Applied Thermal Engineering 143 (2018) 80–89

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

Multiple cylindrical inserts for parabolic trough solar collector T

⁎
Evangelos Bellos , Ilias Daniil, Christos Tzivanidis
Thermal Department, School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Heroon Polytechniou 9, Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece

H I GH L IG H T S

• The use of multiple cylindrical inserts in a parabolic trough collector is examined.

• Totally 15 cases are investigated with a developed CFD model.
• The use of four inserts is found to be the most appropriate case.
• The maximum thermal efficiency enhancement is 0.656%.
• The pumping work is found to be extremely low in all the cases.

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The use of insert flow is a promising technique for increasing the performance of parabolic trough solar col-
Parabolic trough solar collector lectors. The objective of this work is to investigate the use of multiple cylindrical longitudinal inserts in the
Thermal enhancement parabolic trough solar collector LS-2 module. Totally 15 cases are investigated with a computational dynamic
Flow insert model developed in SolidWorks Flow Simulation. More specifically, the reference empty tube, one case with a
Multiple inserts
single insert, eight cases with two inserts flow, three cases with three insert flow and two cases with four insert
Concentrating solar collector
flow. It is found that the use of more inserts leads to higher thermal, exergy and overall efficiency performance of
the collector. Moreover, it is found that the exact location of the inserts plays a significant role in the results. The
pumping work is found to be generally low in all the cases, the fact that proves that the increase in the pressure
drop is not so important in the total system performance. The global maximum efficiency is found for the case
with the four inserts and in this case, the thermal efficiency is enhanced 0.656%, the thermal losses are reduced
about 5.63% and the heat transfer coefficient is increased 26.88%. The results of this work can be used for the
proper design of multiple inserts design in solar systems.

1. Introduction
Solar energy utilization is a promising choice for facing numerous
environmental problems as fossil fuel depletion, energy demand in-
crease and global warming [1–3]. Concentrating solar collectors are
able to produce useful heat in medium and high-temperature levels. So,
they can be used in a great variety of applications such as solar cooling,
refrigeration, desalination, industrial heating, chemical processes, me-
thanol reforming and of course electricity production [4,5].
Parabolic trough collector (PTC) is one of the mature and wide-
spread solar concentrating technologies [6–7]. A typical solar field with
PTC has to be about 2000 m2 in order to produce useful heat of 1 MW. A
lot of research has been focused on its performance enhancement in
order to produce higher amounts of useful heat and to create compact
systems with lower land utilization. In this direction, a lot of research
has been focused on thermal enhancement techniques which can in-
crease the useful heat production. These techniques mainly aim to in-
crease the heat transfer coefficient between the working fluid and the
absorber tube in order to enhance the heat transfer rates and to increase
the thermal efficiency. Moreover, these techniques aim to reduce the
temperature deviation in the absorber tube periphery in order to reduce
the thermal stresses and consequently to reduce the failure possibility
[8].
The most usual thermal enhancement techniques are the use of
nanofluids and turbulators. The use of nanofluids is practically the
dispersion of nanoparticles (diameters of some nanometers) inside a
base fluid (thermal oil or water) with the goal to increase the thermal
conductivity of the fluid [9]. It has been found that these fluids lead to
encouraging results with increased performance in the PTC. More
specifically, some typical nanofluids for PTC are oil-based nanofluids

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: bellose@central.ntua.gr (E. Bellos).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.07.086
Received 10 May 2018; Received in revised form 5 July 2018; Accepted 16 July 2018
Available online 17 July 2018
1359-4311/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
E. Bellos et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 143 (2018) 80–89

Nomenclature ηovr overall efficiency, –

ηth optical efficiency, –
A area, m2 θ incident angle, °
C concentration ratio, – μ dynamic viscosity, Pa s
cp specific heat capacity under constant pressure, J/kg K ρ density, kg/m3
D diameter, m τ cover transmittance, –
E exergy flow, W φ peripheral absorber angle, o

F focal distance, m
f friction factor, – Subscripts and superscripts
Gb solar direct beam irradiation, W/m2
h heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 K a aperture
hout convection coefficient between cover and ambient, W/ am ambient
m2 K c cover
k thermal conductivity, W/m K ci inner cover
L tube length, m co outer cover
m mass flow rate, kg/s fm mean fluid
Nu Nusselt number, – in inlet
Q heat rate, W loss thermal loss
Re Reynolds number, – max maximum
R2 R-square coefficient of determination, – out outlet
rcon concentrator reflectance, – r absorber
T temperature, K ri inner absorber
u fluid velocity, m/s ro outer absorber
V volumetric flow rate, L/min s solar
Vwind ambient air velocity, m/s sky equivalent sky
Wa width, m th theoretical value
Wp pumping work demand, W u useful
0 reference case
Greek symbols
Abbreviations
α absorber absorbance, –
ΔP pressure drop, Pa CFD computational fluid dynamics
ε emittance, – PTC parabolic trough collector
ηex exergy efficiency, – Ref reference case with empty and smooth absorber
ηopt optical efficiency, –

