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Performance analyses of a novel finned parabolic trough receiver with inner tube for solar cascade heat collection

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Abstract

Designing highly-efficient parabolic trough receiver (PTR) contributes to promoting solar thermal utilization and alleviating energy crisis and environmental problems. A novel finned PTR with inner tube (FPTR-IT), which can provide different grades of thermal energy with two heat transfer fluids (oil and water), is designed to improve thermal efficiency. In this FPTR-IT, an inner tube and straight fins are employed to respectively lessen heat loss at upper and lower parts of the absorber. Based on the design, a numerical model is developed to investigate its performance. Comparisons with other PTRs indicate that the FPTR-IT can combine the advantages of PTR with inner tube and finned PTR and obtain the best performance. Moreover, performance evaluation under broad ranges of direct normal irradiances (300–1000 W/m2), flow rates (50–250 L/min) and inlet temperatures (400–600 K) of oil as well as flow rates (3.6–10 L/min) and inlet temperatures (298.15–318.15 K) of water is investigated. Compared with conventional PTR, heat loss is reduced by 20.7%–63.2% and total efficiency is improved by 0.03%–4.27%. Furthermore, the proportions of heat gains for water and oil are located in 8.3%–73.9% and −12.0%–64.3%, while their temperature gains are located in 11.6–37.9 K and −1.2–19.6 K, respectively. Thus, the proposed FPTR-IT may have a promising application prospect in remote arid areas or islands to provide different grades of heat for electricity and freshwater production.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Thermal Science and Power Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430205, China

    Peng Liu, TingTing Ren, YanLin Ge & LinGen Chen

  2. School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Wei Liu

  3. School of Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430205, China

    Peng Liu, TingTing Ren, YanLin Ge & LinGen Chen

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  1. Peng Liu
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Correspondence to LinGen Chen.

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This work was supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2020M672344). The authors wish to thank the reviewers for their careful, unbiased and constructive suggestions, which led to this revised manuscript.

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Liu, P., Ren, T., Ge, Y. et al. Performance analyses of a novel finned parabolic trough receiver with inner tube for solar cascade heat collection. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 66, 1417–1434 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-022-2201-3

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