Applied Thermal Engineering 114 (2017) 374–386

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Applied Thermal Engineering

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

Research Paper

A detailed working fluid investigation for solar parabolic trough

collectors
Evangelos Bellos ⇑, Christos Tzivanidis, Kimon A. Antonopoulos
Department of Thermal Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Zografou, Heroon Polytechniou 9, 15780 Athens, Greece

h i g h l i g h t s

Seven working fluids are examined energetically and exergetically in a commercial PTC.

Water, Therminol VP-1, Molten salt, Sodium liquid, Air, CO2 and Helium are examined.

Every working fluid is examined in the proper temperature range from 300 K to 1300 K.

The global maximum exergetic efficiency achieved for Sodium liquid at 800 K (47.48%).

CO2 and helium are the most suitable working fluids for extremely high temperatures.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Solar energy is a promising energy source for covering a great variety of applications from low up to high
Received 31 August 2016 temperature levels. In this study, the most mature concentrating technology, a commercial parabolic
Revised 29 October 2016 trough collector (Eurotrough ET-150), is investigated energetically and exergetically for a great temper-
Accepted 29 November 2016
ature range from 300 K to 1300 K. Pressurized water, Therminol VP-1, nitrate molten salt, sodium liquid,
Available online 30 November 2016
air, carbon dioxide and helium are the examined working fluids; each one to be studied in the proper
temperature range. In the first part of this study, the optimum mass flow rate is determined to every
Keywords:
working fluid separately. After this point, the exergetic and the energetic performance of the collector
Parabolic trough collectors
Exergetic analysis
operating with all these working fluids is examined. The final results prove that the liquid sodium leads
Working fluid investigation to the global exergetic maximum efficiency (47.48%) for inlet temperature equal to 800 K, while the max-
Thermal performance imum exergetic performance of helium, carbon dioxide and air to be 42.21%, 42.06% and 40.12% respec-
tively. Moreover, pressurized water is the best working medium for temperature levels up to 550 K, while
carbon dioxide and helium are the only solutions for temperatures greater than 1100 K. The thermal anal-
ysis is performed with the EES tool.
Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The increasing rate of the global energy consumption [1] is a
basic issue that our society has to manage due to the consequent
problems, as the increase of CO2 emissions and the fossil fuel
depletion [2–4]. Moreover, the increasing price of the electricity
and the new lifestyle trends [5], which are connected with the high
energy consumption, create the need to use alternative and renew-
able energy sources. Solar energy utilization is a promising way for
facing all the environmental threads and for producing low cost
thermal energy and electricity [6].
Solar collectors are the devices which capture solar energy and
transform it partially to useful thermal output. The conventional
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: bellose@central.ntua.gr (E. Bellos).
solar collectors are flat plate collectors which operate usually in
low temperature levels up to 100 °C [7]. Higher temperature levels
up to 200 °C can be achieved with evacuated tube collectors [8],
while for greater temperatures the only possible solution is the
concentrating solar collectors [9]. Parabolic trough collectors, com-
pound parabolic collectors, linear Fresnel collectors, solar towers
and solar dish collectors are the most widespread concentrating
solar systems, with parabolic collectors to be the most mature
technology among the aforementioned collectors [10,11].
There are numerous applications that can use solar energy for
covering all or partially their energy needs. In low temperature
levels, space heating and domestic hot water production are the
most representative applications where solar irradiation can be
utilized [5]. In medium temperature levels, solar cooling [12],
desalination [13] and industrial process heat [14] are applications
that can exploit solar energy, mainly with high efficient collectors

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.11.201
1359-4311/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 E. Bellos et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 114 (2017) 374–386 375

Nomenclature

A area (m2) q density (kg/m3)

C concentration ratio (–) r Stefan–Boltzmann constant [=5.67  108 W/m2 K4]
cp specific heat capacity under constant pressure (J/kg K)
D diameter (mm) Subscripts and superscripts
E exergy flow (W) a aperture
f focal length (mm) am ambient
fr friction factor (–) c cover
Gb solar beam radiation (W/m2) ca cover-ambient
h convection coefficient (W/m2 K) ci inner cover
hout convection coefficient between cover and ambient co outer cover
(W/m2 K) ex exergetic
k thermal conductivity (W/m K) fm mean fluid
L tube length (mm) in inlet
m mass flow rate (kg/s) loss losses
Nu mean Nusselt number opt optical
Pr Prandtl number (–) optim optimum mass flow rate
Q heat flux (W) out outlet
Re Reynolds number r receiver
T temperature (K) ri inner receiver
u working fluid velocity (m/s) ro outer receiver
W width (mm) s solar
sun sun
Greek symbols th thermal
e emittance (–) u useful
DP pressure drop (kPa)
DS entropy increase (J/K) Abbreviations
g efficiency EES Engineer Equator Solver
l dynamic viscosity (Pa s) PTC Parabolic trough collector

