Mwesigye, AggreyHuan, ZhongjieMeyer, Josua P.2016-06-142016-07Mwesigye, A, Huan, Z, Meyer, JP 2016, 'Thermal performance and entropy generation analysis of a high concentration ratio parabolic trough solar collector with Cu-Therminol®VP-1 nanofluid', Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 120, no. 7, pp. 449-465.0196-8904 (print)1879-2227 (online)10.1016/j.enconman.2016.04.106http://hdl.handle.net/2263/53116This paper presents results of a numerical study on the thermal and thermodynamic performance of a high concentration ratio parabolic trough solar collector using Cu-Therminol VP-1 nanofluid as the heat transfer fluid. A parabolic trough system with a concentration ratio of 113 and a rim angle of 80 has been used in this study. The thermal physical properties of both the base fluid and the copper nanoparticles have been considered temperature dependent. Inlet temperatures in the range 350–650 K and flow rates in the range 1.22–135 m3 h 1 have been used. The numerical analysis consisted of combined Monte-Carlo ray tracing and computational fluid dynamics procedures. The Monte-Carlo ray tracing procedure is used to obtain the actual heat flux profile on the receiver’s absorber tube, which is later coupled to a finite volume based computational fluid dynamics tool to evaluate the thermal and thermodynamic performance of the receiver. Results show that the thermal performance of the receiver improves as the nanoparticle volume fraction increases. The thermal efficiency of the system increases by about 12.5% as the nanoparticle volume fraction in the base fluid increase from 0% to 6%. The entropy generation rates in the receiver reduce as the nanoparticle volume fraction increases for some range of Reynolds numbers. Above a certain Reynolds number, further increase in the Reynolds numbers makes the entropy generation higher than that of a receiver with only the base fluid.en© 2016 Elsevier. All rights reserved. Notice : this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Energy Conversion and Management. 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. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 120, no. 7, pp. 449-465, 2016. doi : 10.1016/j.enconman.2016.04.106.Concentration ratioEntropy generationNanofluidParabolic trough receiverThermal efficiencyEngineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-07SDG-07: Affordable and clean energyEngineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-09SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructureEngineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-13SDG-13: Climate actionPostprint Article