Assessment of the thermal enhancement methods in parabolic trough collectors

Parabolic trough collector is an emerging solar technology for achieving the sustainability. Numerous studies have been focused on their performance evaluation and many techniques have been suggested for improving their thermal efficiency. The objective of this paper is to determine the impact of various thermal enhancement techniques on the thermal efficiency improvement of the PTC. The most usual techniques for increasing the thermal performance of parabolic trough collectors are the use of inserts, internal fins, metallic foams and the dimpled absorbers. A parametric analysis is conducted using different values of the thermal enhancement ratio (Nusselt number to the Nusselt number of the smooth absorber case). According to the final results, the thermal efficiency enhancement can reach up to 2% when the Nusselt number is about 2.5 times greater compared to the reference case and the inlet temperature is equal to 600 K. Moreover, in this case, the thermal losses are approximately 22% lower than in the respective reference case. For higher Nusselt number ratios, the thermal enhancement presents relatively small increase. This analysis is performed with a developed thermal model in Engineering Equation Solver (EES) which is validated with the literature results. © 2017, The Author(s).