Title: Thermo-hydraulic and exergy analysis of parabolic trough collector with wire matrix turbulator: an experimental investigation

Authors: K. Varun; U. Chandavar Arunachala

Addresses: Renewable Energy Center, Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576-104, Karnataka, India ' Renewable Energy Center, Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576-104, Karnataka, India

Abstract: The parabolic trough collector (PTC) is being researched extensively due to its inherent characteristics. However, the majority of studies are numerical as its receiver is subjected to non-uniform flux and even the outdoor testing is a laborious task. Hence a novel method has been incorporated in the indoor experimental study to simulate the non-uniform flux over the receiver. To estimate the performance evaluation criteria (PEC) and exergetic efficiency of PTC, three variations of the wire matrix are used. In the analysis, SOLTRACE® input is 800 W/m² DNI and Therminol VP-1 is the heat transfer fluid (Re = 2,800-7,800). Instantaneous efficiency and Nu have increased by 1.9 and 2.46 times respectively with a penalty of 10.37 times rise in f for the best wire matrix case. The highest PEC of 1.14 and an exergy enhancement ratio of 4.3 are observed with low dense and medium dense wire matrix respectively.

Keywords: non-uniform heat flux; SOLTRACE®; wire matrix; performance evaluation criterion; PEC; exergy enhancement ratio; EER; parabolic trough collector; PTC.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2021.118709

International Journal of Exergy, 2021 Vol.36 No.2/3/4, pp.125 - 149

Received: 04 Aug 2020
Accepted: 08 Dec 2020
Published online: 03 Nov 2021 *

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