Applied Energy 68 (2001) 43±50

www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Design, optimisation and conversion-eciency

determination of a line-focus parabolic-trough
solar-collector (PTC)
G.C. Bakos *, I. Ioannidis, N.F. Tsagas, I. Seftelis
Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics,
Laboratory of Energy Economy 67 100 Xanthi, Greece

Accepted 11 June 2000

Abstract
PTCs are the preferred type of collector used for steam generation, due to their ability to
work at high temperatures with high eciencies. The results produced from a simulation
program, showing the variation of collector's eciency as a function of heat transfer ¯uid
¯ux, pipe diameter, solar radiation intensity and active area of the PTC, are presented. # 2000
Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Parabolic-trough collectors (PTCs) are frequently employed for solar steam-gen-

eration because temperatures of about 300  C can be obtained without any serious
degradation in the collector's eciency. A typical application of this type of system
is in the southern California power plants, known as solar electric generating sys-
tems (SEGS) which have a total installed capacity to date of 354 MW [1].
The incident solar-radiation falling on the collector is utilised for pipe heating.
Inside the pipe, the thermal ¯uid ¯ows and its temperature increases due to the
incoming radiation. A vacuum was created around the pipe and a thermal insulant
was placed at its rear.
The design and installation of the line-focus PTC were carried out successfully
according to strength, dynamic pressure and collector's weight. A base support unit
and motor-driven orientation mechanism were also installed.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +30-541-79725; fax: +30-541-79734.

E-mail address: bakos@xanthi.cc.duth.gr (G.C. Bakos).

0306-2619/01/$ - see front matter # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0306-2619(00)00034-9
44 G.C. Bakos et al. / Applied Energy 68 (2001) 43±50

The developed simulation program calculates the outlet ¯uid temperature and
shows the eciency of the proposed PTC as a function of the outlet temperature, the
pipe diameter, the intensity of incoming solar radiation and the active diameter of
the parabolic collector.

2. Line-focus parabolic-trough collector design

This consists of four main parts, namely the metal frame, the parabolic mirrors,
the solar-radiation absorption system and the sampling system, which includes the
control unit.

2.1. Metal frame

This consists of two ®xed bases and three moving parts (Fig. 1a). One of the
moving parts is a pylon which is connected to one of the two ®xed bases and has the
ability to move with respect to spherical coordinates (; '). When the collector is in a
horizontal position, a small trolley can move on the pylon, from the lower point to
the higher point, forcing one end of the collector axis (pivot) to move upwards.
Since one end is ®xed and the length of the axis is constant, the pylon is changing
position relative to the horizontal ground. This movement can bring the axis of the
PTC orthogonal to the incoming solar radiation and is necessary because the position
of the sun is changing according to the season.
The system also has the ability to follow the sun's daily orbit. This can be achieved
by the rotation of the collector axis.
These two movements can be achieved using two dc motors of 1.5 kW each. The
principle of motor operation is based on the pulse-width modulation (PWM) technique.

2.2. Parabolic mirrors

The active collector surface consists of four parabolic mirrors (3 m2 each). The
placement of the mirrors on the platform should be symmetrical with reference to
the axis of rotation. The total incoming solar radiation is focused on a line which is
parallel to the axis of rotation and at a distance of 170 cm. The thickness of the
mirror is small (0.4 cm) and therefore the mirrors are quite light. These mirrors
(Flachglass Flagsol GMBH) have a high re¯ection coecient (98%).
The platform support points can be adjusted so that the maximum solar intensity
concentration is achieved.

2.3. Solar radiation absorption system

The heat pipe absorbers in the solar collector systems have several advantages,
such as excellent heat conduction using a minimum amount of material, resulting in
a quick response to changes in radiation intensity, easy freeze protection and low
parasitic pumping requirements [2,3].
 G.C. Bakos et al. / Applied Energy 68 (2001) 43±50 45

Fig. 1. (a) Schematic of the PTC; (b) schematic of the heat-pipe absorber.
46 G.C. Bakos et al. / Applied Energy 68 (2001) 43±50

The developed system consists of the pipe, placed parallel to the axis of rotation
and at a distance of 170 cm from it. The position where the maximum solar con-
centration is achieved, coincides with the pipe position. The rate of heat transfer from the
incoming radiation to the ¯uid is high due to the pipe's diameter (4 cm) and thickness (0.4
cm). The pipe's length is 340 cm. The most important part of the absorption system is
the evacuated envelope (9 cm in diameter) which surrounds the heat-pipe absorber
(Fig. 1b). The vacuum between the glass and metal pipes reduces the rate of heat
loss. The presence of glass reduces the heat loss due to radiation. A ¯exible pipe,
through which the heat transfer ¯uid is supplied, is connected to the metal pipe.