as parabolic trough collectors. For high temperature levels, concen-
trating solar power plants are applications which gain more atten-
tion worldwide [15,16]. Moreover, for extremely high temperature
levels up to 1000 °C, processes as hydrogen production [17] and
methanol reforming [18] can utilize solar irradiation. Furthermore,
solar collector can be used for aiding gas turbines for achieving
high temperature levels [19], reducing the operational cost of the
system and producing cleaner electricity.
The majority of the applications in medium and high tempera-
ture levels use parabolic trough collectors for producing the
demanded heat. Many ideas have been applied in order to enhance
their performance. The first category is related to modifications in
the absorber geometry and to inserting objects inside the flow. The
use of twisted tape inserts has been investigated by many authors
[20–22] with encouraging results. Moreover, the use of
converging-diverging geometries inside the absorber, creating pas-
sive vortexes, is an also promising way for increasing the thermal
efficiency of PTC [23,24]. On the other hand, the other category
of research is focused on the use of different working fluids in
PTC. Except from water and thermal oils, molten salts, liquid met-
als, as well as gases have been used in numerous studies and appli-
cations. Every working fluid presents different advantages and is
able to operate in different temperature levels.
Water is able to operate in low temperature levels up to 100 °C,
while for higher temperatures pressurized water is able to be used.
Thermal oils, as Dowtherm, Syltherm and Therminol can operate
up to 400 °C and they usually are utilized in many industrial appli-
cations [25]. Molten salts, as nitrate salts, can operate generally up
to 600 °C, while new chloride salts can operate in higher tempera-
ture levels [26]. In any case, the use of molten salt is a demanding
task because of the solidification danger. Metal liquids, as sodium
and lead-bismuth are perspective working fluid for achieving tem-
perature up to 900 °C [27]. The operation with these working fluids
is conjugated with many dangers and for this reason knowledge
from the nuclear science has to be exploited in order to design sys-
tems with high safety levels [28]. The use of gas working fluids as
air, carbon dioxide, helium is the only possible solution for opera-
tion in extremely high temperature levels close to 1000 °C and
maybe in greater temperature levels. The drawback of this technol-
ogy is the great pressure losses due to the low density of the gases.
Many researchers have conducted comparative studies between
working fluids for solar thermal applications. Ouagued et al. [29]
compared four thermal oils in a parabolic trough collector for Alge-
rian climate. They concluded that Syltherm 800 is the most appro-
priate fluid for their case, with Marlotherm TH, Santotherm 59 and
Therminol D12 to follow. Pressurized water and thermal oil com-
pared in a recent study [7] for low and medium temperature levels.
The final results proved that pressurized water leads to higher
thermal performance due to higher heat transfer coefficient
between absorber and fluid.
The comparison between direct and indirect steam production
power plants is a very interesting issue that has been analyzed
by many researchers. Feldhoff et al. [30] found that the cost of a
direct steam production plant is higher than the respective cost
of a usual synthetic oil power plant. Montes et al. [31] compared
a direct water/steam power plant with a power plant with Thermi-
nol and one with solar salt. They proved that the thermal efficiency
of the water/steam case is the highest, with the other two to be
close to each other. Thermal oil and molten salts are compared in
the study of Boukelia et al. [32]. In this study various configuration
of a 50 MWel power plants were investigated and finally the use of
molten salt was proved to be the best choice in environmental and
financial terms.
The use of solid metals as working fluids has also been exam-
ined in many studies. Niedermeier et al. [33] examined storage sys-
tems for liquid sodium as working fluid and the concluded that
376 E. Bellos et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 114 (2017) 374–386

there are different storage strategies from the plants with molten
salts. In the solid liquid systems, the sensible storage with one stor-
age tank is an interesting idea, as well as the thermochemical stor-
age is a perspective storage technique. Pacio et al. [34] investigated
the use of liquid metals in concentrated power plants in energetic
and exergetic terms. More specifically, they analyzed parametri-
cally the system performance for various values of the heat transfer
coefficient, proving that higher values of this parameter act bene-
ficially for the system thermal performance. Moreover, they proved
that sodium performs better than lead-bismuth and they stated
that the low heat capacity of the liquid metals is an important
drawback which affects the thermal efficiency.
In the last years, gas working fluids in solar systems have been
investigated from an increasing number of researchers. Air and car-
bon dioxide were compared as working fluids in a solar gas turbine
power plant [35]. The final results showed that carbon dioxide is
the most suitable working fluid because of the greater heat transfer
coefficient, according to the results. In another interesting study,
Muñoz-Anton et al. [36] proved that carbon dioxide and nitrogen
are promising working fluids for operation in PTC up to 500 °C.
Biencinto et al. [37] examined the use of nitrogen and of thermal
oil in a solar power plant in Almeria. The final results proved that
the use of the thermal oil is a better choice than the nitrogen. They
also stated that it is valuable to investigate more gases and to com-
pare them with thermal oils, because nitrogen is not the most ideal
working fluid. In a recent study [38], six gases are compared ener-
getically and exergetically in a parabolic trough collector. Air,
nitrogen, carbon dioxide, helium, argon and neon were investi-
gated for temperature levels from 300 K to 750 K. Finally, carbon
dioxide and helium were proved to be the most efficient working
fluids, while emphasis was given to the pressure losses which are
very important for gas working fluids.
Fig. 1. The examined model of Eurotrough ET150 designed in Solidworks (a) The
Taking into account all the existing literature review, there is examined module (b) The cross-section of the evacuated tube.
not a clear comparison of all the usual working fluids for all the
possible operating temperature levels. Thus, this study examines
seven different working fluids, eliminating the less efficient work- Fig. 1b shows the cross-section of the evacuated tube. These figures
ing mediums, selecting the most representative candidates from have been drawn in Solidworks and the main dimensions of the
the liquids and the gas categories. Pressurized water, Therminol collector are presented in them. The main parts of this collector
VP-1, nitrate molten salt (60% NaNO3 – 40% KNO3) and sodium liq- are the evacuated tube and the reflector. The reflector can be man-
uid are selected from the liquid working fluids, while air, carbon ufactured by bending a reflecting material into a parabolic shape.
dioxide and helium were chosen from the gas working fluid cate- The evacuated tube is consisted of the glass cover and the selective
gory. Eurotrough ET-150 is the selected parabolic trough collector absorber. Between the cover and the absorber there is an extre-
to be analyzed, because this is a high efficient PTC which has been mely low pressure of some mbar in order to eliminate the convec-
used in many studies. A thermal model was developed in EES tion losses of the absorber, fact that increases the thermal
(Engineering Equation Solver) and the comparison of the seven efficiency of the collector [42].
working fluids is performed in energetic and exergetic terms. A The geometrical parameters of the examined model are
great temperature range from 300 K to 1300 K was investigated, included in Table 1 with details. Moreover, other important prop-
with every working fluid to be studied in the proper temperature erties of the collector, as the emittances and the optical efficiency
levels with respect to existing constraints. This study is a useful are also given in this table. The ambient conditions and the solar
guide for selecting the proper working fluid for every application, irradiation intensity are also included in Table 1. It is essentially
according to the operating temperature level. The final results of to state that these parameters do not change among the examined
this study can aid to the working fluid selection with energetic cases in order to compare the working fluids under the same oper-
and exergetic criteria and can create a clear image of the possible ating conditions, performing a suitable comparative analysis.
candidates for every separate application.
2.2. Properties of working fluids

