A detailed exergetic analysis of parabolic trough collectors

The objective of this study is to present a detailed exergetic analysis of the commercial parabolic trough collector LS-2. A complete thermal model is developed in EES (Engineering Equation Solver) and it is validated with literature results. The solar collector is examined for operation with Therminol VP1 and air in order to examine the most representative liquid and gas working fluids. In the exergetic analysis, detailed presentation of the exergetic losses and the exergy destruction is given for various operation cases. More specifically, different combinations of flow rates and inlet temperature levels are tested for both working fluids and the results indicate the reasons for the exergetic reduction in every case. According to the final results, the global maximum exergetic efficiency for operation with air is 25.62% for an inlet temperature of 500 K and flow rate of 10,000 l/min, while for Therminol VP1 is 31.67% for 500 K and 100 l/min. Moreover, it is proved that the exergy destruction is more intense in the thermal oil case, while the exergetic losses are more important in the air case. The final results and conclusions clearly present the exergetic analysis of parabolic trough collector for a great range of operating conditions. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.