with Al2O3, CuO and multi-wall carbon nanotubes. However, the use of
nanofluids is conjugated with a series of problems as their high cost and
the stability problems due to agglomeration [10]. So, their utilization in
commercial applications is well-established at this time. A possible
choice for creating more stable nanofluids is the use of the proper
surfactants but this scientific area needs a lot of steps, especially for oil-
based nanofluids.
On the other hand, the use of turbulators is the other technique
which uses various geometric modifications in the inner absorber area
or uses flow inserts in the absorber tube. The goal is to create passive
vortexes in order to enhance the mixing rate of the flow [11]. The final
result is the enhancement of the heat transfer coefficient and the in-
crease of the PTC performance. More specifically, the higher heat
transfer coefficient leads to lower absorber temperature and conse-
quently to lower thermal losses, the fact that increase the thermal ef-
ficiency. These techniques can be applied to the real system and there
are no important limitations about their utilization. The only dis-
advantage is the increase of the pumping work, which is something that
is observed with the nanofluids too. Practically, the better mixing of the
flow is associated with the heat transfer increase (or Nusselt number
increase) and the pressure drop increase (or friction factor increase).
In the literature, there are numerous studies on the use of turbula-
tors in the absorbers of PTC. Firstly, the studies with the modified ab-
sorber geometry are presented. Bellos et al. [12] examined the use of a
converging-diverging internal absorber tube surface for the IST-PTC
and they found about 4.55% mean thermal efficiency enhancement
compared to the smooth case. Fuqiang et al. [13] examined an asym-
metric outward convex corrugated absorber tube and they found 2.5
times greater Nusselt number while the pressure drop increase was only
15%. In another work, Huang et al. [14] proved that the use of a
dimpled absorber tube enhances the heat transfer coefficient 35% while
there is a small penalty in the pressure drop. Bitam et al. [15] in-
vestigated a sinusoidal absorber shape tube and they found 60% in-
crease in the heat transfer coefficient, 3% increase in the thermal effi-
ciency and about 50% increase in the pressure drop.
Modifications in the absorber down part have been performed by
various researchers because, in the area, there is high solar irradiation
concentration. Cheng et al. [16] found that the use of vortex generators
in the down part of the absorber tube enhances the heat transfer
coefficient close to 60% and leads to 2.5 times greater pressure drop.
Moreover, Xiangtao et al. [17] examined the fin pin arrays in the down
part of the absorber and they found 3% enhancement in the heat
transfer coefficient with a relatively low-pressure drop penalty. Be-
nabderrahmane et al. [18] studied the use of two longitudinal internal
fins in the down part of the absorber and they found about 70% heat
transfer coefficient enhancement and 60% pressure drop penalty. Fur-
thermore, the use of porous fins in the down absorber part has been
examined by Reddy et al. [19] and they found 40% heat transfer
coefficient increase with 120% increase in the pressure drop.
The use of internal helical fins has been studied by Munoz et al.
[8,20] and they found 2% thermal efficiency enhancement. Bellos et al.
[21–24] examined the use of various internal longitudinal fins in the
absorber periphery. They studied the use of eight fins, symmetrically
located in all the absorber. They found that this technique enhances the
performance of the collector up to 1.5% [21–22]. Moreover, in Ref.
[23], they found that this technique is better than the use of nanofluids.

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E. Bellos et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 143 (2018) 80–89

