Boosting the thermal efficiency of a flat-tube parabolic trough solar collector with the introduction of innovative slashed triangular prism turbulators
This study focuses on enhancing the thermal performance of parabolic trough solar collectors (PTSC) by modifying the geometry of the absorber tube to a flat design. For the first time, an innovative turbulator known as the triangular prisms turbulator (TPT) has been utilized, with its geometry speci...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Case Studies in Thermal Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X25001091 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1823861207093739520 |
|---|---|
| author | Sultan Alshehery Qasem Al Mdallal Ahmed A. Altohamy Lotfi Ben Said Mohamed Bouzidi Turki Alkathiri Lioua Kolsi |
| author_facet | Sultan Alshehery Qasem Al Mdallal Ahmed A. Altohamy Lotfi Ben Said Mohamed Bouzidi Turki Alkathiri Lioua Kolsi |
| author_sort | Sultan Alshehery |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study focuses on enhancing the thermal performance of parabolic trough solar collectors (PTSC) by modifying the geometry of the absorber tube to a flat design. For the first time, an innovative turbulator known as the triangular prisms turbulator (TPT) has been utilized, with its geometry specifically designed to fit precisely within the flat tube. Tests were conducted on various geometric parameters, including turbulator lengths (l) of 5–20 mm, slash areas (A) ranging from 4 to 40 mm2, and clearance (C) from 0.25 to 1 mm. Results show that the flat tube design achieves a 28 % higher performance enhancement coefficient (PEC) than the circular tube. Utilizing TPT with varying lengths revealed that the l = 15 mm configuration produced a pressure drop of 18.3 times and enhanced heat transfer by 525 %, yielding a PEC of 2.37, thereby outperforming all other lengths tested. In addition, incorporating slashes on the TPT caused PEC to increase to 3.32 at a slash area of 33 mm2, even though there was a notable decline in heat transfer and pressure drop. Ultimately, the alteration of the clearance between the turbulator and the tube wall facilitated the selection of 0.75 mm as the most optimal design. This adjustment resulted in a pressure drop and heat transfer enhancement of 360 % and 464 %, respectively, yielding the highest PEC of 3.37 documented in this study. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b3c373a3fd584c2eb36f8f0ef460cbcb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2214-157X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Case Studies in Thermal Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-b3c373a3fd584c2eb36f8f0ef460cbcb2025-02-10T04:34:23ZengElsevierCase Studies in Thermal Engineering2214-157X2025-03-0167105849Boosting the thermal efficiency of a flat-tube parabolic trough solar collector with the introduction of innovative slashed triangular prism turbulatorsSultan Alshehery0Qasem Al Mdallal1Ahmed A. Altohamy2Lotfi Ben Said3Mohamed Bouzidi4Turki Alkathiri5Lioua Kolsi6College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Department, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Mathematical Sciences, UAE University, P.O. Box 15551, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates; Corresponding author.Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Ha'il, Ha'il City, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Physics, College of Science, University of Ha'il, P.O. Box 2440, Ha'il, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Al-Baha University, P.O. Box 65799, Albaha, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Ha'il, Ha'il City, Saudi ArabiaThis study focuses on enhancing the thermal performance of parabolic trough solar collectors (PTSC) by modifying the geometry of the absorber tube to a flat design. For the first time, an innovative turbulator known as the triangular prisms turbulator (TPT) has been utilized, with its geometry specifically designed to fit precisely within the flat tube. Tests were conducted on various geometric parameters, including turbulator lengths (l) of 5–20 mm, slash areas (A) ranging from 4 to 40 mm2, and clearance (C) from 0.25 to 1 mm. Results show that the flat tube design achieves a 28 % higher performance enhancement coefficient (PEC) than the circular tube. Utilizing TPT with varying lengths revealed that the l = 15 mm configuration produced a pressure drop of 18.3 times and enhanced heat transfer by 525 %, yielding a PEC of 2.37, thereby outperforming all other lengths tested. In addition, incorporating slashes on the TPT caused PEC to increase to 3.32 at a slash area of 33 mm2, even though there was a notable decline in heat transfer and pressure drop. Ultimately, the alteration of the clearance between the turbulator and the tube wall facilitated the selection of 0.75 mm as the most optimal design. This adjustment resulted in a pressure drop and heat transfer enhancement of 360 % and 464 %, respectively, yielding the highest PEC of 3.37 documented in this study.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X25001091Heat transfer enhancement methodPressure dropSolar collector efficiencyPerforated turbulatorPassive method |
| spellingShingle | Sultan Alshehery Qasem Al Mdallal Ahmed A. Altohamy Lotfi Ben Said Mohamed Bouzidi Turki Alkathiri Lioua Kolsi Boosting the thermal efficiency of a flat-tube parabolic trough solar collector with the introduction of innovative slashed triangular prism turbulators Case Studies in Thermal Engineering Heat transfer enhancement method Pressure drop Solar collector efficiency Perforated turbulator Passive method |
| title | Boosting the thermal efficiency of a flat-tube parabolic trough solar collector with the introduction of innovative slashed triangular prism turbulators |
| title_full | Boosting the thermal efficiency of a flat-tube parabolic trough solar collector with the introduction of innovative slashed triangular prism turbulators |
| title_fullStr | Boosting the thermal efficiency of a flat-tube parabolic trough solar collector with the introduction of innovative slashed triangular prism turbulators |
| title_full_unstemmed | Boosting the thermal efficiency of a flat-tube parabolic trough solar collector with the introduction of innovative slashed triangular prism turbulators |
| title_short | Boosting the thermal efficiency of a flat-tube parabolic trough solar collector with the introduction of innovative slashed triangular prism turbulators |
| title_sort | boosting the thermal efficiency of a flat tube parabolic trough solar collector with the introduction of innovative slashed triangular prism turbulators |
| topic | Heat transfer enhancement method Pressure drop Solar collector efficiency Perforated turbulator Passive method |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X25001091 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sultanalshehery boostingthethermalefficiencyofaflattubeparabolictroughsolarcollectorwiththeintroductionofinnovativeslashedtriangularprismturbulators AT qasemalmdallal boostingthethermalefficiencyofaflattubeparabolictroughsolarcollectorwiththeintroductionofinnovativeslashedtriangularprismturbulators AT ahmedaaltohamy boostingthethermalefficiencyofaflattubeparabolictroughsolarcollectorwiththeintroductionofinnovativeslashedtriangularprismturbulators AT lotfibensaid boostingthethermalefficiencyofaflattubeparabolictroughsolarcollectorwiththeintroductionofinnovativeslashedtriangularprismturbulators AT mohamedbouzidi boostingthethermalefficiencyofaflattubeparabolictroughsolarcollectorwiththeintroductionofinnovativeslashedtriangularprismturbulators AT turkialkathiri boostingthethermalefficiencyofaflattubeparabolictroughsolarcollectorwiththeintroductionofinnovativeslashedtriangularprismturbulators AT liouakolsi boostingthethermalefficiencyofaflattubeparabolictroughsolarcollectorwiththeintroductionofinnovativeslashedtriangularprismturbulators |