MINOR PROJECT-1

DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF POWER

TROUGH
SOLAR COLLECTOR

SUBMITTED BY :
SANDEEP YADAV-
2K14/ME/147
SHIVAM KUMAR
2K14/ME/157
SHAHRUKH SAIFI
2K14/ME/151
SHANIKANT
2K14/ME/152
 CERTIFICATE
IT IS TO BE CERTIFY THAT THE ABOVE
DECLARATION MADE BY SANDEEP
YADAV,SHAHRUKH SAIFI,SHANIKANT IS
CORRECT TO THE BEST OF MY
KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF.
 CHAPTER -1

INTRODUCTION
basic choices, the first is photovoltaic, which is
direct energy conversion that converts solar
radiation to electricity. The second is solar
thermal systems, in which the solar radiation is
used to provide heat to a thermodynamic system,
thus creating mechanical energy that can be
converted to electricity.

Photovoltaic systems, efficiencies are of the order

of 10 to 20 percent, where in a solar thermal
system, efficiencies as high as 30 percent are
achievable. In this study we have worked on
thermal utilization of solar intensity
sheets in the shape of parabolic cylinders to
reflect and concentrate sun radiations towards a
receiver tube located at the focus line of the
parabolic cylinder. The receiver absorbs the
incoming radiation and transforms it into thermal
energy which is absorbed and transported by a
fluid medium circulating within the receiver tube.
This method of concentrated solar collection has
the advantage of high efficiency and low cost.
Therefore, PTC is an important technology for
large scale exploitation of solar energy, and
currently became the most proven solar thermal
technology for a solar steam generation.The
applications of PTCs are divided into two main
groups. The first one is the parabolic trough
power generation that requires temperatures
 COMPONENTS OF PTSC
a parabolic reflector

an absorber (receiver) tube made of

Aluminium

concentric tubular glass cover

surrounding receiver with a gap of about .
5 inch which is evacuated

 Parabolic trough solar

collector
GEOMETRY OF PARABOLIC
COLLECTOR
 DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS OF PTSC

Collectoraperturearea(Aa) 30x18.3636inches^2

Collectorlength(L) 30inches

Aperturewidth(Wa) 16inches

Absorbertubediameter(d) 0.5inch

Focaldistance(f) 4inch

Concentrationratio(CR) 59.88

Trackingmechanism manual

Collectormaterial Aluminiumsheets(0.25inch)

Absorbertubematerial Coppertubewithheatresistantblack
paint

Supportstructurematerial Mildsteel
Heat Collection Element (HCE)
HCE or PTSC's receiver tube, as shown in figure is located at the
focus line of parabolic reflector surface, with means of
transferring the absorbed solar energy to a fluid. The HCE
consists of receiver tube that is surrounded by a glass
envelope. The receiver is typically a copper tube coated with
selective coating; this coating has high absorption of short
length solar radiation and low emissivity for long wave energy
spectrum to reduce thermal radiation losses. The glass
envelope is typically made from Pyrex, which maintains good
strength and transmittance under high temperatures. The
outside glass envelope is transparent to solar radiation over the
solar absorbed surface that reduces convection and radiation
losses to atmosphere; the annulus Gap between receiver and
glass envelope is under vacuum to reduce thermal losses.
HEAT TRANSFER FLUID FOR PTSC
Heat transfer fluids carry heat from HCE to the heat storage
tanks in solar heating (and cooling) systems. The fluids most
commonly used are water, hydrocarbons oil, glycol and air.
When selecting a transfer fluid, the following criteria should be
considered: the coefficient of expansion, viscosity, thermal
capacity, freezing point and boiling point. In our case we use
water as HTF.

STORAGE OF THERMAL ENERGY

Thermal energy may be stored in the forms of:
1) sensible heat,
2) latent heat.
These methods differ in the amount of heat that can be stored
per unit weight or volume of storage media and operating
temperatures
THEORETICAL PART
SOME DEFINITIONS AND
FORMULAE
INTENSITYOFSOLARRADIATIONORIRRADIANCE
The intensity of solar radiation is the amount of solar power per
unit area. Power is the energy per second, so intensity
describes how much energy the sun deposits in an area every
second.it is denoted by W . And unit is watt/m^2.