Furthermore, in Ref. [24] they found that the use of three internal fins
in the down part of the absorber is the optimum choice by taking into
account the pumping work demand.
The studies about the use of flow inserts are the other part of the
literature. The use of twisted tape inserts is the most usual technique in
the literature. Jaramillo et al. [25] experimentally examined the use of
twisted tape inserts inside the absorber of a PTC and they found up to
10% thermal efficiency enhancement. Mwesigye et al. [26] studied the
wall-detached twisted tape inserts and they found up to 10% overall
efficiency enhancement with the Nusselt number to be enhanced about
4 to 7 times. Ghadirijafarbeigloo et al. [27] studied the use of louvered
twisted tape insert and they found about 2 times greater heat transfer
coefficient. Moreover, Rawani el al. [28] found that the serrated twisted
tape inserts increased the heat transfer coefficient 350%, while Chang Fig. 1. The examined module of LS-2 solar collector.
et al. [29] found enhancement about 190% in the heat transfer coeffi-
cient with a conventional twisted tape insert. Similar ideas have been model.
examined by many researchers as the use of a wavy-tape insert [30], a
helical screw tape insert [31] and two twisted tape inserts [32].
Moreover, other ideas have been examined. The use of wire coils has 2. Material and methods
been examined by Divan and Soni [33] and Sahin et al. [34]. Both these
studies found an increase in the heat transfer coefficient of 300% but 2.1. The examined PTC module
also a huge increase in the pressure drop which is about 20 times
greater compared to the empty tube. The use of metal foam inserts has The present work is conducted using the module of LS-2 PTC which
been examined by Jamal-Abad et al. [35] and Wang et al. [36]. In Ref. is a usually selected configuration for testing different enhancement
[35], the thermal efficiency was enhanced 3% and the pressure drop methods in PTC and it is depicted in Fig. 1. This collector has been
was 20 times greater compared to the reference case. The results of the tested by Dudley et al. [48] and also it has been examined with details
Ref. [36] showed 7 times greater heat transfer coefficient and 16 times by Forristall [49] and from other researchers such as Behar et al. [50].
greater pressure drop. Mwesigye at al. [37–38] studied the use of per- The concentration ratio of this collector is 22.74, the total aperture is
forated plat inserts and they found important thermal efficiency en- 39 m2, the collector length is 7.8 m, the absorber has inner diameter is
hancement up to 8% but also 25 times greater pressure drop. Chang 66 mm with 2 mm thickness, while the cover has inner diameter
et al. [39] examined the use of an eccentric cylindrical insert and they 109 mm with 3 mm thickness. Table 1 includes all these information, as
found important enhancement in the heat transfer coefficient (about well as other important data for this collector. The receiver is an
600%) and about 10 times greater pressure drop. Recently, Bellos and evacuated tube with a selective cermet coating. The optical efficiency of
Tzivanidis [40] suggested the use of a star flow insert which is able to this collector is 75.5% for zero incident angle [50]. The absorber ab-
increase the thermal efficiency up to 1%. They suggested that the sorbance is 96%, the cover transmittance is 95%, while the con-
geometry of the star insert is able to create a pressure drop increase centrator reflectance is 83%. It is essential to state that the concentrator
from 200% up to 800%. The use of porous discs has been also examined reflectance includes extra optical losses from the tracking mechanism,
by many researchers. Ghasemi and Ranjbar [5] proved that this tur- from geometrical errors and from decreased clearness [50].
bulator enhances the heat transfer coefficient about 50% while it leads The present work investigates the idea of using different cylindrical
to 10 times greater pressure drop. Kumar and Reddy [41] found that the flow inserts inside the absorber of the PTC. The cylindrical insert has
porous discs increase the heat transfer coefficient by 64% and the 15 mm diameters and it is located in the longitudinal direction of the
pressure drop up to 15 times. Moreover, Reddy et al. [42] found that absorber for all its length. Different numbers of cylindrical inserts from
this technique increases the thermal efficiency up to 6%. Zheng et al. one up to 4 are examined. The inserts are placed in different locations
[43] found that the porous discs with steam as working fluid leads to inside the absorber tube. The possible locations are depicted in Fig. 2
3% thermal efficiency enhancement. and they are numbered from “0” up to “8”. The distance of the locations
Furthermore, there are some comparative studies in the literature. from “1” to “8” are about 15 mm from the absorber tube center. In the
Too and Benito [44] compared the insert coils, the twisted tape inserts cases that the distance of 15 mm was not able to be used, then a similar
and the dimpled absorber and they found the use of dimpled absorber value of the range 10 mm to 20 mm was applied, as Fig. 3 shows. Fig. 3
to be the best technique. Huang et al. [45] compared the helical fins,
the protrusions and the dimples in a PTC. They found that the use of Table 1
dimples is the most effective technique. Recently, Bellos et al. [46] Dimensions and characteristics of LS-2 module [50].
compared the use of internal fins, twisted tape inserts and perforated Parameters Symbols Values
tape inserts and they found the use of internal fins to be the best choice.
It is obvious that there is a lot of interest in the use of different Collector width Wa 5.0 m
Collector length L 7.8 m
turbulators in order to enhance the performance of PTC. This work
Parabola focal distance F 1.84 m
investigates the use of multiple inserts in the flow. In the literature, Collector aperture area Aa 39.0 m2
there are no studies with more than one insert except the Ref. [32] Concentration ratio C 22.74
where two twisted tape inserts had been examined. In this work, the use Absorber inner diameter Dri 66 × 10−3 m
Absorber outer diameter Dro 70 × 10−3 m
of one, two, three or four cylindrical inserts with various configurations
Cover inner diameter Dci 109 × 10−3 m
is examined. Totally 15 cases (with the reference one) are studied in Cover outer diameter Dco 115 × 10−3 m
order to determine the optimum one. The use of cylindrical insert is also Cover emittance εc 86%
seldom in the literature with the studies of Refs. [39,47] to investigate Cover transmittance τ 95%
only one cylindrical insert in every case. The results are evaluated with Absorber absorbance α 96%
Concentrator reflectance rcon 83%
the thermal, exergy and overall efficiency criteria in order to take into
Intercept factor γ ∼100%
consideration the increase in the pumping work. The analysis is con- Maximum optical efficiency ηopt,max 75.5%
ducted in SolidWorks Simulation with a developed thermal-optical

