Investigation on wind-structure interaction of large aperture parabolic trough solar collector

Abstract

Structural analysis and wind load effects on parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC) plays a critical role in the efficient and reliable operation of solar thermal power plants. In this study, the likely effect of the different wind load conditions on the stability of the large aperture PTSC has been undertaken. The investigation is an extension of the coupled optical and thermal analysis of the large aperture of PTSC, considering the manufacturing standard following Euro Trough and the availability of the receiver size (70 mm–110 mm). Based on the optical and thermal analysis, it has been identified that 9 m is the largest achievable aperture size, with a 110 mm absorber having an intercept factor of 0.94. The analysis is performed for the various operating condition such as pitch angle (0°–180°), yaw angle (−90°–90°) and wind speeds (5 m/s to 25 m/s). Firstly, the wind load coefficients have been estimated to determine the pressure, forces and pitching moment on the PTSC. The maximum drag force is encountered for the pitch angle of 0°, i.e. 6888 N for the wind speed of 25 m/s. Based on the pressure and gravity force acting on the concentrator, the effort has also been made to estimate the deformation in the concentrator and same is compared with Euro Trough collector. The maximum variation in the deformation is observed as around 35% for the pitch angle of 30°.