A Simulated Design and Analysis of a Solar Thermal Parabolic Trough Concentrator
In recent years Malaysia has included renewable
energy as an alternative fuel to help in diversifying the country-s
energy reliance on oil, natural gas, coal and hydropower with
biomass and solar energy gaining priority. The scope of this paper is
to look at the designing procedures and analysis of a solar thermal
parabolic trough concentrator by simulation utilizing meteorological
data in several parts of Malaysia. Parameters which include the
aperture area, the diameter of the receiver and the working fluid may
be varied to optimize the design. Aperture area is determined by
considering the width and the length of the concentrator whereas the
geometric concentration ratio (CR) is obtained by considering the
width and diameter of the receiver. Three types of working fluid are
investigated. Theoretically, concentration ratios can be very high in
the range of 10 to 40 000 depending on the optical elements used and
continuous tracking of the sun. However, a thorough analysis is
essential as discussed in this paper where optical precision and
thermal analysis must be carried out to evaluate the performance of
the parabolic trough concentrator as the theoretical CR is not the only
factor that should be considered.
[1] Malaysian Energy Profiles and Future Estimations 2007, Report by the
Economic Planning Unit, Ministry of Finance Malaysia, chapter 12,
available online at <http://www.epu.jpm.my/MEIF2007.htm>, (accessed
January 2008)
[2] Eighth Malaysian Plan 2001-2005, Report by the Economic Planning
Unit, Ministry of Finance Malaysia, chapter 12, available online at
<http://www.epu.jpm.my/rm8/html/english.htm>, (accessed December
2007)
[3] Renewable Energy Sources, the Ministry of Energy, Water and
Communications, Malaysia, available online at <http://www.ktak.gov>,
(accessed January 2008)
[4] F. Sulaiman, N. Abdullah, H. Gerhauser, and A. Shariff, "An Outlook
of Malaysian Energy, Oil Palm Industry and Its Utilization of Wastes as
Useful Resources," Biomass and Bioenergy, vol. 35, pp. 3775-3786, July
2011.
[5] Solar Technology, The Australian National university and Wizard Power
Pty Ltd, available online at <http://www.wizardpower.com.au/>,
(accessed June 2008)
[6] Solar One, Solar Two, SES Stirling Energy Systems, available online at
<http://stirlingenergy.com/projects/>, (accessed June 2008)
[7] Y. Shuai, X. Xia, H. Tan, "Radiation performance of dish solar
concentrator cavity receiver systems," Solar Energy, vol. 82, Issue 1,
pp.13-21, 2008.
[8] C.A. Estrada, O.A. Jaramillo, R. Acosta, C. Arancibia-Bulnes, "A Heat
transfer analysis in a calorimeter for concentrated solar radiation
measurements," Solar Energy, vol. 81, Issue 10, pp. 1306-1313, 2007.
[9] A Primer on CPV Technology, SolFocus, available online at
<http://www.solfocus.com/>, (accessed May 2008)
[10] S. Kiatgamolchai, E. Chamni, "Theory and experimental of a twodimensional
cone concentrator for sunlight," Solar Energy, vol. 82, Issue
2, pp. 111-117, 2008.
[11] M. F. El-Refaie, "Theoretical analysis of the performance of a conical
solar concentrator," Applied Energy, vol. 12, Issue 1, pp. 37-51, 1982.
[12] A.R. El Ouederni1, M.B. Salah, F. Askri, M.B. Nasrallah and F. Aloui,
"Experimental study of a parabolic solar concentrator," Revue des
Energies Renouvelables, vol. 12, Issue 3, pp. 395 - 404, 2009.
[13] I. T. Togrul, D. Pehlivan, "Effect of packing in the airflow passage on
the performance of a solar air-heater with conical concentrator," Applied
Thermal Engineering, vol. 25, Issues 8-9, pp 1349-1362, 2005.
[14] A. Dang, J. K. Sharma, H. P. Garg, "Effect of multiple reflections on the
performance of plane booster mirrors," Applied Energy, vol. 11, Issue 4,
pp. 307-318, 1982.
[15] E. Zarza, L. Valenzuela, J. Leon, K. Hennecke, M. Eck, H.D. Weyers, &
M. Eickhoff, "Direct Steam Generation in Parabolic Troughs: Final
Results and Conclusions of the DISS Project," Energy, vol. 29, pp. 635-
644, 2004.
[16] NREL/DOE Report: DOE/GO-102001-1147,FS 128, March 2001,
available online at <http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy01osti/28751.pdf>,
(accessed August 2007)
[17] NREL: TroughNet - Parabolic Trough Solar Field Technology,
available online at
<http://www.nrel.gov/csp/troughnet/solar_field.html>, (accessed June
2008)
[18] R. Oommen, S. Jayaraman, "Development and performance analysis of
compound parabolic solar concentrators with reduced gap losses -
oversized reflector," Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 42, Issue
11, pp. 1379-1399, 2001.
[19] N. Fraidenraich, C. Tiba, B. B. Brandão, O. C. Vilela, "Analytic
solutions for the geometric and optical properties of stationary
compound parabolic concentrators with fully illuminated inverted V
receiver," Solar Energy, vol. 82, Issue 2, pp. 132-143, 2008.
