International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET)

Volume 8, Issue 10, October 2017, pp. 01–08, Article ID: IJMET_08_10_001
Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=8&IType=10
ISSN Print: 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359

© IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed

ENERGETIC AND EXERGETIC ANALYSIS OF

SOLAR PTC WITH DIFFERENT REFLECTOR
MATERIAL
Earnest Vinay Prakash and Ajeet Kumar Rai
MED, SIET, Sam Higginbottom Universivty of Agriculture Technology and Sciences,
Allahabad, (U.P.), India

ABSTRACT
An experimental study was conducted to determine the performance of a parabolic
trough concentrator. Experiments were performed on two cylindrical parabolic
concentrators. Acrylic mirror sheet and stainless steel sheets were used as reflector
material, the receiver material for both the PTCs were GI pipe. The experiments have
been performed during summer in the premises of SHUATS, Allahabad, India.
Thermal efficiencies for both the PTCs were computed and observed that the
maximum instantaneous thermal efficiency of 12.44% and 10.66% was observed with
stainless steel reflector material and for acrylic mirror sheet reflector. Exergy
efficiencies for both the PTCs were computed and it was observed that maximum
instantaneous exergy efficiency of concentrator with stainless steel reflector material
was 32% higher than that of the concentrator with acrylic mirror sheet reflector.
Keywords: Solar PTC, Reflector Material, Energetic, Exergetic
Cite this Article: Earnest Vinay Prakash and Ajeet Kumar Rai, Energetic and
Exergetic Analysis of Solar PTC with different reflector material, International Journal
of Mechanical Engineering and Technology 8(10), 2017, pp. 01–08.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=8&IType=10

1. INTRODUCTION
In response to the energy crisis and the subsequent 10-fold increase in oil prices, the
awareness to use alternate energy sources, including solar energy, has gained momentum both
in industrialized and developing countries. Intensified research and development on
renewable energy sources, which followed the energy crisis, resulted in demonstration of the
technical feasibility of many alternate energy options.
Parabolic trough concentrators (PTCs) are capable of supplying thermal energy over a
wide range of temperatures (up to about 310°C), and therefore, they can be used for a variety
of applications ranging from electrical generation to industrial hot water and steam
production. In this paper, a brief review of the various subsystems of PTC and their
performance evaluations are discussed. A parabolic trough solar collector uses an Acrylic
mirror sheets or Stainless steel sheet in the shape of a parabolic cylinder to reflect and

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 Earnest Vinay Prakash and Ajeet Kumar Rai

concentrate sun radiations towards a receiver tube located at the focus line of the parabolic
cylinder. The receiver absorbs the incoming radiations and transforms them into thermal
energy, the latter being transported and collected by a fluid medium circulating within the
receiver tube. This method of concentrated solar collection has the advantage of high
efficiency and low cost, and can be used either for thermal energy collection, for generating
electricity. Therefore, it is an important way to exploit solar energy directly. Parabolic trough
is the most mature technology for large scale exploitation of solar energy. Several power
plants based on this technology have been operational for years, and more are being built. The
conversion of solar energy into heat energy, an incident solar radiance is concentrated by
concentrating solar collectors. For many applications it is desirable to deliver energy at
temperatures higher than those possible with flat-plate collectors. Energy delivery
temperatures can be increased by decreasing the area from which heat losses occur. Generated
heat is used to heat the thermic fluids such as oils, air or water/steam, acts as heat carrier and
as storage media. The hot thermic fluid is used to generated steam or hot gases, which are
then used to operate a heat engine. Concentration ratios of this type of concentrator are quite
high. Increasing ratios mean increasing temperatures at which energy can be delivered.
Maximum energy collection orientation of the concentrator relative to the direction of
propagation of beam radiation is needed and ‘sun tracking’ in some degree, will be required
for focusing systems. Various type of collectors are available which has aperture areas from
about 1 to 60 m2 and with widths ranging from 1 to 6 m, Concentration ratios range from 10
to 80, and rim angles from 70 to 1200. The absorber tube is either made of stainless steel or
copper or iron coated with a heat resistant black paint. The reflecting surface is linear
parabolic curved shape. It is fixed on a light-weight structure usually made of aluminium
sections. The structure is such that it should not distort significantly due to its own weight and
that it should be able to withstand wind loads.
An exergy analysis (or second law analysis) has proven to be a powerful tool in the
simulation of thermodynamic analyses of energy systems. It has been widely used in the
design, simulation and performance evaluation of energy systems. By performing exergy
accounting, we are able to draw a map of how the destruction of exergy is distributed over the
engineering system of interest. In this way we are able to pinpoint the components and
mechanisms (processes) that destroy exergy the most. This is a real advantage in the search
for improving efficiency, because it can indicate the possibilities of thermodynamic
improvement of the process under consideration and consequently inform us from the start
how to allocate engineering effort and resources.
In this paper we have applied the exergy analysis on solar parabolic trough collector with
GI pipe as a receiver taking into consideration the exergetic content of incident solar
radiation. By applying a derived expression for exergy efficiency, exergy destruction and
losses were generated and the optimum design and operating conditions were investigated.

2. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The experimental setup of the parabolic trough solar collector consists of a collector, a storage
tank of capacity 30 litres, and a receiver pipe of length 2.13 m with two valves at both ends.
The water supply tank is located above the receiver`s pipe level to allow the heating fluid to
flow naturally without pumping system. The storage tank is filled from main water supply.
The water inlet and outlet temperature of the absorber tube, the ambient temperature, the
reflector temperature, the temperatures at inlet/outlet/middle surface of the receiver, the solar
radiation intensity and the wind velocity are continually measured during the experiment. The
outdoor experimentation was carried out in the month of May and June 2016. The testing
system is oriented North-South to capture maximum insolation.

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 Energetic and Exergetic Analysis of Solar PTC with different reflector material

Thermal Analysis
Well, before starting with exergetic analysis it is important to carried out thermal analysis of
the system first because it is parametrically associated with the thermal analysis.
The collector thermal efficiency is defined as the ratio of the useful energy delivered to
the energy incident on the concentrator aperture and is given as:
ηth = Qu/Qs
The Parabolic trough concentrator has an aperture area Aa and receives solar radiation at
the rate Qs from the sun. The net solar heat transferred Qs is proportional to Aa, and the
incident solar radiation per unit of concentrator area Ib, which varies with geographical
position on the earth, the orientation of the concentrator, meteorological conditions and the
time of day.
The useful heat gain can be written as
Qu= mcp(Tout-Tin)
& Qs= AaIb
The Hottel –Whillier equation for the actual useful heat gain Qu, of a concentrating solar
collector system is given as:
Qu = FR Aa [ S – Ar/Aa UL(Tin-Ta)]
Where, S is the absorbed flux (ηo×Ib ), FR is the heat removal factor of the collector and
Ta is the ambient temperature. The heat removal factor accounts for the temperature gradients
in the receiver and allow for the use of inlet fluid temperatures in the energy balance
equations. This is convenient when analyzing solar energy systems, since the inlet
temperature is usually known.
The heat removal factor (FR) can be given as:
FR = mCp/ArUL[ 1 – exp(-ArULF′)/mCp ]
Where, (F′) is collector efficiency factor and can be given as-
F′= Uo/UL
Where, UL= hw + hr
Convective heat transfer is given by-
hw = Nua x ka/ Dext
Where, Nua can be calculated by using following expression given below. For flow of air
across a single tube in an outdoor environment the equations recommended by McAdams
(1954) have been modified to give-
For, 0.1< Rea< 1000, Nua = 0.4+ 0.54x Rea 0.6
For, 1000< Rea< 50000, Nua = 0.3x Rea
Rea= ρVD/μ
Radiative heat transfer is given by-
hr= ϵσ (Tr+Ta)(Tr2+Ta2)
U0 = (1/ UL+ D0/hwDi + D0ln(D0/Di)/2k)-1
The collector flow factor is given as –
F΄΄= FR/F΄
Therefore, thermal efficiency of the collector can be written as-
ηth = Qu/ AaIb

