STUDY OF SOLAR THERMAL CAVITY RECEIVER FOR PARABOLIC CONCENTRATING COLLECTOR

Abstract

Energy is one of the building blocks of the country. The growth of the country has been fueled by cheap, abundant energy resources. Solar energy is a form of renewable energy which is available abundantly and collected unreservedly. The parabolic concentrator reflects the direct incident solar radiation onto a receiver mounted above the dish at its focal point. The conversion of concentrated solar radiation to heat takes place in receiver. The heat transfer characteristics of the receiver changes during the rotation of the receiver which affects thermal performance. The working temperature may also influence the thermal performance and overall efficiency of the system. Thermal as well as optical losses affect the performance of a solar parabolic dish-cavity receiver system. The thermal losses of a solar cavity receiver include convective and radiative losses to the air in the cavity and conductive heat loss through the insulation used behind the helical tube surface. Convective and radiative heat losses form the major constituents of the thermal losses. The convection heat loss from cavity receiver in parabolic dish solar thermal power system can significantly reduce the efficiency and consequently the cost effectiveness of the system. It is important to assess this heat loss and subsequently improve the thermal performance of the receiver.