Computational and Experimental Analysis of Thermal Oil-Based Parabolic Trough Collector

This study aims to develop a finite element model (FEM) that explains the energy transfer phenomenon of fluid by absorbing the concentrated solar energy and transferring it to a heat exchanger for further operation. The model utilized the FEM to solve a set of partial differential equations (PDEs) that describe the heat transfer process during operation. The three-dimensional FEM visually represents the spatial distribution of energy along with the receiver tube. The mesh used in the model consists of Lagrange triangle finite elements with small sizes and fourth-order geometry shapes. A time-dependent analysis was performed to capture changes in energy level during the operation at different inclinations. The model predicted maximum temperatures of receiver tubes are 575.91 K and 699.87 K, at an inclination of 30° and 45° of parabolic trough collector (PTC). Similarly, in the same scenario, with the mass flow rate of 1.25 kg/s, the velocity and pressure drops were found to be in a range of 2.06 m/s to 12.18 m/s and 80.16 kPa to 6.95 kPa,respectively. The thermal and exergy efficiencies were determined to be 81.09% and 23.43%, respectively. The embodied energy analysis was also conducted in this study, and the value found is 2,061.36 MJ/kg. The predicted results were validated against experimental data, and it was found that the PTC, with moderate inside temperatures ranging from 400 K to 700 K and a statistical error of 2.08%,