The present indoor experimental study is focused on performance enhancement of a parabolic trough collector (PTC) with twisted tape insert by incorporating an innovative Soltrace®—mathematical model—differential heating combination. This simulation-based methodology is very useful in analyzing the system behavior under defined environmental conditions. By the use of insert, the circumferential temperature difference has been dropped considerably in all cases compared to plain receiver. Hence, this gain is reflected in both instantaneous and thermo-hydraulic efficiency. As the role of inserts is justified in different thermal parameters, the system evaluation factors have been defined as H-W-B constants. Further, to take into account the influence of enhanced heat transfer on geometry, receiver length optimization has been performed which gave a maximum of 26% short in length of the receiver with best twist ratio under the transition flow regime. Hence, for moderate flow and medium temperature applications, inserts are useful. The range of Reynolds number considered in the experimental study is 2600–24,000 to analyze the flow regime based effect.
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December 2018
Research-Article
Parabolic Trough Solar Collector for Medium Temperature Applications: An Experimental Analysis of the Efficiency and Length Optimization by Using Inserts
D. N. Elton,
D. N. Elton
Department of Mechanical and
Manufacturing Engineering,
Renewable Energy Center,
Manipal Institute of Technology,
Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
Manufacturing Engineering,
Renewable Energy Center,
Manipal Institute of Technology,
Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
Search for other works by this author on:
U. C. Arunachala
U. C. Arunachala
Department of Mechanical and
Manufacturing Engineering,
Renewable Energy Center,
Manipal Institute of Technology,
Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
e-mail: arun.chandavar@manipal.edu
Manufacturing Engineering,
Renewable Energy Center,
Manipal Institute of Technology,
Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
e-mail: arun.chandavar@manipal.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
D. N. Elton
Department of Mechanical and
Manufacturing Engineering,
Renewable Energy Center,
Manipal Institute of Technology,
Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
Manufacturing Engineering,
Renewable Energy Center,
Manipal Institute of Technology,
Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
U. C. Arunachala
Department of Mechanical and
Manufacturing Engineering,
Renewable Energy Center,
Manipal Institute of Technology,
Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
e-mail: arun.chandavar@manipal.edu
Manufacturing Engineering,
Renewable Energy Center,
Manipal Institute of Technology,
Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
e-mail: arun.chandavar@manipal.edu
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Solar Energy Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING: INCLUDING WIND ENERGY AND BUILDING ENERGY CONSERVATION. Manuscript received March 25, 2018; final manuscript received June 13, 2018; published online July 9, 2018. Assoc. Editor: Marc Röger.
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Dec 2018, 140(6): 061012 (12 pages)
Published Online: July 9, 2018
Article history
Received:
March 25, 2018
Revised:
June 13, 2018
Citation
Elton, D. N., and Arunachala, U. C. (July 9, 2018). "Parabolic Trough Solar Collector for Medium Temperature Applications: An Experimental Analysis of the Efficiency and Length Optimization by Using Inserts." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. December 2018; 140(6): 061012. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4040583
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