Improving the efficiency of parabolic solar collector (PSC) containing magnetic nanofluid with absorber pipe equipped with square twisted turbulator

Abstract

The effects of a twisted tape (TWT) with a square cut within the collector absorber pipe on heat transfer between the fluid and the absorber pipe, as well as energy and exergy efficiency, are quantitatively studied. Nanofluids (NFs) 66 -Therminol Fe3O4 with nanoparticles volume fraction (NPVF) of 1%, 2%, and 4% is used as the working fluid. For numerical simulation SIMPLEC algorithm, FVM have been used. Turbulent flow simulations are performed using the RNG k-ε model at three Re of 15000, 25000, and 35000. When compared to a pipe without a tape, the findings showed that using a square TWT improves the rate of heat transfer. The maximum thermal performance coefficient occurs at Re of 15,000 and a NPVF of 4%. The findings show that employing NPs suspended in the base fluid improves the solar collector's energy and exergy efficiency, with a volume fraction of 4% providing the greatest performance. The maximum PEC occurs at Re of 15,000 and a NPVF of 4%, which is equal to 1.59, indicating an increase of 67% compared to the performance of the absorber pipe with the same working fluid and without a TWT.