CONCENTRATIONRATIO
The term "concentration ratio" is used to describe the amount
of light energy concentration achieved by a given collector. Two
different definitions of concentration ratio are in general use.
They are defined briefly here so that the terms may be used

Optical Concentration Ratio(CRo): The averaged irradiance

(radiant flux) (Ir)integrated over the receiver area (Ar),divided
by the insolation incident on the collector aperture

Geometric Concentration Ratio(CRg).The area of the collector

apertureAadivided by the surface area of the receiverAr

HEAT LOSS FROM RECEIVER.(OMNIVERSAL)

- The heat loss rate from a linear omnidirectional receiver of the type
is equal to the heat loss rate from the outside surface of the glass
tube. This can be calculated as the sum of the convection to the
environment from the glass envelope plus the radiation from the glass
envelope to the surroundings

t= emittance of the receiver tube

Tt=surface temperature a of receiver tube(K)
At= surface area of receiver tube (m2)
lt= length of receiver tube(m)
ke=effective thermal conductance (includes convection) across the
annulus(W/m K)
CONCLUSION
 Solar Temp. (deg.
Time(hours) Intensity(W/m C)
^2)
8:00 501 25
9:00 553 30
10:00 598 41
11:00 645 53
12:00 695 62
13:00 755 69
14:00 730 63
15:00 612 56
16:00 503 51
Efficiency Vs. Time graph

TIME(HOURS) EFFICIENCY
9:00 0.1431
10:00 0.2627
11:00 0.2041
12:00 0.1704
13:00 0.1397
Graph:
The efficiencies observed for parabolic trough concentrator
demonstrates that this technology with appropriate absorber
tube systems can produce hot water that is hot enough for solar
thermal conversion power systems. This can be achieved by
use automatic tracking system and smoother reflecting
surfaces. In this case higher temperatures and higher
efficiencies would be realized .

Advantageofourprojectinfuture:

1. Simplicity and low cost. It is actually the only known method

for home making high performance parabolic trough solar
collectors without any special tools. Not only the production
cost drops to far below the other manufacturing methods of
parabolic troughs, but also it makes the solar energy collecting
cost substantially lower than any fossil fuel. The economic and
social signification of the method may be huge.
2. Better performance and quality of the product. It is a general
understanding that the smaller a parabolic trough is, the lower
is its performance, although smaller parabolic troughs are much
more useful than bigger ones. The fundamental characteristics
of the performance of a parabolic trough solar collector are its
concentration ratio and its optical efficiency. Today, the
concentration ratio of a parabolic trough collector of width
between 1m and 2m is limited to about 50 times under
industrial manufacturing conditions and with high cost, while
our method can achieve an effective and efficient concentration
ratio of over 65 times for a manually made parabolic trough of
width less than 1m, together with a higher efficiency, with
fabrication

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: In our modern and globalized world the

dependence on fossil fuels for industrial and commercial
companies is continuously increasing, gas, diesel or fuel oil are
SOLUTION:
a parabolic trough solar collector developed for process heat
generation in the commercial and industrial market sectors.
This system can generate thermal energy between 60-250C,
ideal for process heat generation in industries and commerce
like hot water, steam generation or drying. Its novel and
modular design allows the maximum available area usage for
collecting solar energy. The system can be mounted in open
areas or rooftops of different kind of companies. Its innovative
design for manufacturing and assembly permits lower
installation costs than any other similar technology in the
market. The PTSC has a modular design that allows the user to
make row and column collector arrays in order to supply the
required energy for a determined process. In order for the
system to achieve its maximum efficiency and energy
harvesting during the day, a low cost electronic and sensor
based solar tracking system was analysed, this tracking system
can be used to actuate up to 20 solar modules allowing cost
and installation time reduction.
PROCESS: Solar Cookers
Solar cookers are broadly of three types:
a.Direct or focussing type.
b.Indirect or box type.
c .Advanced or separate collector and cooking chamber type.
The difference between each of them is as follows:
Direct or focusing a solar energy concentrator focus of solar
radiation on a focal area at which the cooking pot/pan is
located. In these cookers the convection heat loss from cooking
vessel is large and the cooker utilizes only the direct solar
radiation.
Slot box: in these cookers an insulated hot box (square,
rectangular, cylindrical) painted black from inside with double
glazing is used. To enhance the solar

radiation plane sheet reflectors (single or multiple) are used.

Here the adjustment of cooker toward the sun is not so
frequently required as in case of direct type solar cooker. This is
a slow cooker and takes a long time for cooking and many of
in the kitchen. The cookers use either a flat-plate or focussing
collector which collect the solar heat and transfers this to the
cooking vessel.

CONCLUSIONS

In this report, a study was made to use of solar

thermal for heat water generation by use of
appropriate materials. The efficiencies observed
for parabolic trough concentrator demonstrates
that this technology with appropriate absorber
tube systems can produce hot water that is hot
enough for solar thermal conversion power
systems. This can be achieved by use automatic
tracking system and smoother reflecting surfaces.
In this case higher temperatures and higher
efficiencies would be realized. On the other hand
use of aluminum tube receiver, led to low
absorptive resulting to low operating efficiency of
the concentrating collector.
THE END

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