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E. Bellos et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 143 (2018) 80–89

Qu = m ·cp·(Tout −Tin ) (1)

It is important to state that the outlet temperature (Tout) is an output
of the simulation tool.
The available solar energy in the PTC (Qs) is calculated according to
Eq. (2). More specifically, this quantity is the product of the solar direct
beam irradiation (Gb) and of the collector aperture area (Aa).
Qs = Aa ·Gb (2)
The thermal efficiency of the solar collector (ηth) is defined ac-
cording to Eq. (3):
Qu
ηth =
Qs (3)

2.2.2. Flow analysis

The heat transfer coefficient of the flow (h) can be calculated using
the heat transfer from the absorber to the fluid, as Eq. (4) indicates:
Qu
h=
(π·Dri ·L)·(Tr −Tfm) (4)

Fig. 2. The examined locations of the flow inserts. The absorber temperature (Tr) is known by the simulation tool, as
well as the useful heat (Qu) from Eq. (1). The mean fluid temperature
(Tfm) is calculated according to Eq. (5):
Tin + Tout
Tfm =
2 (5)
The mean Nusselt number (Nu) of the flow is calculated as Eq. (6)
shows:
h·Dri
Nu =
k (6)
The Reynolds number (Re) of the flow for the present case is cal-
culated according to Eq. (7):
4·m
Re =
π·Dri ·μ (7)
For validation reasons, the Nusselt number is compared with the
theoretical one for the smooth absorber case (reference case) under
turbulent flow conditions (Re > 2300). The theoretical equation for
the Nusselt number (Nu) is given by Eq. (8) [51]:
Fig. 3. The examined cases with various flow inserts.

Nuth =
( )·Re·Pr
fth
8
illustrates the totally 15 examined cases. The name of every case is 0.68
fth
given in this figure and it is associated with the inserts locations ac- 1 + 12.8·
8
·(Pr−1) (8)
cording to the numbering of Fig. 2.
It is important to state that the use of flow inserts makes the flow to
be mixed in a better way. The inserts inside the flow create higher heat 2.2.3. Hydraulic analysis
transfer coefficients and so the heat transfer from the hot receiver to the The hydraulic analysis is important in order to determine the
working fluids is getting easier. The specific location of the inserts plays pressure drop and the pumping work demand of the various cases. The
a significant role on the mixing conditions inside the flow and this is the simulation tool gives as output the pressure drop, so the calculation of
reason for examining different combinations in a systematic way. In the the friction factor (f) and of the pumping work demand can be done
end, it is useful to state that the use of inserts and generally turbulators easily.
create a penalty in the pressure drop, something that is investigated in The friction factor (f) is calculated according to Eq. (9):
the present paper. ΔP Dri
f= 1
·(
2
·ρ ·u2 L (9)
2.2. Mathematical formulation of the examined cases with and without
inserts Where the mean fluid velocity (u) is calculated according to Eq.
(10):
The basic equations about the present analysis are presented in this m
u=
section. This information is associated with the calculation of important π·Dri2
ρ·( 4
) (10)
parameters (performance indexes for instance) using the simulation
tool outputs. The pumping work demand (Wp) is calculated according to Eq. (11):
m ·ΔP
2.2.1. Thermal analysis Wp =
ρ (11)
The useful heat production (Qu) of the collector can be calculated
using the energy balance in the fluid surface, as Eq. (1) shows: The theoretical value of the friction factor (fth) for turbulent flow

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E. Bellos et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 143 (2018) 80–89

