Investigation of a Compound Parabolic Collector with a Flat Glazing
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Material and Methods
2.1. The Designed CPC with Flat Glazing
2.2. Basic Mathematical Formulation Part
2.3. Details of the Simulation Process
- (A)
- The solar irradiation on the collector aperture is selected at 800 W/m2.
- (B)
- The solar angle is equal to zero, and thus, the solar rays are vertical to the collector opening.
- (C)
- The inlet temperature in the system is chosen to vary from 10 °C up to 110 °C.
- (D)
- The ambient temperature was selected at 10 °C.
- (E)
- The heat convection coefficient with the environment was chosen at 10 W/m2K [32].
- (F)
- The mass flow rate of the pressurized water was selected at 0.01 kg/s in the inlet.
- (G)
- The outlet pressure was chosen at 5 bar.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Thermal and Exergy Performance Analysis
3.2. Peripheral Analysis on the Absorber Tube
3.3. Temperature Distribution Profiles
4. Conclusions
- -
- The cover and receiver temperatures as well as the thermal losses have linear increasing rates with the rise of the pressurized water’s temperature at the inlet.
- -
- The mean heat convection value was calculated close to 3.8 W/m2K, which is a reasonable value for a closed cavity.
- -
- The CPC collector with flat glazing is an efficient design that presents thermal efficiency in the range of 32.6% up to 77.4% when the pressurized water temperature operates in the range of 110 °C down to 10 °C.
- -
- The exergy efficiency of the unit presents maximum performance for an inlet temperature of 90 °C at 10.19%. This result shows the solar unit is suitable for applications, such as solar cooling and desalination.
- -
- There is a need to add extra insulation in the corners of the external surface to properly face the geometrical thermal bridges at the angles, which improves the overall collector performance.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Nomenclature
Aa | Area of the cover, m2 |
cp | Specific heat capacity, J/kgK |
Dri | Inner diameter of the receiver tube, m |
Dro | Outer diameter of the receiver tube, m |
G | Solar irradiation, W/m2 |
hair | Heat convection between the absorber and inside air, W/m2K |
hca | Convective coefficient between cover and ambient, W/m2K |
L | Collector length, m |
m | Mass flow rate, kg/s |
Tam | Ambient temperature, °C |
Tc | Cover temperature, °C |
Tin | Inlet temperature, °C |
Tout | Outlet temperature, °C |
Tr | Absorber temperature, °C |
Tsun | Sun temperature, K |
Qabs | Absorbed energy rate, W |
Qloss | Thermal losses rate, W |
Qu | Useful energy rate, W |
Ut | Top thermal loss coefficient, W/m2K |
W | Collector width, m |
Greek Symbols | |
β | Absorber angle, ° |
θ | Solar angle at the cover surface, ° |
ηex | Exergy efficiency |
ηth | Thermal efficiency |
ηopt | Optical efficiency |
Subscripts and Superscripts | |
loss, edge | Losses from the edge of the collector |
loss, total | Losses of the total collector |
loss, top | Losses of the top part of the collector |
Abbreviations | |
CPC | Compound parabolic concentrator |
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Parameters | Values |
---|---|
Concentration ratio | 2.81 |
Absorber emissivity | 0.1 |
Glass cover emissivity | 0.88 |
Optical efficiency for zero solar angle | 80% |
Useful collector’s width | 0.3 m |
Useful collector’s length | 1 m |
Focal distance of the parabola | 0.05 m |
Absorber inside diameter | 0.030 m |
Absorber outside diameter | 0.034 m |
Cover thickness | 4 mm |
External insulation thickness | 0.02 m |
Thermal conductivity of the insulation | 0.035 W/mK |
Parameter | Symbol | Values |
---|---|---|
Mass flow rate | m | 0.01 kg/s |
Inlet temperature | Tin | 10, 30, 50, 70, 90, 110 °C |
Ambient temperature | Tam | 10 °C |
Heat convection coefficient with the ambient | hca | 10 W/m2K |
Solar irradiation | G | 800 W/m2 |
Solar angle | θ | 0° |
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Bellos, E.; Korres, D.N.; Tzivanidis, C. Investigation of a Compound Parabolic Collector with a Flat Glazing. Sustainability 2023, 15, 4347. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054347
Bellos E, Korres DN, Tzivanidis C. Investigation of a Compound Parabolic Collector with a Flat Glazing. Sustainability. 2023; 15(5):4347. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054347
Chicago/Turabian StyleBellos, Evangelos, Dimitrios N. Korres, and Christos Tzivanidis. 2023. "Investigation of a Compound Parabolic Collector with a Flat Glazing" Sustainability 15, no. 5: 4347. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054347