2. Examined model
2.1. Solar collector model characteristics
The examined solar collector in this study is Eurotrough ET-150
[39] which is a commercial well-known parabolic trough collector.
Many studies and applications have used this solar collector and
for this reason, this PTC is selected [40,41]. The concentration ratio
of this collector is about 26.37, a usual value among the commer-
cial PTCs. Fig. 1a illustrates the examined module of the PTC and
The properties of the selected working fluids were used from
the functions in the library of the EES [43]. More specifically the
references for water, thermal oil, molten salt, liquid sodium, air,
carbon dioxide and helium properties are taken from the Refs.
[44–50] respectively. It is essentially to give the proper tempera-
ture limits for the examined working fluids. Pressurized water is
selected to have high pressure (80 bar) in order to be kept in liq-
uid phase during its heating. Therminol is able to be kept in liquid
phase up to 400 °C [51], while it has to operate over 12 °C [52] for
avoiding crystallization. The binary nitrate molten salt (60% NaNO3
 E. Bellos et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 114 (2017) 374–386 377

Table 1 3. Methods
Model and simulation parameters [39–41].

Simulation parameters Values Model dimensions Values 3.1. Mathematical modelling

er 0.095 W 5.8 m
ec 0.88 L 12 m This basic mathematical modelling of the examined collector is
gopt 0.80 f 1.71 m presented in this paragraph. Energetic, exergetic and thermal def-
Gb 800 W/m2 Aa 69.6 m2
initions are given in the following equations.
C 26.37 Dri 66 mm
Tsun 5770 K Dro 70 mm Parabolic trough collector, as an imaging concentrating collec-
Tam 300 K Dci 120 mm tors, which utilizes only the solar direct beam irradiation (Gb)
hout 10 W/m2 K Dco 125 mm which reaches in its aperture (Aa). The total available solar irradi-
ation (Qs) in the collector is calculated by Eq. (1) [11]:
Q s ¼ Aa  Gb ; ð1Þ
– 40% KNO3) has to operate from 220 °C to 600 °C [53], while
sodium liquid from 98 °C to 883 °C [27]. Air, carbon dioxide and The working fluid captures a part of this solar energy and its
helium have not temperature constraints and for this reason they temperature level increases. This energy amount is the useful
are suitable for extremely high temperature levels. Table 2 energy (Qu) and this can be easily expressed by the energy balance
includes the properties of the working fluids for some characteris- in the fluid volume, according to Eq. (2) [7]:
tic temperature levels. Q u ¼ m  cp  ðT out  T in Þ; ð2Þ

Table 2
Thermal properties of the examined working fluids.

