Thermal analysis of modified conical cavity receiver for a paraboloidal dish collector system

ABSTRACT

In a solar paraboloidal dish collector system, the receiver is critical for transforming converged solar flux to heat energy. A cavity receiver is the most common type of receiver, as it lowers heat loss. An experimental investigation is carried out in this article to evaluate the thermal performance of a novel cavity receiver for dish system under real direct solar environments. The performance of the modified conical cavity receiver under stagnation condition and with heat transfer fluid was studied experimentally. A solar parabolic dish concentrator of 1.83 m rim diameter and rim angle of 66° was used for the experimentation. For both cases, the experiments were carried out for two days. The highest stagnation temperature of 167.2°C was recorded with a direct irradiance of 803 W/m², according to the data. For day average direct irradiance of 555 W/m² and 663 W/m², the receiver’s average thermal efficiency was found to be 53% and 69%, respectively. For 694 W/m² direct irradiance, a maximum thermal efficiency of 75% was achieved. The thermal efficiency was shown to be significantly dependent on direct irradiation. According to the results of the experiments, the proposed modified conical cavity receiver is a viable solution for solar parabolic dish collector systems.

KEYWORDS:

• Parabolic dish
• cavity receiver
• solar dish
• CSP
• SPDC
• dish concentrator

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to NIT Puducherry, Karaikal for their support.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Arjun Singh K

Arjun Singh K is doing PhD in Solar Energy Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Puducherry, Karaikal, India. He is working on concentrated solar power for the past three and a half years.

Sendhil Kumar Natarajan

Dr. Sendhil Kumar Natarajan is working as an Assistant Professor , Department of Mechanical Engineering, Associate Dean (R&C), National Institute of Technology Puducherry, Karaikal, India. He has four granted patents in the area of solar energy. He has 18 years teaching and research experience. He has expertise in Solar Thermal, Concentrating Photovoltaic, Integration of High Temperature Solar Thermal and CPV, Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow, Jet Ejectors, Waste Frying Oils, Fuel Cells.