Analytical modeling of parabolic linear collectors for solar power plant.

An analytical model for the parabolic trough collector (PTC) having its absorber tubes fitted with serrated twisted tape inserts using therminol VP-1 as working fluid for high temperature applications in solar thermal electric power system was developed taking radiative terms into account. The model takes radiative terms into account, for the development of the mathematical expressions for collector efficiency factor, collector heat removal factor, outlet fluid temperature and thermal efficiency. A computer program in C++ language, based on mathematical models was developed, to estimate the temperature rise of fluid for evaluation of the performance of PTC under specified conditions. For numerical simulations, three different twist ratios, x = 1,2.5,4 and mass flow rates ranging from 0.06 kg/s to 0.16 kg/s (3000 ≤ Re ≤ 9000) and dimensionless insolation, Ψ(t) = 0.2 to 1.0 are used. This study demonstrates that twisted tape insert shows great promise for enhancing the performance of the PTC. The maximum value of outlet fluid temperature, useful heat gain and thermal efficiency are 452.52 K, 17711 W and 79.22 %, respectively for x = 1, Ψ(t) = 1.0 and mass flow rate of 0.16 kg/s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]