Tin (K) Property Pressurized water Therminol VP-1 Molten Salt Liquid sodium Air CO2 He
300 k (W/m K) 0.628 0.135 – – 0.036 0.031 0.160
q (kg/m3) 994 1046 – – 0.769 1.098 0.146
Cp (J/kg K) 4164 1577 – – 1021 1004 5193
l (Pa s) 5.9  104 3.2  103 – – 2.5  105 2.3  105 2.1  105
400 k (W/m K) 0.674 0.124 – 86.9 0.043 0.037 0.191
q (kg/m3) 926 964 – 918 0.632 0.939 0.112
Cp (J/kg K) 4277 1860 – 1370 1040 1057 5193
l (Pa s) 1.9  104 6.6  104 – 5.9  104 2.9  105 2.6  105 2.5  105
500 k (W/m K) 0.622 0.109 – 79.8 0.049 0.044 0.221
q (kg/m3) 813 878 – 896 0.537 0.813 0.091
Cp (J/kg K) 4741 2128 – 1332 1062 1104 5193
l (Pa s) 1.1104 3.2  104 – 4.1  104 3.2  105 3.0  105 2.9  105
600 k (W/m K) – 0.091 0.506 73.4 0.054 0.051 0.251
q (kg/m3) – 775 1880 873 0.467 0.713 0.076
Cp (J/kg K) – 2392 1504 1300 1086 1145 5193
l (Pa s) – 2.0  104 2.7  103 3.2  104 3.5  105 3.3  105 3.3  105
700 k (W/m K) – 0.069 0.525 67.8 0.059 0.057 0.281
q (kg/m3) – 641 1816 851 0.413 0.633 0.066
Cp (J/kg K) – 2768 1521 1276 1108 1180 5193
l (Pa s) – 1.3104 1.6  103 2.6  104 3.8  105 3.6  105 3.7  105
800 k (W/m K) – – 0.545 62.7 0.064 0.064 0.310
q (kg/m3) – – 1752 827 0.371 0.568 0.058
Cp (J/kg K) – – 1539 1260 1129 1211 5193
l (Pa s) – – 1.2  103 2.3  104 4.0  105 3.9  105 4.0  105
900 k (W/m K) – – – 58.1 0.069 0.070 0.338
q (kg/m3) – – – 804 0.336 0.515 0.052
Cp (J/kg K) – – – 1252 1148 1238 5193
l (Pa s) – – – 2.0  104 4.3  105 4.2  105 4.4  105
1000 k (W/m K) – – – 54.1 0.073 0.076 0.366
q (kg/m3) – – – 780 0.307 0.471 0.047
Cp (J/kg K) – – – 1252 1164 1262 5193
l (Pa s) – – – 1.8  104 4.5  105 4.5  105 4.7  105
1100 k (W/m K) – – – 50.4 0.077 0.082 0.394
q (kg/m3) – – – 755 0.283 0.433 0.043
Cp (J/kg K) – – – 1262 1179 1282 5193
l (Pa s) – – – 1.7  104 4.7  105 4.8  105 5.1  105
1200 k (W/m K) – – – – 0.081 0.087 0.421
q (kg/m3) – – – – 0.262 0.401 0.039
Cp (J/kg K) – – – – 1192 1300 5193
l (Pa s) – – – – 5.0  105 5.0  105 5.4  105
1300 k (W/m K) – – – – 0.085 0.092 0.448
q (kg/m3) – – – – 0.244 0.373 0.036
Cp (J/kg K) – – – – 1203 1316 5193
l (Pa s) – – – – 5.2  105 5.3  105 5.7  105
378 E. Bellos et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 114 (2017) 374–386

The most important performance index of the solar collector is The next part in this analysis is this paragraph is related to
its thermal efficiency, which is the ratio of the useful energy to the the exergetic performance of the collector. Exergy is useful
available solar irradiation, as Eq. (3) indicates: parameter which indicates the quality of the process. In other
words, high exergetic performance means low irreversibilities
Qu
gth ¼ ; ð3Þ and leads to a system closer to the ideal. The conventional deter-
Qs
mination of an exergy flow states that exergy is the maximum
Studying the heat transfer phenomenon inside the absorber possible work that can be produced. Practically, for the solar col-
tube, the useful energy can be calculated with a second way, lector, the exergetic output is equal to the useful output minus
according to Eq. (4). This equation describes the heat convection the irriversibilities. Eq. (13) gives this determination via the
from the hot absorber to the flowing working fluid. entropy generation:
Q u ¼ h  Ari  ðT r  T fm Þ; ð4Þ Eu ¼ Q u  T am  DSgen ; ð13Þ
The heat transfer coefficient (h) can be calculated from heat This equation can be modified into Eq. (14) [55]:
transfer theory using the Nusselt number for the tube internal  
T out DP
flow. More specifically, Eq. (5) shows the connection between Nus- Eu ¼ Q u  m  cp  T am  ln  m  T am ; ð14Þ
T in q  T fm
selt number and heat transfer coefficient:
Eq. (14) shows that the exergetic output of the solar collector
h  Dri
Nu ¼ ; ð5Þ is equal to the thermal output minus two quantities. The first one
k
related to the no ideal heat transfer which leads to thermal losses
This dimensionless number has been calculated experimentally to the environment. The second quantity is related to the pres-
for various operating conditions. For turbulent flow, the Dittus- sure losses along the tube. This term is extremely important in
Boelter equation is a well-established way for determining its the cases with gas working fluid, because in these cases it takes
value [54]. high values and it plays a significant role in the final exergetic
output. An easy way for explain the difference between liquid
Nu ¼ 0:023  Re0:8  Pr0:4 ; ð6Þ
and gas cases is the observation of the density in the denomina-
For the liquid sodium case, Eq. (7) leads to more accurate results tor. The liquids are characterized from greater densities, than the
[27]: gases, which can be about 1000 times greater (see Table 2). Thus,
for the liquid cases, the previous equation can be modified as
Nu ¼ 7 þ 0:025  Re0:8  Pr0:8 ; ð7Þ
[24]:
The Reynolds (Re) number and the Prandtl (Pr) number are  
T out
defined below [11]: Eu ¼ Q u  m  cp  T am  ln ; ð15Þ
T in
4m
Re ¼ ; ð8Þ The next exergetic flow that has to be defined is about the
p  Dri  l
exergy of the solar irradiation. Petela [56] has introduced the most
l  cp accepted model for the exergy of the undiluted solar irradiation.
Pr ¼ ; ð9Þ Sun is a radiation reservoir and not a heat reservoir, as the conven-
k
tional, and for this reason its exergy is determined by a compli-
The next important part of the thermal analysis is the thermal cated equation, as the Petela model in Eq. (16). The sun
losses calculations. There are many ways for determining this temperature can be taken equal to 5770 K [38].
quantity and below the proper equations for the analysis are pre- "    4 #
sented. It is essentially to state that all the mentioned equations 4 T am 1 T am
Es ¼ Q s  1   þ  ; ð16Þ
are included in the developed model. 3 T sun 3 T sun
The energy balance in the absorber proves that the absorbed
solar energy is separated to useful energy output and to thermal The exergetic performance of the solar collector, which is a state
losses (Qloss), according to Eq. (10) [38]: of the art index for solar systems, is the ratio of the exergetic out-
put to the solar exergy input, according to Eq. (17) [38]:
Q s  gopt ¼ Q u þ Q loss ; ð10Þ
Eu
The thermal losses can be calculated by examining the heat gex ¼ ; ð17Þ
Es
transfer phenomena in the receiver with details. It is essentially
to state that the absorber exchanges thermal energy with the cover The only undefined parameter up to this point is the pressure
and the cover with the environment. In steady state conditions, drop calculation (DP) in the collector. This parameter can be
these amounts of energy are equal to the thermal losses. Eq. (11) defined with the aid of the friction factor (fr). Eq. (18) shows the
describes the thermal exchange between absorber and cover. In pressure drop calculation and Eq. (19) is a useful formula for the
this case, only the radiation losses are taken into account because friction factor [54]:
the heat convection losses can be neglected [11].  
L 1
DP ¼ f r    q  u2 ; ð18Þ
Aro  r  ðT4r  T 4c Þ Dri 2
Q loss ¼
 ; ð11Þ
1
er þ 1ecec  Aro
Aci 1
fr ¼ 2
; ð19Þ
The cover exchanges energy with the ambient with two ways, ½0:79  lnðReÞ  1:64
convection and radiation. Eq. (12) shows the calculation of these
losses. It is important to state that in evacuated tubes, the cover The mean velocity of the fluid can be calculated from the mass
temperature is relative low, taking values closer to the ambient flow rate determination, according to Eq. (20):
temperature than the absorber temperature. m
u¼
2
; ð20Þ
Q loss ¼ Aco  hout  ðT c  T am Þ þ Aco  r  ec  ðT 4c  T 4am Þ; ð12Þ q  p D4ri
 E. Bellos et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 114 (2017) 374–386 379