[20] S. Pramuang, R.H.B. Exell "Transient test of a solar air heater with a
compound parabolic concentrator," Renewable Energy, vol. 30, Issue 5,
pp. 715-728, 2005.
[21] M.T. Lee, M. Werhahn, D.J. Hwang, N. Hotz, R. Greif, D. Poulikakos,
C. P. Grigoropoulos, "Hydrogen production with a solar steam-
methanol reformer and colloid nanocatalyst," International Journal of
Hydrogen Energy, vol. 35, pp. 118-126, 2010.
[22] M. Hammad, S. Habali, "Design and performance study of a solar
energy powered vaccine cabinet," Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 20,
Issue 18, pp. 1785-1798, 2000.
[23] A. Akbarzadeh, T. Wadowski, "Heat pipe-based cooling systems for
photovoltaic cells under concentrated solar radiation," Applied Thermal
Engineering, vol. 16, Issue 1, pp. 81-87, 1996.
[24] K. Kaygusuz, "Prospect of concentratingsolar power in Turkey: The
sustainable future," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol.
15, Issue 1, pp. 808-814, 2011.
[25] S.P. Sukhatme, Solar Energy: Principles of Thermal Collection and
Storage, 2nd ed., New Delhi : Tata Mc Graw-Hill Publishing Company
Limited, 1996.
[26] A. Rabl, Concentrating Collectors in Solar Energy Technology
Handbook, Dickinson, W.C. & Cheremisinoff, P.N. eds., New York:
Marcel Dekker, 1980.
[27] D. Y. Goswami, F. Kreith, J. F. Kreider, Principles of Solar
Engineering, 2nd ed., Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia, 2000, pp. 120-160.
[28] B. S. Magal, Solar Power Engineering, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing
Company Limited, 1990, pp. 123.
[29] Balbir Singh and Fauziah Sulaiman, "HFACTOR to Determine the
Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient of Saturated Water Flowing in
Tubes," paper presented at PERFIK 2001, Malaysia, jointly organised by
the Physics Institute of Malaysia and Universiti Malaya, 2001.
[30] Balbir Singh and Fauziah Sulaiman, "RFACTOR to Determine the Reynolds
Number of Saturated Water Flowing in Tubes," Proceedings of World
Renewable Energy Congress 2002, Cologne, Germany, 2002.
[1] Malaysian Energy Profiles and Future Estimations 2007, Report by the
Economic Planning Unit, Ministry of Finance Malaysia, chapter 12,
available online at <http://www.epu.jpm.my/MEIF2007.htm>, (accessed
January 2008)
[2] Eighth Malaysian Plan 2001-2005, Report by the Economic Planning
Unit, Ministry of Finance Malaysia, chapter 12, available online at
<http://www.epu.jpm.my/rm8/html/english.htm>, (accessed December
2007)
[3] Renewable Energy Sources, the Ministry of Energy, Water and
Communications, Malaysia, available online at <http://www.ktak.gov>,
(accessed January 2008)
[4] F. Sulaiman, N. Abdullah, H. Gerhauser, and A. Shariff, "An Outlook
of Malaysian Energy, Oil Palm Industry and Its Utilization of Wastes as
Useful Resources," Biomass and Bioenergy, vol. 35, pp. 3775-3786, July
2011.
[5] Solar Technology, The Australian National university and Wizard Power
Pty Ltd, available online at <http://www.wizardpower.com.au/>,
(accessed June 2008)
[6] Solar One, Solar Two, SES Stirling Energy Systems, available online at
<http://stirlingenergy.com/projects/>, (accessed June 2008)
[7] Y. Shuai, X. Xia, H. Tan, "Radiation performance of dish solar
concentrator cavity receiver systems," Solar Energy, vol. 82, Issue 1,
pp.13-21, 2008.
[8] C.A. Estrada, O.A. Jaramillo, R. Acosta, C. Arancibia-Bulnes, "A Heat
transfer analysis in a calorimeter for concentrated solar radiation
measurements," Solar Energy, vol. 81, Issue 10, pp. 1306-1313, 2007.
[9] A Primer on CPV Technology, SolFocus, available online at
<http://www.solfocus.com/>, (accessed May 2008)
[10] S. Kiatgamolchai, E. Chamni, "Theory and experimental of a twodimensional
cone concentrator for sunlight," Solar Energy, vol. 82, Issue
2, pp. 111-117, 2008.
[11] M. F. El-Refaie, "Theoretical analysis of the performance of a conical
solar concentrator," Applied Energy, vol. 12, Issue 1, pp. 37-51, 1982.
[12] A.R. El Ouederni1, M.B. Salah, F. Askri, M.B. Nasrallah and F. Aloui,
"Experimental study of a parabolic solar concentrator," Revue des
Energies Renouvelables, vol. 12, Issue 3, pp. 395 - 404, 2009.
[13] I. T. Togrul, D. Pehlivan, "Effect of packing in the airflow passage on
the performance of a solar air-heater with conical concentrator," Applied
Thermal Engineering, vol. 25, Issues 8-9, pp 1349-1362, 2005.
