Numerical Investigations of parabolic trough collectors using different nanofluids

This paper presents three-dimensional numerical simulations of parabolic trough collectors (PTC) based on twolow-Reynolds eddy viscosity turbulence models, namely; Launder and Sharma k-epsilon and k-omega SST models. Forthe simulations, water was used as the Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) with four different nanoparticles; Al2O3, TiO2, CuO andCu. Different volume fractions (φ) of the nanoparticles were investigated for various Reynolds (Re) numbers with uniformheat flux. Results showed that the overall performance of the system is more sensitive to changes in the thermal properties of nanofluids than the thermal properties of the HTF. At a volume fraction of 6% and a Re number of 70,000, the Nusselt number (Nu) enhancement of nanofluids TiO2-water, Al2O3-water, CuOwater, and Cu-water were found to be 21.5%, 20.2%, 18.11%, and 15.7% respectively while the performance evaluation criteria (PEC) were 1.214, 1.2, 1.18 and 1.155 respectively.