Influence of the concentration ratio on the thermal and economic performance of parabolic trough collectors

Osorio, Julian D.; Rivera-Alvarez, Alejandro

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2021.09.040

Influence of the concentration ratio on the thermal and economic performance of parabolic trough collectors

Journal Article · Sun Sep 19 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Renewable Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.09.040· OSTI ID:1826292

^[1]; Rivera-Alvarez, Alejandro ^[2]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Ingenieria Termica Ltda., Medellin (Columbia)

The thermal and economic performance of parabolic trough collectors (PTCs) and PTCs with double glass envelope (DGE-PTCs) are analyzed in this work. A model including thermal and optical effects is developed to evaluate the efficiency of vacuum and air-filled DGE-PTCs, while an economic model based on two commercial PTCs (SkyTrough and Ultimate Trough collectors) was developed to assess the economic performance. The efficiency and thermal output per unit cost of the proposed DGE-PTCs are analyzed as a function of the concentration ratio and are respectively compared with the thermal and economic performance of traditional and commercial PTCs. The optimum concentration ratio for maximum thermal performance varies from 11.0 to 23.3 for operation temperatures (T_HTF) between 100 degrees C and 400 degrees C, while the optimum concentration ratio for maximum economic performance ranges between 28.9 and 33.2 for the SkyTrough and between 40.0 and 43.8 for the Ultimate Trough collector designs. Finally, the DGE-PTCs present higher thermal and economic performance at high operating temperatures, which presents a valuable opportunity for implementation in new PTC designs pursuing higher operating temperatures to achieve superior thermal cycle efficiencies.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1826292

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1868777

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--5700-80239; MainId:42442; UUID:3b4a1274-b6e6-4048-85cc-dd5ca37c750d; MainAdminID:61831

Journal Information:: Renewable Energy, Journal Name: Renewable Energy Vol. 181; ISSN 0960-1481

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
concentration ratio
double glass envelope
economic performance
efficiency
parabolic trough collectors

Influence of the concentration ratio on the thermal and economic performance of parabolic trough collectors

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