IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v207y2017icp7-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Test of a solar parabolic trough collector with rotatable axis tracking

Author

Listed:
  • Qu, Wanjun
  • Wang, Ruilin
  • Hong, Hui
  • Sun, Jie
  • Jin, Hongguang

Abstract

The concentrating solar power is a promising technology for scalable solar electricity. The conversion of concentrated sunlight into heat is of paramount importance in the concentrating solar power. The current commercial parabolic trough collector has an annual average efficiency of approximately 50%, and the poor efficiency mainly results from the cosine loss. In this paper, a 300-kWth solar parabolic trough collector with north-south and rotatable axis tracking is originally presented. The rotatable steel-support frame and the slide rail can achieve the horizontal rotation of the parabolic trough collector. The rotation of the collector can change the surface azimuth angle of the collector, further reducing the solar incidence angle and thus reducing the cosine loss. Two patterns of tracking are adopted in this prototype. In summer, the solar incidence angle is small, and the north-south axis tracking is adopted. In winter, the solar incidence angle is large, and the cosine loss is serious, so using the rotatable axis tracking enables more solar irradiation to be harvested. The experimental results show that, by using the rotatable axis tracking, the daily average efficiency can be enhanced from 43% to 48% in winter. This study provides a promising approach for effectively reducing the cosine loss for the scalable parabolic trough collector, providing the possibility of improving the annual average collector efficiency and realizing cost-effective solar energy use.

