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Thermal performance of parabolic-trough solar collector using double-population LBM with single-node/curved scheme and experimental evaluation on properties of SiO2-TiO2/EG nanofluid

Alireza Shariatifard (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran)
Emad Hasani Malekshah (Department of Turbomachinery and Power Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland)
Narges Akbar (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Al Zahra University, Tehran, Iran)

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow

ISSN: 0961-5539

Article publication date: 10 June 2021

Issue publication date: 5 January 2022

192

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the effect of absorber’s geometry and operating fluid on the thermal and hydrodynamic behaviors of a solar collector. Two different profiles are proposed for the absorber which is wavy and flat. Also, the inner tube of HTF (i.e. heat transfer fluid) is considered as single and double. The solar collector is filled with hybrid nanofluid of SiO2-TiO2/ ethylene glycol (EG) which its thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity are measured using KD2 Pro and Brookfield LVDV III Ultra; respectively, in the temperature range of 30°C to 80°C and nanoparticle concentration in the range of 1.5% to 3.5%.

Design/methodology/approach

Among the solar collector, the parabolic-trough solar collector is one of the most efficient models for extracting solar thermal power. A parabolic trough solar collector with two different models of absorbers and included with two models of inner HTF tube is proposed.

Findings

The corresponding regression equations are derived versus temperature and volume fraction and used in the numerical process. For the numerical process, the thermal lattice Boltzmann method manipulated with a single-node curved scheme is used. Also, in the final step, the second law analysis is carried out in local and volumetric forms. The influential factors are Rayleigh number, the concentration of hybrid nano-powder and the structure of absorber profile.

Originality/value

The originality of the present work is combining a modern numerical method (i.e. double-population lattice Boltzmann method) with experimental observation on characteristics of SiO2-TiO2/EG nanofluid to analyze the thermal performance of parabolic trough solar collector.

Keywords

Citation

Shariatifard, A., Hasani Malekshah, E. and Akbar, N. (2022), "Thermal performance of parabolic-trough solar collector using double-population LBM with single-node/curved scheme and experimental evaluation on properties of SiO2-TiO2/EG nanofluid", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 785-805. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-02-2021-0130

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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