Investigation on the Optical Design and Performance of a Single-Axis-Tracking Solar Parabolic trough Collector with a Secondary Reflector

The design of solar concentrating collectors for the effective utilization of solar energy is a challenging condition due to tracking errors leading to different divergences of the solar incidence angle. To enhance the optical performance of solar parabolic trough collectors (SPTC) under a diverged...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2021-09, Vol.13 (17), p.9918
Main Authors: Subramaniyan, Chinnasamy, Subramani, Jothirathinam, Kalidasan, Balasubramanian, Anbuselvan, Natarajan, Yuvaraj, Thangaraj, Prabaharan, Natarajan, Senjyu, Tomonobu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accumulators
Alternative energy sources
Efficiency
Heat transfer
Optical design
Performance evaluation
Radiation
Renewable resources
Solar collectors
Solar energy
Solar radiation
Sustainability
Working conditions
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Summary:The design of solar concentrating collectors for the effective utilization of solar energy is a challenging condition due to tracking errors leading to different divergences of the solar incidence angle. To enhance the optical performance of solar parabolic trough collectors (SPTC) under a diverged solar incidence angle, an additional compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) is introduced as a secondary reflector. SPTC with CPC is designed and modeled for a single axis-tracking concentrating collector based on the local ambient conditions. In this work, the optical performance of the novel SPTC system with and without a secondary reflector is investigated using MATLAB and TRACEPRO software simulations for various tracking errors. The significance parameters such as the solar incidence angle, aperture length, receiver tube diameter, rim angle, concentration ratio, solar radiation, and absorbed flux are analyzed. The simulation results show that the rate of the absorbed flux on the receiver tube is significantly improved by providing the secondary reflector, which enhances the optical efficiency of the collector. It is found that the optical efficiency of the SPTC with a secondary reflector is 20% higher than the conventional collector system for a solar incidence angle of 2°. This work can effectively direct the choice of optimal secondary reflectors for SPTC under different design and operating conditions.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su13179918