[14] A. Dang, J. K. Sharma, H. P. Garg, "Effect of multiple reflections on the
performance of plane booster mirrors," Applied Energy, vol. 11, Issue 4,
pp. 307-318, 1982.
[15] E. Zarza, L. Valenzuela, J. Leon, K. Hennecke, M. Eck, H.D. Weyers, &
M. Eickhoff, "Direct Steam Generation in Parabolic Troughs: Final
Results and Conclusions of the DISS Project," Energy, vol. 29, pp. 635-
644, 2004.
[16] NREL/DOE Report: DOE/GO-102001-1147,FS 128, March 2001,
available online at <http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy01osti/28751.pdf>,
(accessed August 2007)
[17] NREL: TroughNet - Parabolic Trough Solar Field Technology,
available online at
<http://www.nrel.gov/csp/troughnet/solar_field.html>, (accessed June
2008)
[18] R. Oommen, S. Jayaraman, "Development and performance analysis of
compound parabolic solar concentrators with reduced gap losses -
oversized reflector," Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 42, Issue
11, pp. 1379-1399, 2001.
[19] N. Fraidenraich, C. Tiba, B. B. Brandão, O. C. Vilela, "Analytic
solutions for the geometric and optical properties of stationary
compound parabolic concentrators with fully illuminated inverted V
receiver," Solar Energy, vol. 82, Issue 2, pp. 132-143, 2008.
[20] S. Pramuang, R.H.B. Exell "Transient test of a solar air heater with a
compound parabolic concentrator," Renewable Energy, vol. 30, Issue 5,
pp. 715-728, 2005.
[21] M.T. Lee, M. Werhahn, D.J. Hwang, N. Hotz, R. Greif, D. Poulikakos,
C. P. Grigoropoulos, "Hydrogen production with a solar steam-
methanol reformer and colloid nanocatalyst," International Journal of
Hydrogen Energy, vol. 35, pp. 118-126, 2010.
[22] M. Hammad, S. Habali, "Design and performance study of a solar
energy powered vaccine cabinet," Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 20,
Issue 18, pp. 1785-1798, 2000.
[23] A. Akbarzadeh, T. Wadowski, "Heat pipe-based cooling systems for
photovoltaic cells under concentrated solar radiation," Applied Thermal
Engineering, vol. 16, Issue 1, pp. 81-87, 1996.
[24] K. Kaygusuz, "Prospect of concentratingsolar power in Turkey: The
sustainable future," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol.
15, Issue 1, pp. 808-814, 2011.
[25] S.P. Sukhatme, Solar Energy: Principles of Thermal Collection and
Storage, 2nd ed., New Delhi : Tata Mc Graw-Hill Publishing Company
Limited, 1996.
[26] A. Rabl, Concentrating Collectors in Solar Energy Technology
Handbook, Dickinson, W.C. & Cheremisinoff, P.N. eds., New York:
Marcel Dekker, 1980.
[27] D. Y. Goswami, F. Kreith, J. F. Kreider, Principles of Solar
Engineering, 2nd ed., Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia, 2000, pp. 120-160.
[28] B. S. Magal, Solar Power Engineering, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing
Company Limited, 1990, pp. 123.
[29] Balbir Singh and Fauziah Sulaiman, "HFACTOR to Determine the
Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient of Saturated Water Flowing in
Tubes," paper presented at PERFIK 2001, Malaysia, jointly organised by
the Physics Institute of Malaysia and Universiti Malaya, 2001.
[30] Balbir Singh and Fauziah Sulaiman, "RFACTOR to Determine the Reynolds
Number of Saturated Water Flowing in Tubes," Proceedings of World
Renewable Energy Congress 2002, Cologne, Germany, 2002.
@article{"International Journal of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences:55782", author = "Fauziah Sulaiman and Nurhayati Abdullah and Balbir Singh Mahinder Singh", title = "A Simulated Design and Analysis of a Solar Thermal Parabolic Trough Concentrator", abstract = "In recent years Malaysia has included renewable
energy as an alternative fuel to help in diversifying the country-s
energy reliance on oil, natural gas, coal and hydropower with
biomass and solar energy gaining priority. The scope of this paper is
to look at the designing procedures and analysis of a solar thermal
parabolic trough concentrator by simulation utilizing meteorological
data in several parts of Malaysia. Parameters which include the
aperture area, the diameter of the receiver and the working fluid may
be varied to optimize the design. Aperture area is determined by
considering the width and the length of the concentrator whereas the
geometric concentration ratio (CR) is obtained by considering the
width and diameter of the receiver. Three types of working fluid are
investigated. Theoretically, concentration ratios can be very high in
the range of 10 to 40 000 depending on the optical elements used and
continuous tracking of the sun. However, a thorough analysis is
essential as discussed in this paper where optical precision and
thermal analysis must be carried out to evaluate the performance of
the parabolic trough concentrator as the theoretical CR is not the only
factor that should be considered.", keywords = "Parabolic trough concentrator, Concentration ratio,
Intercept factor, Efficiency.", volume = "6", number = "12", pages = "758-5", }
