Material and process screening as applied to a reinforced plastic parabolic trough concentrator module

Technical Report · Fri Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:5110200

Hodge, R ^[1]

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1. ed.

Existing parabolic trough solar collectors are basically sheet metal designs utilizing aluminum or steel as the major structural materials. The relatively high labor content associated with these sheet metal designs has generated an interest in investigating the cost effectiveness of using reinforced plastics as a major structural material for trough solar collectors. This interest is bolstered by a growing desire on the part of industry to identify new material-process combinations which save weight, use less energy, and require less capital equipment and assembly costs. The use of reinforced plastics as the basic material for a line-focus parabolic trough concentrator module is studied. This module constitutes a basic building block with which longer trough rows can be built. The basic part analysis is described including the quantification of key material and part-function relationships. In addition candidate materials and processes are reviewed and, the costs associated with the most attractive combinations defined. Finally, the major conclusions and recommendations are summarized.

• Research Organization: General Electric Co., Philadelphia, PA (USA). Valley Forge Space Center
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 5110200
• Report Number(s): SAND-80-7003
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
141000* -- Solar Collectors & Concentrators
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONCENTRATING COLLECTORS
COST
DESIGN
EQUIPMENT
FABRICATION
FILLERS
MANUFACTURING
MATERIALS
MOLDING
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
PARABOLIC COLLECTORS
PARABOLIC TROUGH COLLECTORS
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PLASTICS
POLYMERS
PROCESSING
REINFORCED MATERIALS
REINFORCED PLASTICS
RESINS
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
THERMOPLASTICS