Numerical Investigation of Novel Parabolic Trough Receiver Configurations Using Liquid Sodium as Heat Transfer Fluid

This paper conducts a numerical investigation of the performance improvement of a Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) receiver using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations performed in ANSYS Fluent. The study aims to evaluate novel receiver configurations by comparing a conventional receiver (Case 1) with three innovative configurations (Cases 2, 3, and 4), using liquid sodium as the heat transfer fluid (HTF). The model’s accuracy is validated against experimental data and theoretical expressions from the literature. Simulations are performed across various mass flow rates to assess key parameters, including the Nusselt number, friction coefficient, thermal efficiency, and circumferential temperature difference. The results indicate that Case 3 demonstrates the highest thermal performance among the configurations. Specifically, the novel receiver configurations consistently outperformed the conventional receiver. The Nusselt number increased by 29.84%, 126.1%, and 10%; the friction factor rose by 178%, 305%, and 17%; the thermal efficiency improved by 3.6%, 4%, and 3.4%; and the temperature difference decreased by 4.05%, 13.2%, and 1.31% for Confs 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Additionally, liquid sodium significantly enhanced the thermal performance of the PTC due to its superior thermal properties. These findings underscore the effectiveness of the proposed receiver configurations and the advantages of using liquid sodium as the HTF, offering a promising approach to improving PTC efficiency.