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 Earnest Vinay Prakash and Ajeet Kumar Rai

Optical Analysis-
The optical efficiency (η0) is defined as the amount of radiation absorbed by the absorber tube
divided by the amount of direct normal radiation incident on the aperture area. The optical
efficiency when the incident radiation is normal to the aperture (θ = 0o). Optical Efficiency
can be given as-
η0 = (τα)

Exergy Analysis
Application of exergy analysis to solar parabolic concentrators helps designers to achieve an
optimum design and gives direction to decrease exergy losses. By applying exergy balance on
a solar collector, exergy efficiency can be derived and the shares of irreversible factors are
defined as well. Exergy balance can generally be expressed as-
ΣEin- ΣEout - ΣEloss- ΣEchange – ΣEdes = 0
Inlet exergy rate can be given as-
ΣEin = mCp(Tin-Ta-Taln Tin/Ta)
Using Petella’s approach
ΣEin,p= Ib Aa ηp
ηp is Petela’s efficiency of converting radiation energy (i.e. Ib Aa) into work is given as-
ηp= 1-4Ta/3Ts + 1/3(Ta/Ts)4
Outlet exergy rate can be given as-
ΣEout = mCp(Tout-Ta-Taln Tout/Ta)
The gain exergy rate (Egain ) is the exergy that is accumulated by fluid flow through the
receiver and is expressed as:
ΣEgain = ΣEout - ΣEin
And the exergy efficiency is the ratio of the gain exergy to solar radiation exergy
expressed as
ηE = Egain/Ein
Under steady state conditions, ∑Echange= 0 . In order to show which exergy fractions are
major, the exergy efficiency should be expressed in terms of lost and destructed exergy.
Exergy loss rate is the amount of exergy that a thermodynamic system loses in processes. In
the actual sense, it is the exergy leakage rate out to the surroundings due to optical errors and
heat transfer to ambient in a solar receiver which is unwanted and be expressed as:
∑Eloss = ∑El,opt + ∑El,th
∑El,opt = ( 1- η0 ) Ib Aa ηp
∑El,th = UL Ar (Tr-Ta)2/Tr

Exergy is destructed while heat is transferred from hot to cold temperatures. There are two
heat transfer processes in the receiver that cause exergy rate destruction; 1) heat transfer
caused by the temperature difference between the receiver surface and the sun, which is the
heat transfer of the solar energy absorbed by the surface of the receiver. 2) heat transfer
conduction from outer receiver surface to fluid flow caused by the temperature difference
between the receiver surface and the agent fluid. Therefore, the exergy destruction rate due to
heat absorption is defined as:
Edes,abs= QuTa(1/Tr – 1/Ts)

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 Energetic and Exergetic Analysis of Solar PTC with different reflector material

Where Qu is the useful energy rate added to the fluid flow energy. Considering useful
energy rate as ηo IbAa , the exergy destruction due to heat absorption is defined as:
Edes,abs= ηo IbAa Ta(1/Tr – 1/Ts)
And the exergy destroyed due to heat transfer conduction is given as:
Edes,cond = mCpTa [ln(Tout/Tin)-(Tout-Tin)/Tr]
exergy efficiency can be presented as:
ηE = 1-( ∑Eloss - ∑Echange - ∑Edes)/ ∑Ein,r
& ηE = 1- (El,opt- El,th- Edes,abs - Edes,cond )
ηE= 1-{(1-ηo) + UL Ar (Tr-Ta)2/Tr + QuTa(1/Tr – 1/Ts ) + mCpTa [ln(Tout/Tin)-(Tout-Tin)/Tr])}
In a more simplified way,Exergy efficiency can be expressed as-
ηE= mcp/ ηo IbAa[(Tout-Tin-TalnTout/Tin)]

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Numbers of observations were taken on the system in the month of May & June 2016 in the
campus of SHUATS, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Experiments were conducted in the
summer seasons of Indian climatic conditions. Observations were taken during the whole
month and best value of a particular day is used in the study.
1000