(Re > 2300) can be calculated according to the next formula [52]. Eq. 1 m/s [2,56]:
(12) is used only for validation reasons. 0.58 −0.42
hout = 4·V wind ·Dco (17)
0.184
fth =
Re 0.2 (12)
- The sky temperature (Tsky) is selected at 287 K. This value is cal-
culated using the Eq. (18) and for 300 K ambient temperature [57]:
2.2.4. Evaluation criteria 1.5
Tsky = 0.0553·Tam (18)
The use of flow inserts leads to higher useful heat production and to
higher pumping work demand. This situation has to be evaluated with
the proper criteria. The exergy efficiency and the overall efficiency - The absorbance of the absorber is selected to be 96%, while the
criteria are selected to be used for a proper evaluation. The exergy ef- emittance of the cermet coating is calculated as a function of the
ficiency evaluates the maximum net possible work production, while absorber temperature, as Eq. (19) indicates [49]:
the overall efficiency evaluates the net heat production. εr = 0.05599 + 1.039·10−4 ·Tr + 2.249·10−7·Tr2 (19)

2.2.4.1. Exergy efficiency. The useful exergy production (Eu) is

- The cover transmittance (τ) is selected to be 95% and the cover
calculated according to Eq. (13) [53]:
emittance (εc) 86% [50].
T T ·m ·ΔP - The concentrator reflectance (rcon) is selected at 83% [50] in order
Eu = m ·cp·(Tout −Tin )−m ·cp·T0·ln ⎡ out ⎤− 0
⎢
⎣ T in ⎥
⎦ Tfm·ρfm (13) to take into consideration various optical losses.
- About the used materials, the cover is selected to be made of glass,
The exergy flow of the solar direct beam irradiation (Es) is calcu- while the absorber and the inserts are selected to be made of
lated using the Petela model which is given in Eq. (14) [54]: stainless steel.
4 T 1 T
4 - The working fluid is thermal oil and it is the Syltherm 800 which can
Es = Qs ·(1− ·⎡ 0 ⎤ + ·⎡ 0 ⎤ ) operate up to 673 K with a safety [58]. It is important to state that
3 ⎢
⎣ Tsun ⎥
⎦ 3 ⎢
⎣ sun ⎥
T ⎦ (14)
the thermal properties of Syltherm 800 have been inserted in the
The exergy efficiency (ηex) of the PTC is calculated according to Eq. libraries of the simulation tool. Table 2 includes these thermal
(15): properties:
Eu
ηex =
Es (15) 2.3.2. Details about the flow, the mesh and the optical analysis
The governing equations of continuity, momentum and energy
The sun temperature (Tsun) is equal to 5770 K and the reference equation are solved by SolidWorks Flow Simulation [59] for turbulent
temperature (T0) to 298.15 K. flow conditions (Re > 2300 in all cases). The selected turbulent model
is k-ε which is a usual model in similar studies [21–24]. Furthermore,
2.2.4.2. Overall efficiency. The overall efficiency (ηovr) of the collector the flow in the absorber inlet is assumed to be fully developed. The
is calculated according to Eq. (16): computational mesh is created by the simulation tool (SolidWorks Flow
Qu− η
Wp Simulation) by setting the proper dimensions. A mesh independence
ηovr = el procedure has been conducted and more details can be found in Refs.
Qs (16) [21–22]. It is essential to state that the finally selected computational
The electrical efficiency (ηel) is the equivalent electrical efficiency of mesh has approximately 2 million cells. Moreover, it is important to
the grid and it is used for converting the pumping work into heat terms state that there is a local mesh inside the absorber tube, while there is a
and it is selected to be 32.7% [55]. proper treatment close to the wall cells. About the optical study, totally
107 solar rays have been used after a simple sensitivity analysis. The
2.3. The developed CFD model local concentration ratio in the absorber periphery is depicted in Fig. 4.

The examined tool is SolidWorks Flow Simulation. This tool has 2.3.3. Validation of the developed model
been examined for the simulation of various solar collectors The reference case with the empty tube is validated for different
[12,21–24,40] and it is able to conduct simultaneous optical, thermal operating conditions using the experimental results of Dudley et al.
and hydraulic study for every case. The basic steps of the developed [48] about the LS-2 module. Table 3 includes the validation results
model are given in the following subsections. which prove that the developed model has high accuracy. More speci-
fically, the mean deviation of the outlet temperature was about 0.06%,
2.3.1. Boundary conditions while the mean deviation of the thermal efficiency was about 1.63%.
The boundary conditions of the present problem are listed below: These results regard the operation with Syltherm 800 as working fluid.
The next step in the validation procedure is the flow validation for
- The inlet temperature of the working fluid in the collector (Tin) is the reference case using the Nusselt number and the friction factor. The
selected to be 600 K.
- The volumetric flow rate (V) is selected to be 100 L/min at the inlet Table 2
of the tube which is a reliable choice [21–22]. Thermal properties of Syltherm 800 [58].
- The outlet pressure in the tube is selected to be 15 bar in order to T (K) k (W/m K) ρ (kg/m3) cp (J/kg K) μ (Pa s)
keep the thermal oil in the liquid phase.
- The ambient temperature (Tam) is 300 K. 300 0.1337 929.0 1620 0.00975
350 0.1243 884.5 1706 0.00411
- The direct solar beam irradiation (Gb) is selected at 1000 W/m2 and
400 0.1149 840.3 1791 0.00222
the incident angle (θ) is selected to be zero (vertical solar rays on the 450 0.1055 794.8 1876 0.00133
collector aperture). 500 0.0961 747.2 1962 0.00084
- The heat convection coefficient between the cover and the ambient 550 0.0867 696.2 2047 0.00056
600 0.0773 640.0 2133 0.00039
(hout) is selected to be 10 W/m2 K. This is a reasonable value which
650 0.0679 577.7 2218 0.00029
is calculated according to Eq. (17) for wind speed (Vwind) equal to

