Effect of Size and Cascading of Receivers on the Performance of a Solar Collector System

Abstract

The effect of cascading of parabolic dish collector and receiver on the receiver collection efficiency has been presented in the present paper. The parabolic dish collector is modified in such a way that it focuses incident radiation at two focus points, in line with the vertex of the parabolic dish. The receivers are positioned at these two focii locations to absorb the concentrated heat. The outcomes in terms of receiver collection efficiency are compared with the single collector-receiver system. The gradual heating of working fluid while flowing through the combined multiple receivers exhibited an improved receiver collection efficiency of about 3.2 and 5.4% as compared to the single receiver collector system. The receiver size e.g., heat transfer area is also seen to be influencing the performance of the system.