, Mohammed NAM. Exergetic, energetic, and entropy production evaluations of parabolic trough collector retrofitted with elliptical dimpled receiver tube filled with hybrid nanofluid. Appl Therm Engineer 2023;223:120004. [CrossRef]
52. [52] Darbari B, Derikvand M, Shabani B. Thermal performance improvement of a LS-2 parabolic trough solar collector using porous disks. Appl Therm Engineer 2023;228:120546. [CrossRef]
53. [53] Raja A, Natarajan R, Gaikwad PR, Basil E, Borse SD, Sundararaj M. Heat enhancement in solar flat plate collectors – A review. J Therm Engineer 2021;10:773–789. [CrossRef]
54. [54] Shahini N, Karami M, Behabadi MAA. Numerical investigation of direct absorption evacuated tube solar collector using alumina nanofluid. J Therm Engineer 2021;10:562–571. [CrossRef]
55. [55] Standard ASHRAE. Methods of testing to determine the thermal performance of solar collectors. Available at: https://webstore.ansi.org/preview- pages/ASHRAE/preview_ANSI+ASHRAE+93-2003.pdf. Accessed Jun 26, 2024.
56. [56] Manglik RM, Bergles AE. Swirl flow heat transfer and pressure drop with twisted-tape inserts. In: Hartnett JP. Advances in Heat Transfer. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier; 2003. pp. 183–266. [CrossRef]
57. [57] Fernández-García A, Zarza E, Valenzuela L, Pérez M. Parabolic-trough solar collectors and their applications. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2010;14:1695–1721. [CrossRef]
58. [58] Tagle PD, Agraz A, Rivera CI. Study of applications of parabolic trough solar collector technology in Mexican industry. Energy Procedia 2016;91:661–667. [CrossRef]
59. [59] Chaudhary GQ, Kousar R, Ali M, Amar M, Amber KP, Lodhi SK, et al. Small-sized parabolic trough collector system for solar dehumidification application: Design, development, and potential assessment. Int J Photoenergy 2018;5759034. [CrossRef]