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E. Bellos et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 143 (2018) 80–89

Fig. 5. Flow validation for the reference case.

Fig. 4. Local concentration ratio distribution in the absorber periphery.

• Overall efficiency of the collector (η ovr).

calculated values of the CFD are compared with the theoretical values
of Eqs. (8) and (12) for the Nusselt number and friction factor respec-
tively. The mean deviation in the Nusselt number was about 3%, while
for the friction factor was about 5%. Fig. 5 illustrates the obtained re-
sults. The final conclusion is that the developed model is close to the-
oretical values and so it is acceptable.
2.3.4. Followed methodology of this work
The objective of this study is to investigate the different flow inserts.
So, all the cases are examined for the same conditions. It is selected to
examine the system under typical operating conditions for PTC. More
specifically, the inlet temperature was selected at 600 K and the flow
rate at 100 L/min which leads to turbulent flow conditions. The solar
irradiation was kept constant at 1000 W/m2 and the incident angle was
zero in order to give the emphasis in the thermal analysis. The zero
incident angle means that the incident angle modifier is equal to 1,
something that is calculated with the optical study of the simulation
tool. The ambient temperature was 300 K, the sky temperature was
287 K and the heat transfer coefficient between cover and ambient was
10 W/m2 K.
In every case, the most important program outputs are given below:
• Bulk fluid outlet temperature (T ). out
• Mean absorber temperature (T ). r
• Pressure drop between the inlet and outlet (ΔP).
• Thermal losses of the absorber (Q ). loss
• The most important calculated parameters with the outputs of the
program are given below:
• Thermal efficiency of the collector (η ). th
• Useful heat production of the collector (Q ). u
• Heat transfer coefficient (h).
• Pumping work demand of the collector (W ). p
• Exergy efficiency of the collector (η ). ex
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Thermal analysis
The first step in the present work is the calculation of the thermal
efficiency for the examined fifteen cases. Fig. 6 depicts the results by
separating the cases according to the number of inserts. It is obvious
that all the cases with inserts lead to higher thermal efficiency com-
pared to the reference case. This is an important result which proves
that the use of the cylindrical inserts is beneficial for the thermal per-
formance of the PTC. So, the examined idea is reasonable and it can
enhance the performance. The exact values of the thermal efficiency of
all the cases are given in Table 4, while the thermal efficiency en-
hancement values in Table 5.
Fig. 4 shows that the higher number of inserts is able to lead to
higher thermal efficiency but with the proper placement of the internal
inserts. In other words, the best case with the four inserts is better than
the best case of three inserts, which is better than the best case with two
inserts, etc.
The reference case has thermal efficiency 67.692%, while the best
case with four inserts (1-3-5-7) has 68.136% which means 0.656%
thermal efficiency enhancement. The best case with three inserts is the
(1-3-7) with 68.091% thermal efficiency and 0.59% enhancement,
while the best case with two inserts is the (1-7) with 67.954% and
0.387% enhancement. The case with one centrally placed inserts has
67.773% thermal efficiency and presents an enhancement of 0.119%.
The main reason for the increase in the thermal efficiency is the
higher heat transfer coefficient between the fluid and the absorber.
Fig. 7 depicts the thermal efficiency enhancement as a function of the
heat transfer coefficient enhancement. It is obvious that the correlation
between these parameters is approximately linear (R2 = 98.53%) and it
is given by Eq. (20):

Table 3
Validation of the developed thermal model with results of Ref. [48].
Cases Gb Tam Tin V Outlet temperature Thermal efficiency
Tout (K) ηth (%)

