Progress in development of two stage concentrated (53X) parabolic trough solar thermal collector

摘要

In this research work, the performance of a novel secondary concentrator in the vacuum receiver of the parabolic trough collector was investigated. The secondary concentrator was designed, and the optical and thermal performance analysis has been conducted analytically and validated numerically by using Finite Element Analysis based computational software. From the initial optical and thermal modeling, it was found that the use of secondary reflector gives a concentration of 53X versus a concentration in 20's X for conventional trough collectors to provide an optical efficiency of 75% and a thermal efficiency of 55% at 650 °C. The receiver with the novel secondary reflector was designed, assembled and tested indoors using resistance heaters. Heat loss measurement at 650 °C at the absorber demonstrated emissivity of less than 0.2.