Thermal Performance of Solar Parabolic Trough Collector Using Nanofluids and the Absorber with Nail Twisted Tapes Inserts
Abstract
Experimental investigation was carried out to study the impact of absorber device with nail twisted tape of two different twist ratios of y = 2.0, and 3.0 and using Al2O3 / water nanofluid as the working fluid at 0.1%, and 0.3% particle volume concentration on the heat Transfer and friction factor characteristics of a solar parabolic trough collector. The tests are performed in the laminar range 710-2130 using indoor simulation under constant heat flux conditions. It is observed that the nail twisted tape absorber with nanofluids can significantly improve the heat transfer performance of the solar trough collector. The friction factor increases with twisted tape absorber due to swirl flow and over particle volume concentration and this is due to the increased nanofluid viscosity while increasing particle volume concentration. This result is useful for the design of absorber for solar parabolic trough collector.