(W/m2) (K) (K) (L/min) Ref. [48] Model Deviation Ref. [48] Model Deviation

1 934 294.4 375.4 47.7 397.2 397.4 0.05% 72.51 73.51 1.38%
2 968 295.6 424.2 47.8 446.5 446.8 0.07% 70.90 72.52 2.29%
3 982 297.5 470.7 49.1 492.7 493.0 0.06% 70.17 71.45 1.83%
4 910 299.5 523.9 54.7 542.6 542.6 0.00% 70.25 69.71 0.76%
5 938 299.4 571.0 55.5 589.6 590.0 0.07% 67.98 67.40 0.85%
6 881 302.0 572.2 55.6 590.4 589.9 0.08% 68.92 67.09 2.66%
7 903 300.7 629.1 56.3 647.2 646.9 0.05% 63.82 63.07 1.18%
8 921 304.3 652.7 56.8 671.2 670.6 0.09% 62.34 61.02 2.12%

Mean – – – – – – 0.06% – – 1.63%

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E. Bellos et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 143 (2018) 80–89

Table 5
Percentage (%) increase of various parameters compared to the reference case.
Case Name Increase

nth (%) nex (%) novr (%) h (%) Wp (%)

0 0.119 0.120 0.117 3.94% 61.4%

3-7 0.378 0.380 0.373 13.80% 142.4%

2-8 0.369 0.371 0.365 13.16% 107.1%

Fig. 6. Thermal efficiency of the examined cases. 4-6 0.117 0.117 0.113 4.34% 110.6%

Table 4
1-5 0.369 0.372 0.366 13.52% 117.2%
Evaluation results of the various cases.
2
Case Name nth nex novr h (W/m K) Wp (W)
6-8 0.237 0.238 0.234 8.28% 101.4%
Ref 67.692% 36.713% 67.690% 480.4 0.287

4-8 0.260 0.261 0.256 9.18% 109.5%

0 67.773% 36.757% 67.769% 499.4 0.463

2-6 0.260 0.261 0.256 9.17% 109.4%

3-7 67.948% 36.853% 67.943% 546.8 0.695

1-7 0.387 0.390 0.383 13.91% 123.8%

2-8 67.942% 36.850% 67.937% 543.7 0.593

1-3-7 0.589 0.592 0.581 23.05% 222.3%

4-6 67.771% 36.756% 67.766% 501.3 0.603

3-5-7 0.388 0.389 0.381 14.64% 225.6%

1-5 67.942% 36.850% 67.937% 545.4 0.622

1-5-7 0.431 0.433 0.424 16.19% 218.3%

6-8 67.853% 36.801% 67.848% 520.2 0.577

1-3-5-7 0.656 0.658 0.644 26.88% 357.7%

4-8 67.868% 36.809% 67.863% 524.6 0.600

2-4-6-8 0.220 0.219 0.211 7.70% 268.1%

2-6 67.868% 36.809% 67.863% 524.5 0.600

1-7 67.954% 36.856% 67.949% 547.3 0.641

1-3-7 68.091% 36.931% 68.083% 591.2 0.924

3-5-7 67.955% 36.856% 67.948% 550.8 0.933

1-5-7 67.984% 36.872% 67.977% 558.2 0.912

1-3-5-7 68.136% 36.955% 68.126% 609.6 1.311

2-4-6-8 67.841% 36.794% 67.833% 517.5 1.055

Fig. 7. Thermal efficiency enhancement as a function of the heat transfer

coefficient enhancement.

