Experimental Investigation Of Thermal Performance And Climatological Parameters For Trough Parabolic Collector With Manual Tracking System

ABSTRACT: The experimental and theoretical studies are evaluate the thermal performance of three parabolic
trough collectors with manual tracking system connected in parallel. The collectors are designed and
manufactured utilizing the existing Iraqi technologies and available local materials. The sun tracking system
was assembled using mechanical components that were procured from the Iraqi market. The receiver plate is
made from galvanized material and is covered with aluminum foil of thickness 2 mm. The absorber tube is
fabricated from stainless steel material, which is coated with selective black paint that can absorb solar
radiation with internal and external diameters of 30 mm and 33mm, respectively. Numerical analysis was used
in the simulation to determine the performance of the thermal model in order to study the influence of
convective heat transfer resulting from the effect of fluid flow, falling and reflected solar radiation on the
absorber and focusing on the receiving tube. A computer program was used to calculate the performance
equation of the collector. The experimental results revealed that the data of tested collector is lower than that of
a typical collector. However, average collection efficiency of this collector is about 43% which is fairly
acceptable within the designs of parabolic trough collectors.
KEYWORDS: heat transfer, collector, parabolic, solar radiation, collector efficiency, tracking system

Dr.mohammed Ali Mahmood Hussien

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