3.2. Simulation methodology

The presented equations of paragraph 3.1 are the core of the

developed numerical model which calculates the collector perfor-
mance in various cases. This model, which is developed in EES
(Engineering Equation Solver), is approximately the same with
the described model in Ref. [38], which is a detailed comparison
between six gas working fluids. This model had been validated in
this study, so it is generally accepted. In the present case, modifica-
tions have been made in the model, as the use of Eq. (7) in the case
of liquid sodium case.
In this study, the seven working fluids are tested in a great oper-
ational temperature range. For every working fluid, the optimum
mass flow rate is the first important factor that has to be deter-
mined. Thus, a sensitivity analysis with the mass flow rate for Fig. 2. Model validation with Ref. [58] for operation with thermal oil.
every working fluid is presented in paragraph 4.1. More specifi-
cally, various mass flow rates are tested and the thermal perfor-
mance curves of the collector are compared in every case. The previous comparisons showed that the developed model in
Especially for the gas working fluids, the exergetic efficiency curves EES is an accurate model which can calculate the collector perfor-
are also taken into account for selecting the most appropriate mass mance for various operation cases. It is also essential to state again
flow rate. that this model, with small modifications, has been used in Ref.
According to the literature [57], for operation with thermal oil a [38].
usual mass flow rate is about 2 kg/s. This result indicates the inves-
tigation of the mass flow rates in this area, for the liquid working
4. Results
fluids. For the gas working fluids, lower mass flow rates have been
studied, according to the results of Ref. [38].
The results of this study are presented in two parts. Paragraph
After this step, the suitable comparison of the seven working
4.1 is devoted for determining the optimum mass flow rate for
fluids is possible to be performed. Thermal efficiency, exergetic
every working fluid. In the paragraph 4.2 the comparison results
efficiency and heat transfer coefficient are the main presented
among the working fluids are given. It is essentially to state that
parameters in the results of paragraph 4.2. It is important to state
all the results have been presented as functions of the fluid inlet
again that every working fluid is examined for the proper opera-
temperature in the collector, a usual technique in solar thermal
tional temperature range, according to its characteristics (boiling
collector studies.
point, melting point, etc).

4.1. Mass flow rate investigation

3.3. Model validation
In this paragraph the results of the developed model are com-
pared with other literature results in order to evaluate the accuracy
of the present model. Because in the present study many working
fluids are investigated, it is needed to use more than one literature
studies in order to make a suitable comparison. Table 3 includes
the comparison results between the present model and the results
in Ref. [36]. This comparison shows that the developed program
gives accurate results for the gas working fluids with a small devi-
ation. More specifically, this validation is performed for three oper-
ation cases with carbon dioxide and the maximum deviation is
about 1.75%.
The next step is the comparison of the model for operation
with a liquid working fluid. The study of Blanco et al. [58] is
selected as the most proper for comparing the present model.
Fig. 2 shows the comparison results for a great operation range
and the curves of the developed model and of the literature study
are close to each other. So, the accuracy of the model is accepted
and the maximum deviation is about 0.83%, according to the
results of Fig. 2.
In this paragraph, the impact of the mass flow rate in the collec-
tor performance is investigated. For every working fluid, five mass
flow rates have been tested. Fig. 3 illustrates the thermal efficiency
of the 4 examined liquids. For Fig. 3a–d, the lowest mass flow rates
lead to lower thermal performance than the other mass flow rates
with a significant difference. The other four curves, for all the four
cases, are close to each other, proving their suitability as operating
mass flow rates. For the cases of pressurized water, thermal oil and
liquid sodium the optimum mass flow rate has been selected at
2 kg/s, a result in accordance with the literature [57]. For the mol-
ten salt case, the optimum mass flow rate is selected at 4 kg/s, a
greater value which comes to balance its lower thermal capacity
[7]. In any case, this sensitivity analysis proves that the selected
mass flow rates lead to high thermal efficiency and enforces the
reliability of the following analysis in paragraph 4.2.
For the gas working fluids, the thermal efficiency is not ade-
quate for determining the optimum mass flow rate. Higher mass
flow rates lead to higher pressure losses which are fully connected
with the exergetic performance of the collector. As it has stated,
the lower density of the gases makes the pressure drop a signifi-

Table 3
Validation results for the gas working fluids.

