Degradation of parabolic-cylindrical solar collector performance: receiver misalignments and tracking inaccuracies

Conference · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:6154836

Ratzel, A C

Studies were conducted to determine the performance of a 2-m, 90/sup 0/ E-W oriented solar reflector trough and a receiver assembly consisting of a receiver tube surrounded by a concentric outer glass envelope. Three receiver tube diameters (2.223, 2.54, and 3.175 cm o.d. tubes) were analyzed subject to a variety of collector errors including receiver misalignments and tracking bias, to assess the detrimental effects of these problems. Of the possible problems considered, it was shown that a misalignment of the receiver assembly above the focal plane is most critical, since the absorbed solar fluxes are concentrated near the base of the tube, leading to possible ''hot spots.'' In addition, as a result of this work, it was shown that the intermediate receiver tube size (2.54 cm o.d.) should be used with the 2-m reflector trough, so long as small errors and misalignments are expected.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 6154836
• Report Number(s): SAND-85-1467; CONF-860406-4; ON: DE86002591
• Resource Relation: Conference: ASME Solar Energy Division conference, Anaheim, CA, USA, 14 Apr 1986
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
PARABOLIC TROUGH COLLECTORS
PERFORMANCE
SOLAR TRACKING
ALIGNMENT
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DIRECT SOLAR RADIATION
HEAT GAIN
HEAT LOSSES
HEAT TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
SOLAR FLUX
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION
CONCENTRATING COLLECTORS
ENERGY LOSSES
ENERGY TRANSFER
EQUIPMENT
LOSSES
PARABOLIC COLLECTORS
RADIATIONS
SIMULATION
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR RADIATION
STELLAR RADIATION
141000* - Solar Collectors & Concentrators