In the present work, a parabolic trough solar (PTC) collector with inner helical axial fins as swirl generator or turbulator is considered and analyzed numerically. The three-dimensional numerical simulations have been done by finite volume method (FVM) using commercial CFD code, ANSYS FLUENT 18.2. spatial discretization of mass, momentum, energy equations, turbulence kinetic has obtained secon...

Concentrating solar collectors systems and especially the mini Parabolic solar reflecting systems have been one of the main research topics due to their ability for integration into the building structure. In the present work the mini parabolic collector was considered in the East West orientation with such a slope so that the suns vector impinging normal to the parabola during the day. The beh...

Many thermal solar power plants use thermal oil as heat transfer fluid, and molten salts as thermal energy storage. Oil absorbs energy from sun light, and transfers it to a water-steam cycle across heat exchangers, to be converted into electric energy by means of a turbogenerator, or to be stored in a thermal energy storage system so that it can be later transferred to the water-steam cycle. Th...

For medium-scale dispatchable (on demand) power and fresh water generation, a concentrated solar energy powered system with thermal storage is an attractive option. However, currently used technologies (parabolic trough collector, tower, linear Fresnel reflector) use heavy very expensive glass mirrors receivers. Recently, novel micro-structured polymer foil-based concentrating collector system,...

Thermal oil is used as a heat transfer fluid in many thermal solar power systems, while molten salts are to store energy. The absorbs energy and transports it water-steam cycle via exchangers, where transformed into electric turbo-generator or stored storage device for subsequent transmission the cycle. complexity of these plants rather significant, they mix conventional engineering stations (w...

one of the effective methods to improve the thermal efficiency of solar collectors is using nanofluids as the coolant. the present study experimentally investigated the effect of sio2/water nanofluid with 1% mass fraction on the performance of a symmetric collector, i.e. conical solar collector. the conical solar collector with 1 m2 area and normal to the earth was tested in ahvaz, a city in th...

In the present work, a prototype of a new type of solar collectors, which called Direct Absorption Solar Collector, was built and its thermal performance is experimentally compared with conventional flat plate solar collector under transient and steady state conditions. Different volume fractions of multi wall carbon nanotubes in water and ethylene glycol mixture (70%:30% in volume) were used a...

This paper aims to report a detailed study of Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) prototype’s thermal system that requires sizing and dimensioning investigation its main parts. PTC possesses field-type evacuated tube solar collector with U-shaped. Furthermore, simulation developed TRNSYS is carried out evaluate the validity feasibility this system, in particular, for low-temperature range. The ori...

Parabolic concentrator mirrors are an important component of many solar energy systems, particularly solar mirror collectors. Precision parabolic mirrors are expensive to fabricate and to transport. Here, a new concept for designing and fabricating precision parabolic mirrors is presented. The mirror is formed from a thin flat very flexible metal sheet with a highly reflective surface. Attached...