Numerical investigation and solar flux distribution analysis of parabolic trough solar collector by adding secondary reflector

Abstract

The biggest problem that can be encountered in the Parabolic Trough Collector is the tube wear, and this is due to the non-uniformity of the temperature distribution over the circumferential angle of the tube. In this paper the absorber tube is moved downward away the focal line of the parabola and a secondary reflector is added overhead the tube in order to reduce the heat flux gradient and homogenize it. The simulation method of the ray’s path is adopted by Soltrace software. The numerical results of the enhanced Parabolic Trough Collector show that the heat flux gradient can be enhanced and reduced by 70.37 % and the temperature gradient can be reduced from 159.39 K to 24.16 K by adding the secondary reflector.