Experimental investigation on a parabolic trough solar collector for thermal power generation

Abstract

The increased cost of electrical energy which depletes conventional resources promotes switching over to renewable solar technology. An experimental study of a simple parabolic dish and trough solar collector combination is tested under Chennai weather condition aimed at attracting users rapidly. The set up for domestic wax melting application using pumped water, is described showing the performance. The reflector and receiver were fabricated from polished aluminium sheet and copper respectively. Experimental results showed that the overall performance of the combined parabolic collectors is satisfactory, since the higher temperature of heat transfer fluid is achieved.

Numerical investigation of entropy generation in a parabolic trough receiver at different concentration ratios

“…Solving Equations (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) gives the distributions for velocity, temperature, pressure and turbulent quantities inside the absorber tube. Since entropy for single-phase flow is a function of temperature and pressure, it can be obtained in the post-processing phase of a CFD simulation.…”

“…Dudley et al [5,6] used the AZTRAK rotating platform at SANDIA National Laboratories to study the performance of SEGS LS-2 and industrial solar technology solar collectors respectively. Liu et al [7] developed an experimental platform to investigate parabolic trough performance. [5].…”

Investigation of thermodynamic performances for two solar-biomass hybrid combined cycle power generation systems

“…Currently, in the field of the solar thermal utilization, various types of solar collectors, e.g., flat plate collector, parabolic trough collector, solar tower and dish receiver, can be used to produce the solar heat with different temperature levels for satisfying different energy demands [8][9][10]. However, the inherent properties of the solar energy, like low energy density and intermittence, will affect its thermodynamics and economics behaviors, and restrict the applied scopes.…”

Sensitive Analysis for the Efficiency of a Parabolic Trough Solar Collector Based on Orthogonal Experiment

“…Gao et al [5,6] have carried out the simulation on the performance of parabolic trough solar collector according to 30 m 2 experimental devices. The relationship of efficiency with the solar flux, the heat transfer fluid flow rate, the wind speed, and the diameter of the receivers has been found.…”