Fluid Input data Literature [36] Present model Deviation of

m Tin Gb Tout (Tout  Tin) Tout (Tout  Tin) [Tout  Tin]
(kg/s) (K) (W/m2) (K) (K) (K) (K) (%)
CO2 0.93 498 900 798 300 800 302 0.662
1.1 498 900 778 280 783 285 1.754
1.42 458 900 673 215 676 218 1.376
380 E. Bellos et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 114 (2017) 374–386

Fig. 3. Thermal efficiency curves for various mass flow rates (a) Water (b) Thermal oil (c) Molten Salt (d) Liquid Sodium.

Fig. 4. Thermal and exergetic efficiency of air for various mass flow rates.

cant factor for exergetic losses which have to be taken into Fig. 4 shows the thermal and the exergetic performance of the
account. Thus, air, carbon dioxide and helium are examined with collector operating with air for five mass flow rates. According to
more details below. the thermal efficiency in Fig. 4a, mass flow rates from 0.2 kg/s to
 E. Bellos et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 114 (2017) 374–386
0.5 kg/s are accepted solutions. Fig. 4b demonstrates that the exer-
getic performance is maximized for operation with 0.2 kg/s. More-
over, the operation with 0.1 kg/s seems to be an alternative
solution exergetically, but this mass flow rate has been eliminated
due to its low thermal performance (Fig. 4a).
Similarly, the optimum mass flow rate for the carbon dioxide
case is selected at 0.2 kg/s, according to Fig. 5. Furthermore, an
interesting result is the great exergetic output of the case with
0.3 kg/s which is the second candidate for mass flow rate. This
result can be explained due to the higher molecular mass of the
carbon dioxide, compared to the air, which leads to operation in
greater mass flow rates. On the other hand, the low molecular mass
of the helium makes it to operate better in lower mass flow rates.
More specifically, Fig. 6 proves that the optimum mass flow rate is
equal to 0.03 kg/s. The selection of a greater mass flow rate will
lead to significant lower exergetically performance with a slight
increase in the thermal performance.
Table 4 includes the optimum mass flow rates for every work-
ing fluid and the examined operation temperature level for every
case. It is important to state that the difference temperature oper-
ation range for every fluid indicates that every working fluid can be
used in different solar thermal applications.
4.2. Comparison of the working fluids
In this paragraph, the working fluids are compared in energetic
and exergetic terms. Fig. 7 presents the thermal performance for all
the examined working fluids. There are many subfigures inside
Fig. 7 in order to show the differences between the efficiency
curves with details. Fig. 7a presents the general comparison for
all the examined temperature ranges, from 300 K to 1300 K, while
the other Fig. 7(b)–(f) show the curve comparison for smaller tem-
perature ranges of 200 K in each case.
Fig. 5. Thermal and exergetic efficiency of carbon dioxide for various mass flow rates.
381
Fig. 7a shows that the curves are separated in two categories,
one for liquids and one for gas working fluids. The liquid working
fluids present higher performance than the gas working fluids,
something that is based on their thermal properties. The heat
transfer coefficient between absorber and fluid is greater in liquid
cases, as it will be proved from the next results. Moreover, the liq-
uids operate in higher mass flow rates, fact that leads to lower
mean operating temperature and to lower thermal losses to the
environment. It is important to state that the gas working fluids
have to operate in relative low mass flow rates because of the high
pressure losses which are fully connected with the mass flow rate.
These are the main reasons for the difference between liquid and
gas working fluids.
Fig. 7b is focused on the liquid working fluids comparison in the
range from 300 K to 500 K. It is obvious that the higher thermal
performance is achieved for water case, with the liquid sodium
to follow and the thermal oil to be the worst solution. Fig. 7c pre-
sents this comparison for the temperature range from 500 K to
700 K. In this range, the nitrate molten salt is also examined. It is
interesting that the molten salt has performance between the liq-
uid sodium and the Therminol VP-1.
The next temperature range (700–900 K) belongs to high tem-
perature levels and in this range water and thermal oil cannot
operate (Fig. 7d). Molten salt and liquid sodium present similar
performance, higher then than the gas performance. Among the
gases, carbon dioxide is the most efficient with air to follow, while
helium seems to be the less efficient working fluid due to its extre-
mely low thermal efficiency. Fig. 7e shows the results for the tem-
perature range from 900 K to 1100 K with similar results. It is
interesting to state that for this temperature levels the difference
between the sodium liquid and the gases (mainly carbon dioxide
as the most efficient) is about 12%, a significant difference that
have to be taken into account for systems operating in these tem-
382 E. Bellos et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 114 (2017) 374–386

Fig. 6. Thermal and exergetic efficiency of helium for various mass flow rates.

