Effects of Tilt Angles on the Thermal Performance of a Solar Parabolic Trough Collector System

Ibrahim Saidu Sintali ,Adekunle Moshood Abioye

doi:10.11648/j.ajasr.20200604.12

Abstract

This paper studied the effects of tilt angles on the thermal performance of a solar parabolic collector system. This is the angle at which the beam solar radiation arriving from the sun will fall perpendicular to the solar collector surface. The quantitative assessments of radiation incident on a tilted plane are very important for designing solar collecting devices. The idea was to evaluate the thermal performance of the solar collector at the monthly optimal tilt angles in Bauchi (latitude 10°30’ North and 10°00’ East). Monthly mean daily global and diffuse components of the solar radiation for 10 years (January, 2009-December, 2019) were collected and used for the simulation using MATLAB software. Also used for the simulation are the developed energy balance equations for evaluation of thermal performances of solar collector. It was observed that, as the tilt angles decreases, both absorber tube and fluid temperatures together with the thermal efficiencies of the collector increased. Higher tilt angles were witnessed during January-February and September-December (20°-33°) and these months were having low temperatures of the absorber tube and the fluid (169°C-228°C and 130°C-117°C respectively). Low tilt angles between March to August (7°-16°) and with temperatures of the absorber tube and fluid between 220°C-235°C and 128°C-142°C respectively. Maximum thermal efficiency of 73% was obtained at the least optimal tilt angles (7°-8°). Thus, for efficient solar radiation collections, solar parabolic trough collector system should be maintained at optimal tilt angles between 7°-33° in Bauchi depending upon the seasonal variations.

Highlights

A nation’s economic development is, more often than not, measured by the ability to effectively and efficiently converting available energy resources into useful energy and the level of utilization of the energy in the economy
Manoj et al [17] carried a similar research in India using real time data acquisition and it was observed that the performance of the collector increases by 78% and the tilt angles for winter period gives the best output results
MATLAB software employed for the predictions the glass-cover temperature, absorber-tube and the fluid with change in time. This was aimed at ascertaining the effects of tilt angles on the thermal performance of solar parabolic trough collector (SPTC) (TE 38)

Summary

Introduction

A nation’s economic development is, more often than not, measured by the ability to effectively and efficiently converting available energy resources into useful energy and the level of utilization of the energy in the economy. Humanity is faced with a critical challenge of expanding the energy services in a sustainable way and at the same time mitigate the environmental impacts usually associated with energy usage. This call for strong campaign for more reliance on energy systems that is environmentally benign, such as solar and wind energy which are renewable energy sources as a way of providing solution to the World energy demands. Solar radiation data provide the best source of information for proper estimation of the amount of average solar incidence radiation necessary for design and assessment of conversion systems for solar energy

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Conclusion