Effect of Thermal Stratification and Insulation on the Performance of Parabolic Trough Collector
Prem Kumar T1, Naveen C2, Avinash Kumar R3, N. Praveen Kumar4
1Mr. Prem Kumar T, Assistant Professor, PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research, Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), India.
2Dr. Naveen C, Assistant Professor, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kancheepuram (Tamil Nadu), India.
3Mr. Avinash Kumar R, Assistant Professor, PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research, Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), India.
4Mr. N. Praveen Kumar, Assistant Professor, Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Pollachi (Tamil Nadu), India.
Manuscript received on 19 May 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 05 June 2019 | Manuscript Published on 15 June 2019 | PP: 1-5 | Volume-8 Issue-1S2 May 2019 | Retrieval Number: A00010581S219/2019©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Parabolic trough collector (PTC) is a two dimensional solar focusing collector which collects beam radiation on tracking. In this research, closed parabolic trough solar collector of aperture area 0.6979 m2 , copper tube receiver with black powder coating of diameter 22.6 mm, surface area of 0.05996 m2 is used. The concentration ratio (CR=Aa/Ar) of the PTC is 11.3. PTC is provided with top glass cover to induce greenhouse effect and to protect the reflector surface from dirt, weather, oxidation. The significance of insulation & thermal stratification and its effect on the performance of parabolic trough collector is studied. Non insulated storage tank led to high collection efficiency till 14:00 pm whereas it lead significant drop in system efficiency after that. Because of stirring the effect of thermal stratification was collapsed which reduces the thermo symphonic effect. This led to reduction in the system efficiency (difference of 16 %) of parabolic trough collector and also reduced the final temperature attained by water (difference of 4 oC) in the storage tank. Hence insulation of storage tank without stirring is preferred for higher efficiency (maximum storage efficiency of around 73.91 %) and higher final temperature of water (59.7 o C).
Keywords: Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC), Thermal Stratification, Insulation, Efficiency.
Scope of the Article: Thermal Engineering