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

Chinnasamy Subramaniyan, Jothirathinam Subramani, Balasubramanian Kalidasan, Natarajan Anbuselvan, Thangaraj Yuvaraj, Natarajan Prabaharan and Tomonobu Senjyu
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Chinnasamy Subramaniyan: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam 638401, India
Jothirathinam Subramani: Chennai SSSS Equipments Private Limited, Chennai 600077, India
Balasubramanian Kalidasan: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam 638401, India
Natarajan Anbuselvan: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai 602105, India
Thangaraj Yuvaraj: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai 602105, India
Natarajan Prabaharan: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur 613401, India
Tomonobu Senjyu: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 17, 1-19

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: solar parabolic trough collector; solar compound parabolic collectors; rim angle; secondary concentrators; absorbed flux; incidence angle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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