2.4. Sampling system and control unit

This consists of four sensors for:

(a) temperature monitoring;

(b) solar-radiation intensity measurements;
(c) heat-transfer ¯uid ¯ux measurements; and
(d) collector's axis position control.

The PTC platform can be moved both manually and automatically. The normal
operation is the automatic movement controlled by a 486 IBM compatible personal
computer for the continuous monitoring of di€erent parameters using the appropriate
interfaces. The sampling programs were written in turbo pascal 6.0 language. The
interfaces, the sampling programs, the sampling system and the control unit were
implemented in Democritus University of Thrace, Laboratory of Energy Economy
[4]. The control action is carried out from a control room situated near the PTC
platform.
The described solar system and the control room cover a total area of approxi-
mately 100 m2 (Fig. 2).

3. Results and conclusions

The performance of the designed PTC was investigated using an appropriate

simulation program written in basic [5]. The input data to the simulation program
are shown in Table 1.
Figs. 3±6 show the eciency of the developed PTC as a function of the pipe length
and how this eciency is altered as a function of ¯uid ¯ux, the pipe diameter, the
intensity of the incoming solar radiation and the collector's active diameter.
Fig. 3 shows that, when the ¯ux of the heat transfer ¯uid is increasing, the e-
ciency is improving. However, the ¯uid ¯ux cannot be increased continuously
because the ¯uid temperature will drop. This is not acceptable for applications of the
PTC where steam is to be generated and high temperatures are highly desirable.
Also the eciency drops as the pipe length is increased. In the following calculations,
the ¯uid ¯ux was kept constant at 0.1 kg/s.
 G.C. Bakos et al. / Applied Energy 68 (2001) 43±50 47

Fig. 2. Solar system set-up.

Table 1
Simulation input data

Parameter Value

Re¯ection coecient 0.9

Transmission coecient 0.85
Absorption coecient 0.92
Active area thermal loss 2 W/m2  C
Passive area thermal loss 0.2 W/m2  C
Thermal conductivity 0.5 W/m2  C
Insulation's thermal transmittance 0.045 W/m2  C
Ambient temperature 17  C

In Fig. 4 the eciency increases as the pipe diameter is reduced. This result was
expected because the smaller diameter led to a greater solar radiation density on the
active area of the pipe. However, there are some limitations on the reduction of the
pipe's diameter as a result of the sun's re¯ective image.
In Figs. 5 and 6, it can be seen that the eciency increases with the increase of the
mirror's active diameter and the intensity of solar radiation respectively. This is due
to the increase, in both cases, of the solar radiation density.
Fig. 7 shows the variation of the outlet temperature as a function of the pipe
length for di€erent ¯ux values.
48 G.C. Bakos et al. / Applied Energy 68 (2001) 43±50

Fig. 3. PTC eciency n as a function of pipe length L and ¯uid ¯ux (kg/s), as indicated by the respective
curve.

Fig. 4. PTC eciency n as a funtion of pipe length L and pipe diameter (cm) as indicated with the
respective curve.
 G.C. Bakos et al. / Applied Energy 68 (2001) 43±50 49

Fig. 5. PTC eciency n as a funtion of pipe length L and mirrors active diameter (cm) as indicated with
the respective curve.

Fig. 6. PTC eciency n as a function of pipe length L and solar radiation intensity (W/m2) as indicated
with the respective curve.
50 G.C. Bakos et al. / Applied Energy 68 (2001) 43±50

Fig. 7. Variation of outlet temperature To as a function of the pipe length L and ¯uid ¯ux (kg/s) as
indicated with the respective curve.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to I. Kakkalis for his valuable
contribution throughout this project.

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