Table 4 to operate, giving a relative low exergetic output. It is important to

Working fluids analysis parameters. state that there is optimum temperature level for the liquid
Working fluid moptim (kg/s) Temperature range (K) sodium and the three gases. More specifically, air and carbon diox-
Pressurized water 2 300–550 ide lead to maximum exergetic efficiency for operation at 650 K
Therminol VP-1 2 300–650 with 40.12% and 42.06% respectively. Helium optimum tempera-
Molten nitrate salt 4 550–800 ture is equal to 600 K with 42.21%, while liquid sodium operates
Sodium liquid 2 400–1100 at 800 K with the global maximum exergetic efficiency which is
Air 0.20 300–1300
equal to 47.48%.
CO2 0.20 300–1300
He 0.03 300–1300 Among the gases, helium and carbon dioxide are the most suit-
able working fluids with air to presents lower exergetic perfor-
mance due to its high pressure losses. Fig. 9 exhibits the pressure
perature levels. The last temperature range is examined in Fig. 7f. losses along the absorber tube for the gas cases. Helium is the fluid
In this range from 1100 K to 1300 K, only gases can be used. Carbon with the lower pressure losses, air is the one with the higher, while
dioxide and air lead to higher efficiency, while helium is the less carbon dioxide presents intermediate results. The pressure drop
efficient working gas. seems to be linearly increased with the increase in the operational
Fig. 8 depicts the exergetic comparison of the working fluids in temperature level. Helium presents higher performance up to
all the examined temperature range. A general important result is 650 K, while carbon dioxide is the best gas exergetically for higher
the existence of optimum operating temperature for the majority temperature levels.
of the working fluids. For this result, the selected PTC plays a sig- The heat transfer coefficient between absorber and fluid is
nificant role. However, the selected collector is a good representa- shown in Fig. 10. There are great differences between the working
tive of the new and high efficient PTC, fact that makes the results fluids. The heat transfer coefficient for the liquid sodium case is
suitable for extracting general conclusions. many times greater than the other working fluids. Water is the sec-
In low temperature levels, up to 550 K, gases present high exer- ond working fluid and molten salt the third. The other working flu-
getic performance because of their high outlet temperature. These ids have low heat transfer coefficients, something that leads to
results for the outlet temperature can be shown in Table 5 with lower thermal performance. Generally, this coefficient is getting
details. For greater temperature levels, the exergy losses due to greater for higher temperature levels. However, for the case of
the high pressure losses make the gases to have lower exergetic the liquid sodium this coefficient is getting lower with the temper-
performance than the liquid working fluids. Sodium liquid and ature increase. This result can be explained by the decrease in the
molten salt are ideal for the temperature levels from 550 K to in thermal conductivity of this fluid for higher temperature levels.
800 K. For higher temperature levels up to 1100 K, only the sodium Table 5 presents the results for the thermal efficiency, the exer-
liquid leads to great exergetic output. For extremely high temper- getic efficiency, the heat transfer coefficient and the outlet temper-
ature levels from 1100 K to 1300 K, only gas working fluids are able ature level for all the examined cases. The results are given from
 E. Bellos et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 114 (2017) 374–386 383

Fig. 7. Comparison of the thermal performance among the examined working fluids for various temperatures ranges (a) 300–1300 K (b) 300–500 K (c) 500–700 K (d) 700–
900 K (e) 900–1100 K (f) 1100–1300 K.

0.5 Water
Therminol VP-1
Molten Salt
0.4 Sodium liquid
Air
0.3 Carbon dioxide
Helium
ex

0.2

0.1

0.0
300 500 700 900 1100 1300
Tin (K)

Fig. 8. Comparison of the exergetic performance among the examined working fluids.

temperature levels from 300 K to 1300 K with a step of 100 K. This
table aids the direct comparison of the results for every tempera-
ture level. For the temperature levels from 300 K to 500 K, water
is the most efficient working fluid thermally with thermal oil to
follow with a bit lower performance. For higher temperature levels,
the sodium liquid working fluid is the most suitable solution ther-
mally for all the temperature levels up to 1100 K. After this point,
gas working fluids are the only possible solutions.
An interesting result is the negative exergetic efficiency in the
air case for 1300 K inlet temperature. In this case, the thermal effi-
384 E. Bellos et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 114 (2017) 374–386

Table 5
Summary of the calculation results for the all the examined cases.

Tin (K) Parameter Pressurized water Therminol VP-1 Molten salt Liquid sodium Air CO2 He
300 Tout (K) 305.3 313.9 – – 511.2 527.4 572.5
gth 0.7881 0.7864 – – 0.7666 0.7617 0.7624
gex 0.0560 0.0655 – – 0.2200 0.2362 0.2640
h (W/m2 K) 2309 372 – – 149 771 174
400 Tout (K) 405.2 411.7 – 415.9 603.3 606.7 664.8
gth 0.7835 0.7817 – 0.7832 0.7483 0.7454 0.7408
gex 0.2548 0.2531 – 0.2566 0.3229 0.3339 0.3564
h (W/m2 K) 4205 706 – 14,762 158 800 180
500 Tout (K) 504.8 510.1 – 516.2 692.3 688.7 753.7
gth 0.7740 0.7715 – 0.7733 0.7217 0.7209 0.7099
gex 0.3701 0.3629 – 0.3665 0.3771 0.3900 0.4045
h (W/m2 K) 5336 924 – 13,794 166 826 185
600 Tout (K) – 609 607 616.2 778.5 771.7 838.9
gth – 0.7533 0.7546 0.7555 0.685 0.6866 0.6684
gex – 0.4286 0.4288 0.4322 0.3995 0.4165 0.4222
h (W/m2 K) – 1048 1492 12,929 173 848 190
700 Tout (K) – 314 706.6 715.9 862.4 854.4 920
gth – 0.7864 0.7263 0.7267 0.6369 0.6406 0.6154
gex – 0.06547 0.4644 0.4667 0.3972 0.4191 0.4161
h (W/m2 K) – 372 1897 12,172 179 869 194
800 Tout (K) – – 806.2 815.1 943.9 936 996.8
gth – – 0.6830 0.6831 0.576 0.5816 0.5505
gex – – 0.4734 0.4748 0.3732 0.4005 0.3900
h (W/m2 K) – – 2142 11,506 184.8 888 198
900 Tout (K) – – – 913.8 1023 1016 1069
gth – – – 0.6208 0.5015 0.5083 0.4737
gex – – – 0.4569 0.3297 0.3619 0.3462
h (W/m2 K) – – – 10,930 1890 906 202
1000 Tout (K) – – – 1012 1100 1094 1138
gth – – – 0.5352 0.4126 0.42 0.3852
gex – – – 0.4115 0.2672 0.3039 0.2862
h (W/m2 K) – – – 10,430 194 922 205
1100 Tout (K) – – – 1109 1174 1169 1202
gth – – – 0.4217 0.3092 0.3161 0.2853
gex – – – 0.3356 0.1868 0.2272 0.2114
h (W/m2 K) – – – 10,002 198.1 938 208.3
1200 Tout (K) – – – – 1245 1242 1262
gth – – – – 0.1914 0.1965 0.1746
gex – – – – 0.0890 0.1319 0.1229
h (W/m2 K) – – – – 202 953 211
1300 Tout (K) – – – – 1314 1313 1319
gth – – – – 0.0595 0.0618 0.0536
gex – – – – 0.0256 0.0188 0.0217
h (W/m2 K) – – – – 205 967 214

