Effect of inlet temperature of heat transfer fluid and wind velocity on the performance of parabolic trough solar collector receiver: A computational study

Abstract

In the current work parametric studies have been undertaken on a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model of a Parabolic Trough Solar Collector (PTSC) receiver by varying the inlet temperature of Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) and wind velocity over the glass cover. The performance of the PTSC receiver has been analyzed by computing circumferential temperature distribution on the absorber tube and the glass cover, and the temperature rise and pressure drop of the HTF. It is found that the circumferential temperature difference (ΔTc) is strongly dependent on the inlet temperature of the HTF. The circumferential temperature difference (ΔTc) decreases from 30.49 K to 17.08 K when the inlet temperature increases from 363 K to 663 K. Simultaneously, the increase in the inlet temperature of the HTF results in a decrease in thermal efficiency of the receiver by 6.45 %. The rise in the wind velocity over the glass cover of the receiver from 0.5 m/s to 5 m/s decreases the peak temperature of the glass cover by 8.59 %.