Thermal performance evaluation of Parabolic Trough Collector having different inserts and working with hybrid nanofluid

This study emphasizes the comparative investigation in terms of the thermal capacity of parabolic solar trough collectors with spherical-shaped balls as well as two types of elliptical inserts (longitudinal orientation). Hybrid nanofluid is the heat-carrying liquid, obtained by mixing CuO and Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles in distilled water. Analytical investigations are conducted for 1% vol. concentration of hybrid nanoparticles in distilled water for varying proportions. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is chosen to obtain thermal as well as flow trends in the tube receiver. The outcomes disclosed that 13.3% and 10.02% improvements are noted for thermal efficiency and Nusselt number with elliptical of minor diameter 12mm inserts in receiver respectively than spherical ball inserts. The highest pump work of 35W is associated with spherical inserts, at 0.033kg/s. The entire testing results indicated that, for all the models, the pump work demand increment is negligible than the thermal improvements.