800
SOLAR INTENSITY

600

400

200

0
1 0 : 0 01 0 : 3 01 1 : 0 01 1 : 3 01 2 : 0 01 2 : 3 0 1 : 0TIME
0 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 4:30

Figure 1 Variation of Solar Intensity with respect to time

Figure 1 shows the variation of solar intensity with respect to time of the day. Solar
intensities for both the PTC’s were same as the both experimental setup was on the same
platform. Maximum solar intensity was observed at 1:30 pm of about 760 W/m2. Fig 2 shows
the variation of wind velocity with respect to time and it varies continuously throughout the
day.

1.5
Wind Velocity

0.5

0
10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 4:30
Time

Figure 2 Variation of Wind Velocity with respect to time

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 Earnest Vinay Prakash and Ajeet Kumar Rai

60
50
TEMPERATURE 40
30
20
10
0
10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 4:30
TIME
Tin,acrylic Tout,acrylic Tin,ss Tamb Tout,ss

Figure 3 Variation of inlet, outlet and ambient temperature of PTC reflector with acrylic and stainless
steel sheet with respect to time
Figure 3 shows the variation of temperatures of the fluid at inlet an outlet of the receiver
tube for both the PTC’s and ambient temperature. The temperature of fluid at outlet is found
higher in stainless steel reflector at 1:00 pm of about 570C.
Figure 4 shows the variation of instantaneous thermal efficiency with respect to time.
Result shows the efficiency of stainless steel reflector PTC found maximum at 2:00 pm and
whereas of acrylic mirror sheet reflector was observed at 12:30 pm.
14
12
Efficiency(%)

10
8
6
4
2
0
10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 4:30
Time
PTC,ss PTC,acrylic

Figure 4 Variation of instantaneous thermal efficiency with respect to time

Figure 5 shows variation of instantaneous Exergy efficiency with respect to time, the
instantaneous exergy efficiency of stainless steel reflector PTC is higher throughout the day.
The maximum efficiency was observed at 12:00 p.m. for stainless steel reflector PTC and that
of acrylic mirror sheet was maximum at 12:30 p.m.
1
Exergy Efficiency(%)

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 4:30
Time
ηE,ss ηE,acrylic

Figure 5 Variation of instantaneous Exergy efficiency with respect to time

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 Energetic and Exergetic Analysis of Solar PTC with different reflector material

4. CONCLUSION-
From the collected data, the performance of parabolic trough concentrator was studied. It was
observed that the maximum instantaneous thermal efficiency of PTC with stainless steel
reflector was more than 16% higher than that of the PTC with acrylic mirror sheet reflector. In
order to derive the expression for exergy efficiency, exergy balance was applied on solar
collector. The method of exergy analysis presented in this paper is well suited for furthering
the goal of more effective solar energy use. The maximum instantaneous exergy efficiency of
PTC with stainless steel reflector material was 0.90% whereas it was 0.68% for PTC with that
of acrylic mirror sheet reflector.
Nomenclature S Absorbed solar Greek symbols Subscripts
2 radiation (W/m2)
A Area (m ) α absorptance a ambient
Cp Specific heat capacity Re Reynolds’s No. ɳ Efficiency o outlet
of the fluid ( K j /Kg k) Nu Nusselt No τ Transmittance i inlet
F’ collector efficiency L Collector length (m) (τα) Transmittance- exp exponential
factor W Collector width (m) Absoptance p plate ,
F’’ collector flow factor m Mass flow rate σ Stefan-Boltzman c collector
FR Heat removal factor (Kg/sec) constant u useful
Ib Incident Solar radiation ɛ emmitance th Thermal
(W/m2) µ Dynamic viscosity s Sun ,
UL Over all heat loss (Kg/m-s)
E Exergy ,
coefficient (W/m2-K) k Thermal conductivity (
w Convective
T Temperature (K) W/m-k)
r Radiative
Q Heat transfer rate (Watt)
D Hydraulic diameter (m)
U Loss
Coefficients(W/m2-K)
hw Convective heat
transfer due to wind.

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