Solar Concentrator System

Abstract

Concentrating collectors are used primarily for power generation applications, though recent applications include industrial process heating and institutional cooking. In the present work, an experimental study is carried out to investigate the performance of a prototype of a solar Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) integrated with a storage unit. The system consists of a PTC, thermal energy storage (TES) tank. Molten salt or water is also used as the heat transfer fluid (HTF) and a positive displacement pump. Parabolic trough collectors (PTC) are made by bending a sheet of reflective material into a parabolic shape by calculating desired focal point. A black Galvanized Iron pipe, covered with a, is placed along the focal line of the parabolic collector. The concentrated radiation from the sun reaching the black pipe heats the fluid (HTF) that circulates through it, thus transforming the solar radiation into useful heat. This heat is converted into steam due to its much higher temperature around 300 Celsius and gets stored in Steam Storage Cylinder. This steam from the cylinder is then used to run the turbine which moves its shaft and a generator connected next to the turbine also rotates and converts the mechanical energy provided by the turbine into electrical energy in the form of load output. As a single parabolic concentrator is not enough to produce enough steam, therefore, an external source of steam is also used to produce enough steam to get at least I5watts of load output and fulfill the project goal of generating electricity by steam with the help of a solar concentrator.