Suggested Citation

  • Qu, Wanjun & Wang, Ruilin & Hong, Hui & Sun, Jie & Jin, Hongguang, 2017. "Test of a solar parabolic trough collector with rotatable axis tracking," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 7-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:207:y:2017:i:c:p:7-17
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.05.114
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261917306189
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.05.114?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bakos, George C., 2006. "Design and construction of a two-axis Sun tracking system for parabolic trough collector (PTC) efficiency improvement," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(15), pages 2411-2421.
    2. Al-Soud, Mohammed S. & Abdallah, Essam & Akayleh, Ali & Abdallah, Salah & Hrayshat, Eyad S., 2010. "A parabolic solar cooker with automatic two axes sun tracking system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 463-470, February.
    3. Lubitz, William David, 2011. "Effect of manual tilt adjustments on incident irradiance on fixed and tracking solar panels," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(5), pages 1710-1719, May.
    4. Cheng, Z.D. & He, Y.L. & Cui, F.Q. & Du, B.C. & Zheng, Z.J. & Xu, Y., 2014. "Comparative and sensitive analysis for parabolic trough solar collectors with a detailed Monte Carlo ray-tracing optical model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 559-572.
    5. Fernández-García, A. & Zarza, E. & Valenzuela, L. & Pérez, M., 2010. "Parabolic-trough solar collectors and their applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(7), pages 1695-1721, September.
    6. Peng, Shuo & Hong, Hui & Wang, Yanjuan & Wang, Zhaoguo & Jin, Hongguang, 2014. "Off-design thermodynamic performances on typical days of a 330MW solar aided coal-fired power plant in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 500-509.
    7. Valenzuela, Loreto & López-Martín, Rafael & Zarza, Eduardo, 2014. "Optical and thermal performance of large-size parabolic-trough solar collectors from outdoor experiments: A test method and a case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 456-464.
    8. Yao, Yingxue & Hu, Yeguang & Gao, Shengdong & Yang, Gang & Du, Jinguang, 2014. "A multipurpose dual-axis solar tracker with two tracking strategies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 88-98.
    9. Padilla, Ricardo Vasquez & Demirkaya, Gokmen & Goswami, D. Yogi & Stefanakos, Elias & Rahman, Muhammad M., 2011. "Heat transfer analysis of parabolic trough solar receiver," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 5097-5110.
    10. Xu, Ben & Li, Peiwen & Chan, Cholik, 2015. "Application of phase change materials for thermal energy storage in concentrated solar thermal power plants: A review to recent developments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 286-307.
    11. Jebasingh, V.K. & Herbert, G.M. Joselin, 2016. "A review of solar parabolic trough collector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1085-1091.
    12. Zhu, Jianqin & Wang, Kai & Wu, Hongwei & Wang, Dunjin & Du, Juan & Olabi, A.G., 2015. "Experimental investigation on the energy and exergy performance of a coiled tube solar receiver," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 519-527.
    13. Tian, Y. & Zhao, C.Y., 2013. "A review of solar collectors and thermal energy storage in solar thermal applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 538-553.
    14. Zhao, Yawen & Hong, Hui & Jin, Hongguang, 2017. "Optimization of the solar field size for the solar–coal hybrid system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1162-1172.
    15. Eck, Markus & Steinmann, Wolf-Dieter & Rheinländer, Jürgen, 2004. "Maximum temperature difference in horizontal and tilted absorber pipes with direct steam generation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 665-676.
    16. Xu, Chengmu & Chen, Zhiping & Li, Ming & Zhang, Peng & Ji, Xu & Luo, Xi & Liu, Jiangtao, 2014. "Research on the compensation of the end loss effect for parabolic trough solar collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 128-139.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liu, Taixiu & Liu, Qibin & Lei, Jing & Sui, Jun & Jin, Hongguang, 2018. "Solar-clean fuel distributed energy system with solar thermochemistry and chemical recuperation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 380-391.
    2. Li, Jinyu & Yang, Zhengda & Han, Xinlu & Ge, Yi & Wang, Yiya & Dong, Qiwei & Huang, Chenxing & Li, Huanan & Chen, Pengyu & Lin, Riyi, 2023. "Thermodynamic investigation of spectral splitting hybrid system integrated Cassegrain concentrator and mid/low-temperature solar thermochemical storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    3. Liu, Shang & Huang, Congliang & Luo, Xiao & Guo, Chuwen, 2019. "Performance optimization of bi-layer solar steam generation system through tuning porosity of bottom layer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 504-513.
    4. Chang, Chun & Sciacovelli, Adriano & Wu, Zhiyong & Li, Xin & Li, Yongliang & Zhao, Mingzhi & Deng, Jie & Wang, Zhifeng & Ding, Yulong, 2018. "Enhanced heat transfer in a parabolic trough solar receiver by inserting rods and using molten salt as heat transfer fluid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 337-350.
    5. Lei, Dongqiang & Fu, Xuqiang & Ren, Yucong & Yao, Fangyuan & Wang, Zhifeng, 2019. "Temperature and thermal stress analysis of parabolic trough receivers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 403-413.
    6. Moss, R.W. & Henshall, P. & Arya, F. & Shire, G.S.F. & Hyde, T. & Eames, P.C., 2018. "Performance and operational effectiveness of evacuated flat plate solar collectors compared with conventional thermal, PVT and PV panels," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 588-601.
    7. Gholipour, Shayan & Afrand, Masoud & Kalbasi, Rasool, 2020. "Improving the efficiency of vacuum tube collectors using new absorbent tubes arrangement: Introducing helical coil and spiral tube adsorbent tubes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 772-781.
    8. Qu, Wanjun & Xing, Xueli & Cao, Yali & Liu, Taixiu & Hong, Hui & Jin, Hongguang, 2020. "A concentrating solar power system integrated photovoltaic and mid-temperature solar thermochemical processes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    9. Wang, Ruilin & Qu, Wanjun & Hong, Hui & Sun, Jie & Jin, Hongguang, 2018. "Experimental performance of 300 kWth prototype of parabolic trough collector with rotatable axis and irreversibility analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 595-609.
