Thermal modeling of a parabolic trough solar collector using finite element method
Vol 5, Issue 2, 2022
VIEWS - 313 (Abstract) 234 (PDF)
Abstract
The purpose of this work is to present the model of a Parabolic Trough Solar Collector (PTC) using the Finite Element Method to predict the thermal behavior of the working fluid along the collector receiver tube. The thermal efficiency is estimated based on the governing equations involved in the heat transfer processes. To validate the model results, a thermal simulation of the fluid was performed using Solidworks software. The maximum error obtained from the comparison of the modeling with the simulation was 7.6% at a flow rate of 1 l/min. According to the results obtained from the statistical errors, the method can effectively predict the fluid temperature at high flow rates. The developed model can be useful as a design tool, in the optimization of the time spent in the simulations generated by the software and in the minimization of the manufacturing costs related to Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
1. Kalogirou SA. Solar thermal collectors and applications. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science 2004; 30(3): 231–295.
2. May Tzuc O, Bassam A, Escalante Soberanis MA, et al. Modeling and optimization of a solar parabolic trough concentrator system using inverse artificial neural network. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy 2017; 9(1): 013701.
3. May O, Ricalde LJ, Ali B, et al. Neural network inverse modeling for optimization. In Artificial Neural Networks-Models and Applications. Intech; 2016.
4. Fernandez-Garcia A, Zarza E, Valenzuela L, et al. Parabolic-trough solar collectors and their applications. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2010; 14(7): 1695–1721.
5. Tzivanidis C, Bellos E, Korres D, et al. Thermal and optical efficiency investigation of a parabolic trough collector. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 2015; 6: 226–237.
6. Padilla RV, Demirkaya G, Goswami DY, et al. Heat transfer analysis of parabolic trough solar receiver. Applied Energy 2011; 88(12): 5097–5110.
7. Nwosu NP. Finite-element analysis of an absorber in an evacuated solar tube heat exchanger employing the Galerkin method. International Journal of Sustainable Energy 2009; 28(4): 247–255.
8. Liang H, You S, Zhang H. Comparison of different heat transfer models for parabolic trough solar collectors. Applied Energy 2015; 148: 105–114.
9. Uzgoren E. One-dimensional transient thermal model for parabolic trough collectors using closed-form solution of fluid flow. International Exergy, Energy and Environment Symposium (IEEES-8); 2016.
10. Jaramillo OA, Borunda M, Velazquez-Lucho KM. et al. Parabolic trough solar collector for low enthalpy processes: An analysis of the efficiency enhancement by using twisted tape inserts. Renewable Energy 2016; 93: 125–141.
11. Duffie JA. Beckman WA. Solar engineering of thermal processes. 3rd ed. New York: Wiley; 2013.
12. Cengel YA. Ghajar A. Heat and mass transfer. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishers; 2011.
13. Gnielinski V. On heat transfer in tubes. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 2013; 63: 134–140.
14. Fernández-García A, Rojas E, Pérez M, et al. A parabolic-trough collector for cleaner industrial process heat. Journal of Cleaner Production 2015; 89: 272–285.
15. Kalogirou SA. Solar energy engineering: Processes and systems. Academic Press; 2013.
16. Baskharone EA. The finite element method with heat transfer and fluid mechanics applications. Cambridge University Press; 2013.
17. Nithiarasu P, Lewis RW, Seetharamu KN. Fundamentals of the finite element method for heat and mass transfer. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 2016.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24294/tse.v5i2.1539
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2022 Armando Jesus Cetina Quiñones, Ali Bassam, Gandhi Samuel Hernandez Chan, Jose Agustin Hernandez Benitez, Ignacio Hernández Reyes, David Lugo Chávez
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.