Parabolic trough collectors (PTC) are one of the most established solar concentrating systems which have been used in a wide variety of applications. Enhancing their performance is critical to establish them as a viable technology. Internal obstacles are an intriguing way for improving the collector's performance. However, the usage of obstacles results in increasing pressure loss. The purpose of this research is to numerically explore the impact of introducing obstacles to the receiver tube of a parabolic trough collector on heat transmission in PTCs and its overall thermal performance. The first part analyzed the effects of geometrical parameters, orientation angle (α = 45°, 90° or 135°), and spacing of obstacles (P/D = 1, 2, or 3) on the fluid motion, heat transfer, and performance. Then, a non-uniform heat flow was applied to the absorber's outer surface. The effects of nanoparticles type, temperature profile, and heat transfer performance of three different nanofluids (Cu/thermal oil, Al2O3/thermal oil, andTiO2/thermal oil) were studied in the second part. The simulation results show that, the friction factor increased when P/D decreases, and that the absorber tube with obstacles discs (α = 90°) and P/D = 2 achieved the best thermal performance. Additionally, increasing the concentration of solid nanoparticles in thermal oil improves heat transmission, and the Cu nanofluid has the greatest Nusselt number.
Keywords: Monte Carlo Ray Trace; heat transfer; nanofluids; obstacles; parabolic trough collector; tube receiver.