    10. Gharat, Punit V. & Bhalekar, Snehal S. & Dalvi, Vishwanath H. & Panse, Sudhir V. & Deshmukh, Suresh P. & Joshi, Jyeshtharaj B., 2021. "Chronological development of innovations in reflector systems of parabolic trough solar collector (PTC) - A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    11. Chen, Heng & Xue, Kai & Wu, Yunyun & Xu, Gang & Jin, Xin & Liu, Wenyi, 2021. "Thermodynamic and economic analyses of a solar-aided biomass-fired combined heat and power system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    12. Wang, Ruilin & Sun, Jie & Hong, Hui, 2019. "Proposal of solar-aided coal-fired power generation system with direct steam generation and active composite sun-tracking," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 596-612.
    13. Ahmad, Lujean & Khordehgah, Navid & Malinauskaite, Jurgita & Jouhara, Hussam, 2020. "Recent advances and applications of solar photovoltaics and thermal technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    14. Han, Yu & Sun, Yingying & Wu, Junjie, 2020. "An efficient solar-aided waste heat recovery system based on steam ejector and WTA pre-drying in solar/lignite hybrid power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    15. Alamdari, Pedram & Khatamifar, Mehdi & Lin, Wenxian, 2024. "Heat loss analysis review: Parabolic trough and linear Fresnel collectors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    16. Bai, Zhang & Liu, Qibin & Gong, Liang & Lei, Jing, 2019. "Investigation of a solar-biomass gasification system with the production of methanol and electricity: Thermodynamic, economic and off-design operation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C), pages 91-101.
    17. Zhou, Yuekuan & Zheng, Siqian & Hensen, Jan L.M., 2024. "Machine learning-based digital district heating/cooling with renewable integrations and advanced low-carbon transition," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    18. Yari, Shahram & Safarzadeh, Habibollah & Bahiraei, Mehdi, 2021. "Experimental study of an absorber coil in spherical solar collector with practical dimensions at different flow rates," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 1248-1259.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Ruilin & Qu, Wanjun & Hong, Hui & Sun, Jie & Jin, Hongguang, 2018. "Experimental performance of 300 kWth prototype of parabolic trough collector with rotatable axis and irreversibility analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 595-609.
    2. Kumaresan, G. & Sudhakar, P. & Santosh, R. & Velraj, R., 2017. "Experimental and numerical studies of thermal performance enhancement in the receiver part of solar parabolic trough collectors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1363-1374.
    3. Ajbar, Wassila & Parrales, A. & Huicochea, A. & Hernández, J.A., 2022. "Different ways to improve parabolic trough solar collectors’ performance over the last four decades and their applications: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    4. Yılmaz, İbrahim Halil & Mwesigye, Aggrey, 2018. "Modeling, simulation and performance analysis of parabolic trough solar collectors: A comprehensive review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 135-174.
    5. Wang, Ruilin & Sun, Jie & Hong, Hui, 2019. "Proposal of solar-aided coal-fired power generation system with direct steam generation and active composite sun-tracking," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 596-612.
    6. Huang, Zhen & Li, Zeng-Yao & Tao, Wen-Quan, 2017. "Numerical study on combined natural and forced convection in the fully-developed turbulent region for a horizontal circular tube heated by non-uniform heat flux," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 2194-2208.
    7. Alamdari, Pedram & Khatamifar, Mehdi & Lin, Wenxian, 2024. "Heat loss analysis review: Parabolic trough and linear Fresnel collectors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    8. Gharat, Punit V. & Bhalekar, Snehal S. & Dalvi, Vishwanath H. & Panse, Sudhir V. & Deshmukh, Suresh P. & Joshi, Jyeshtharaj B., 2021. "Chronological development of innovations in reflector systems of parabolic trough solar collector (PTC) - A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    9. Cheng, Ze-Dong & Zhao, Xue-Ru & He, Ya-Ling, 2018. "Novel optical efficiency formulas for parabolic trough solar collectors: Computing method and applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 682-697.
    10. Sandá, Antonio & Moya, Sara L. & Valenzuela, Loreto, 2019. "Modelling and simulation tools for direct steam generation in parabolic-trough solar collectors: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Fasquelle, T. & Falcoz, Q. & Neveu, P. & Lecat, F. & Flamant, G., 2017. "A thermal model to predict the dynamic performances of parabolic trough lines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1187-1203.
    12. Moudakkar, Touria & El Hallaoui, Z. & Vaudreuil, S. & Bounahmidi, T., 2019. "Modeling and performance analysis of a PTC for industrial phosphate flash drying," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 1134-1148.
    13. Stanek, Bartosz & Węcel, Daniel & Bartela, Łukasz & Rulik, Sebastian, 2022. "Solar tracker error impact on linear absorbers efficiency in parabolic trough collector – Optical and thermodynamic study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 598-609.
    14. Majedul Islam & Prasad Yarlagadda & Azharul Karim, 2018. "Effect of the Orientation Schemes of the Energy Collection Element on the Optical Performance of a Parabolic Trough Concentrating Collector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-20, December.
    15. Sait, Hani H. & Martinez-Val, Jose M. & Abbas, Ruben & Munoz-Anton, Javier, 2015. "Fresnel-based modular solar fields for performance/cost optimization in solar thermal power plants: A comparison with parabolic trough collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 175-189.
    16. Abdulhamed, Ali Jaber & Adam, Nor Mariah & Ab-Kadir, Mohd Zainal Abidin & Hairuddin, Abdul Aziz, 2018. "Review of solar parabolic-trough collector geometrical and thermal analyses, performance, and applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 822-831.
    17. Manikandan, G.K. & Iniyan, S. & Goic, Ranko, 2019. "Enhancing the optical and thermal efficiency of a parabolic trough collector – A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 1524-1540.
    18. Cheng, Z.D. & He, Y.L. & Cui, F.Q. & Du, B.C. & Zheng, Z.J. & Xu, Y., 2014. "Comparative and sensitive analysis for parabolic trough solar collectors with a detailed Monte Carlo ray-tracing optical model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 559-572.
    19. Zou, Bin & Dong, Jiankai & Yao, Yang & Jiang, Yiqiang, 2016. "An experimental investigation on a small-sized parabolic trough solar collector for water heating in cold areas," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 396-407.
    20. Wang, Qiliang & Hu, Mingke & Yang, Honglun & Cao, Jingyu & Li, Jing & Su, Yuehong & Pei, Gang, 2019. "Energetic and exergetic analyses on structural optimized parabolic trough solar receivers in a concentrated solar–thermal collector system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 611-623.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:207:y:2017:i:c:p:7-17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.