Engineering design and optical investigation of a concentrating collector: Case study of a parabolic trough concentrator

Abstract

In this paper, an optical investigation study of a solar radiation collector has been treated through a precise model, which it has integrated all the geometrical characteristics of the concentrator to determine the optimal conditions of its operation. The type of solar collector chosen is the parabolic trough concentrator (PTC). This concentrator comprises a single mirror in the form of a half cylinder (cylindrical-parabolic) and a single receiver tube. A mathematical model has been introduced for the calculation the various optical factors, such as concentrator ratio “C”, intercept factor “γ” and incidence angle modifier factor “K (θ)”. The collector optical efficiency has exceeded 61 % with an external diameter of the receiver tube equal to 0.07 m, a focal distance equal to 3.76 m, a rim angle equal to 90° and a concentration ratio equal to 68.39.

Keywords: solar energy; parabolic trough concentrator; optical factors; modeling.