greater than the useful energy output. In the same temperature

25
Air Carbon dioxide Helium level, carbon dioxide presents 1.88% exergetically and helium
2.17%, positive but low values. These results show that PTCs are
20
not the suitable solar collectors for these extremely high tempera-
ture levels.
P (kPa)

15

10
4.3. Discussion

5
The results of the previous paragraphs are very interesting and
they can be used for selecting the most appropriate working fluid
0
300 500 700 900 1100 1300 for every application. It is obvious that water and thermal oil are
Tin (K) the most suitable working fluids for low temperature levels. Thus,
these working fluids can be utilized for applications as solar cool-
Fig. 9. Comparison of the pressure drop among the gas working fluids. ing, desalination and low-temperature industrial heat. Molten salt
and sodium liquid are the proper solutions for medium-high tem-
perature levels and gases have to be used in extremely high tem-
ciency is equal to 5.95%, but the exergetic efficiency is equal to perature levels. At these temperature levels, solar energy can be
2.56%. The reason for this unusual result is the high pressure utilized by power plants and industries.
losses which are approximately 23 kPa; a great value for a module The exergetic efficiency is a useful indicator mainly for electric-
of 12 m. Practically, this result indicates that the pumping work is ity production applications. Exergetic efficiencies over 35–40% are
 E. Bellos et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 114 (2017) 374–386
16000
14000
12000
10000
h (W/m2K)
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
300 500
Fig. 10. Comparison of the heat transfer coefficient among the examined working fluids.
attractive solutions which can lead to sustainable systems with
financial feasibility. According to the results, the system has to
operate in a specific temperature region from 600 K to 1000 K in
order to achieve maximum exergetic performance. Thus, gas work-
ing fluids and liquid sodium are the proper working fluids exerget-
ically, performing up to 42% and 47% respectively.
Liquid sodium is the best choice according the results of this
study, leading to 47.48% exergetic performance when its tempera-
ture is 800 K in the collector inlet. However, the use of this working
fluid is connected with many problems, as safety issues, corrosions
problems, storage problems and high cost. Thus, the development
and the establishment of this working fluid has to be examined
more, using experience knowledge from the nuclear science, where
this fluid has been used in many applications.
In extremely high temperature levels, the carbon dioxide is the
most efficient working fluids according to the results of this study.
Moreover, this result has been also stated by other studies [35,38]
where the carbon dioxide had been compared with other gas work-
ing fluids.
5. Conclusions
In this study, the operation of a commercial parabolic trough
collector, Eurotrough ET-150, is investigated with seven working
fluids. Water, Therminol VP-1, molten nitrate salt, sodium liquid,
air, carbon dioxide and helium are the examined working fluids
which cover all the possible working fluid categories in PTC. The
investigation is conducted for a great range of temperature levels,
from 300 K to 1300 K and every working fluid is investigated in its
possible temperature range. Moreover, for every working fluid, a
sensitivity analysis is performed in order to determine its optimum
mass flow rate for achieving high performance.
The final results proved that the liquid working fluids present
higher performance than the gas working fluids. For low tempera-
ture levels up to 550 K, pressurized water is the most suitable
working fluid, while sodium liquid is the most efficient choice for
higher temperature levels up to 1100 K. Carbon dioxide and helium
perform with similar way and they are the best solutions for extre-
mely high temperatures after 1100 K.
It is also important to state that the pressure losses have a sig-
nificant role in the cases with gases because of the low density of
these working fluids. This result leads the gases to have optimum
exergetic performance in the range from 600 K to 650 K, although
they can operate up to 1300 K. The maximum exergetic perfor-
mance for air, carbon dioxide and helium is found 40.12%, 42.06%
and 42.21% respectively. The global maximum exergetic perfor-
mance is observed for sodium liquid case at 800 K and then the
exergetic efficiency is equal to 47.48%.
385
Water
Therminol VP-1
Molten Salt
Liquid Sodium
Air
Carbon dioxide
Helium
700 900 1100 1300
Tin (K)
Acknowledgments
The first author would like to thank Onassis Foundation for its
financial support.
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