86
E. Bellos et al.
Fig. 8. Thermal efficiency enhancement as a function of the decrease of the
thermal loses.
Fig. 9. Thermal loss decrease as a function of the heat transfer coefficient en-
hancement.
Fig. 10. Thermal efficiency and pumping work demand of the examined cases.
⎡ ηth−ηth,0 ⎤ = 0.0263·⎡ h−h 0 ⎤
⎢ η ⎥ ⎢
⎣ th,0 ⎦ ⎣ h0 ⎥ ⎦
It is important to state that the heat transfer coefficient enhance-
ment reaches up to 26.88% while the thermal efficiency enhancement
in this case is 0.656%. Eq. (20) indicates that the thermal efficiency
enhancement is about the 2.63% of the heat transfer coefficient en-
hancement, so it can be said that high enhancements in the heat
transfer coefficient lead to low thermal efficiency enhancements. The
reason for this situation is the relatively low thermal losses of the
Applied Thermal Engineering 143 (2018) 80–89
Fig. 11. Dependency of the exergy and overall efficiencies with the thermal
efficiency.
collector due to the evacuated tube collector.
Fig. 8 illustrates the thermal efficiency enhancement as a function of
the thermal loss decrease. It is obvious that again the correlation is
approximately linear (R2 ≈ 1) and it is given by Eq. (21):
⎡ ηth−ηth,0 ⎤ = 0.1165·⎡ Qloss,0−Qloss ⎤
⎢ η ⎥ ⎢ Qloss,0 ⎥
⎣ th,0 ⎦ ⎣ ⎦ (21)
The thermal efficiency enhancement is equal to the 11.65% of the
thermal loss decrease. So, it can be said that the thermal efficiency is
not influenced by the thermal losses at a great rate. The maximum
thermal loss decrease is 5.63% and in this case, the thermal efficiency
enhancement is 0.656%.
The last part of this analysis gives the correlation between the
thermal loss decrease and the heat transfer coefficient enhancement in
Fig. 9. The correlation is approximately linear (R2 = 98.59%) and it is
given by Eq. (22):
⎡ Qloss,0−Qloss ⎤ = 0.2259·⎡ h−h 0 ⎤
⎢ Qloss,0 ⎥ ⎢
⎣ h0 ⎥ ⎦ (22)
⎣ ⎦
The thermal loss decrease is practically equal to the 22.59% of the
heat transfer coefficient enhancement. So, it has been found that a great
increase in the heat transfer coefficient is able to lead to about 5 times
lower thermal loss decrease and approximately 40 times lower thermal
efficiency enhancement. Similar results have been found in Ref. [60]
about the theoretical analysis of heat transfer enhancement methods, so
the results of the present work are acceptable.
3.2. Collector evaluation criteria
The next part of this work is the evaluation of the increase of the
pressure drop which leads to higher pumping work demand. Fig. 10
depicts the various combinations of the useful heat production and
pumping work demand. It is obvious that generally the higher thermal
efficiency enhancement is conjugated with higher pumping work. The
ideal case is the one with maximum thermal efficiency and the
minimum pumping work demand. This case is depicted in Fig. 10, as
well as the optimum points are depicted in the Pareto front. All the
cases can be characterized as optimum. These cases are the reference,
(20)
the (2-8), the (1-7), the (1-3-7) and the (1-3-5-7). The final evaluation
can be done by observing the values of the two examined parameters.
The pumping work takes extremely low values which are up to
1.31 W. These values are extremely low compared to the useful heat
which is about 26,500 W. In other words, it is not able to select the
reference case with 26,400 W useful heat and 0.29 W pumping work
compared to the case (1-3-57) with 26,573 W useful heat and 1.31 W
pumping work. Practically, the useful heat gain is numerous times
87
E. Bellos et al.
greater in any case than the pumping work penalty.
However, the proper evaluation has to be done using the exergy and
the overall criteria. These criteria show that the increase in the thermal
efficiency leads also to increase both in exergy and overall efficiency for
the present cases. In other words, the extremely small increase in the
pumping works is not able to eliminate the thermal efficiency en-
hancement. The exact values of these criteria are given in Table 4.
Moreover, Fig. 11 shows that the exergy and the overall efficiencies are
approximately linear functions of the thermal efficiency with (R2 ≈ 1).
This fact proves that for the cases with extremely small pumping power
demand, the thermal efficiency can be the decision criterion about the
optimum case. So, the present results indicate the case (1-3-5-7) to be
the most appropriate among the examined.
It has also to be said, that the exact values of the thermal efficiency,
the exergy efficiency, the overall efficiency, the heat transfer coefficient
and the pumping work demand are included in Table 4. Moreover, the
increases of these parameters, compared to the reference case, are given
in Table 5. It is interesting to state that all the indexes present similar
enhancement for the examined cases. This result is reasonable because
of the low values of the pumping work demand.
4. Conclusions
In the present work, the use of multiple flow inserts inside the ab-
sorber of a parabolic trough collector is examined. Cylindrical flow
inserts of 15 mm diameters are tested for various configurations with
one, two, three or four inserts. Totally, fourteen different insert cases
are investigated and compared with the reference case. The analysis is
conducted with Solidworks Simulation Studio. The results are evaluated
using the thermal, exergy and overall efficiency indexes. The most
important conclusions of this study are summarized below:
- It has found that the enhancement of the heat transfer coefficient is
many times higher (about ∼30) than the enhancement in the
thermal efficiency.
- The use of a higher number of internal cylindrical inserts leads to
higher thermal efficiency enhancement and to higher pumping
work.
- It is found that the exact location of the inserts plays also an im-
portant role in the final collector performance.
- The pumping work takes extremely high values and it is not able to
eliminate the thermal efficiency enhancement with the use of the
inserts.
- All the examined criteria (thermal, exergy and overall efficiencies)
indicate an enhancement in all the examined cases.
- The case (1-3-5-7) is found to be the optimum one with 0.656%
thermal efficiency enhancement.
Acknowledgments
Dr. Evangelos Bellos would like to thank “Bodossaki Foundation”
for its financial support.
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