Numerical analysis of the thermal and thermodynamic performance of a parabolic trough solar collector using SWCNTs-Therminol®VP-1 nanofluid

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dc.contributor.author Mwesigye, Aggrey
dc.contributor.author Yılmaz, İbrahim Halil
dc.contributor.author Meyer, Josua P.
dc.date.accessioned 2017-11-20T10:19:54Z
dc.date.issued 2018-04
dc.description.abstract In this paper, energetic and exergetic performances of a parabolic trough solar collector using single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)-Therminol® VP-1 nanofluid were numerically investigated and presented. The main objective of this investigation was to determine the influence of high thermal conductivity SWCNTs suspended in the widely used heat transfer fluid, Therminol®VP-1 on the performance indicators of the parabolic trough solar collector. A parabolic trough system with a high concentration ratio of 113 was analyzed in this study. The thermo-physical properties of SWCNTs were taken as functions of nanotube length, nanotube diameter, and temperature, while the properties of Therminol®VP-1 were considered to be temperature dependent. The study involved determination of the actual heat flux profile through Monte Carlo ray tracing and the subsequent coupling of this heat flux profile to a computational fluid dynamics tool using user defined functions. The computational fluid dynamics tool was finite volume based, and the realizable k-ε model together with enhanced wall treatment were used for turbulence modeling. The entropy generation rates were obtained directly from the local velocity and temperature fields of the computed domain and later used in the exergy analysis. Results showed that although the heat transfer performance significantly improved with the use of SWCNTs, the increase in the thermal efficiency was not substantial. For the considered range of parameters, while the heat transfer performance increased up to 234%, the thermal efficiency increased around 4.4% as the volume fraction increased from 0 to 2.5%. The corresponding reduction in the entropy generation was about 70%. en_ZA
dc.description.department Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering en_ZA
dc.description.embargo 2019-04-01
dc.description.librarian hj2017 en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorship This work is based on the research supported in part by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant No. 9927). This support is duly acknowledged and appreciated. Dr. Mwesigye acknowledges the support received from the school of Mechanical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, Dr. Yılmaz acknowledges the support received from the Department of Automotive Engineering at Adana Science and Technology University and Prof. Meyer duly acknowledges the support received from the University of Pretoria. en_ZA
dc.description.uri http://www.elsevier.com/locate/renene en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation Mwesigye, A., Yilmaz, I.H. & Meyer, J.P., Numerical analysis of the thermal and thermodynamic performance of a parabolic trough solar collector using SWCNTs-Therminol®VP-1 nanofluid, Renewable Energy (2018), 119: 844-862, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2017.10.047. en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn 0960-1481 (print)
dc.identifier.issn 1879-0682 (online)
dc.identifier.other 10.1016/j.renene.2017.10.047
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/63223
dc.language.iso en en_ZA
dc.publisher Elsevier en_ZA
dc.rights © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Notice : this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Renewable Energy. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. A definitive version was subsequently published in Renewable Energy, vol. 119, pp. 844-862, 2018. doi : 10.1016/j.renene.2017.10.047. en_ZA
dc.subject Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) en_ZA
dc.subject Exergetic performance en_ZA
dc.subject Thermal efficiency en_ZA
dc.subject Monte Carlo ray tracing en_ZA
dc.subject Parabolic trough receiver en_ZA
dc.subject Carbon en_ZA
dc.subject Computational fluid dynamics en_ZA
dc.subject Efficiency en_ZA
dc.subject Entropy en_ZA
dc.subject Fluid dynamics en_ZA
dc.subject Heat flux en_ZA
dc.subject Heat transfer en_ZA
dc.subject Monte Carlo methods en_ZA
dc.subject Nanofluid en_ZA
dc.subject Nanotubes en_ZA
dc.subject Ray tracing en_ZA
dc.subject Solar collectors en_ZA
dc.subject Temperature en_ZA
dc.subject Thermodynamic properties en_ZA
dc.subject Wall function en_ZA
dc.subject Thermal conductivity en_ZA
dc.subject.other Engineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-07
dc.subject.other SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy
dc.subject.other Engineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-09
dc.subject.other SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
dc.subject.other Engineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-12
dc.subject.other SDG-12: Responsible consumption and production
dc.subject.other Engineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-04
dc.subject.other SDG-04: Quality education
dc.title Numerical analysis of the thermal and thermodynamic performance of a parabolic trough solar collector using SWCNTs-Therminol®VP-1 nanofluid en_ZA
dc.type Postprint Article en_ZA


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