Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, cilt.298, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) is one of the most widely used solar thermal technologies for harnessing solar energy efficiently. Heat transfer enhancement within PTCs is crucial to increase their overall thermal performance and energy conversion efficiency. This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of research on PTC enhancements, highlighting key trends, influential studies, and global contributions in this domain. The analysis identifies significant research clusters, collaborations, and the evolution of heat transfer improvement techniques over the years. Furthermore, this paper presents various passive and active techniques employed to enhance heat transfer in PTCs. Advanced active enhancement techniques for PTCs include integrating PV panels or thermoelectric generators for combined heat and power production, as well as using electromagnetic fields or ultrasonic waves to improve fluid flow and heat transfer. Additionally, forced circulation through pumps or mechanical stirring enhances thermal uniformity. Passive techniques, including inserts (wire coils, twisted tapes, and helical fins) and surface modifications (dimples, corrugations, and metal foams), are widely investigated for increasing turbulence and augmenting heat transfer rates. Additionally, different absorber tube geometries, such as U-shaped tubes, S-curved tubes, and cavity-based designs, have been explored to reduce thermal losses and enhance heat retention. Moreover, researchers have focused on hybrid techniques that combine multiple enhancement methods for superior performance. These include the integration of nanofluids with modified absorber tube geometries or the use of inserts alongside enhanced HTFs. Such combined approaches leverage the benefits of each individual technique to achieve greater efficiency improvements. Although several review papers exist on heat-transfer enhancement in PTCs, none of them provide a quantitative, data-driven overview of how research in this field has evolved. The rapid growth of publications on PTC enhancement techniques makes a structured bibliometric assessment necessary to identify trends, influential works, and global research dynamics. However, existing reviews do not provide a dedicated bibliometric assessment of heat-transfer enhancement methods in PTCs, leaving gaps in identifying research trends and underexplored techniques. The findings of this study provide a structured overview of past and current advancements in PTC heat transfer enhancement, offering valuable insights for future research directions. By analysing bibliometric data and reviewing enhancement techniques, this paper serves as a guideline for optimizing PTC designs to achieve higher thermal efficiency and energy output in solar thermal applications. However, existing reviews do not provide a dedicated bibliometric assessment of heat-transfer enhancement methods in PTCs, leaving gaps in identifying research trends and underexplored techniques.