Without frequent cleaning, dust accumulation on parabolic trough collectors can lead to significant degradation of the performance of trough collectors over time. Owing to the nature of the trough profile and the presence of the receiving tube in the middle of the trough, automatic cleaning has not been a feasible option. The problem of dust accumulation is of particular interest in the Middle East/North African (MENA) region with the high frequency of dusty days throughout the year. This paper presents a thermal numerical analysis of a novel vacuum cavity parabolic trough collector (VCPTC) in which the top and the sides of the trough were covered with borosilicate sheets and a vacuum was assumed inside the cavity. The typical vacuum tube used in conventional troughs was replaced by a bare stainless steel pipe with selective coating. The new trough with its flat top surface should now be much easier to clean with an automatic cleaning machine. This paper compares the performance of a conventional trough with the new VCPTC in terms of overall heat loss. The results have shown that the VCPTC has slightly outperformed the conventional trough.
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ASME 2014 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
November 14–20, 2014
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Conference Sponsors:
- ASME
ISBN:
978-0-7918-4952-1
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Vacuum Cavity Parabolic Trough Collector Available to Purchase
Yousef Gharbia,
Yousef Gharbia
American University of the Middle East, Kuwait City, Kuwait
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Aref Wazwaz
Aref Wazwaz
Dhofar University, Dhofar, Oman
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Yousef Gharbia
American University of the Middle East, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Said Grami
Dhofar University, Dhofar, Oman
Aref Wazwaz
Dhofar University, Dhofar, Oman
Paper No:
IMECE2014-37103, V06BT07A002; 8 pages
Published Online:
March 13, 2015
Citation
Gharbia, Y, Grami, S, & Wazwaz, A. "Vacuum Cavity Parabolic Trough Collector." Proceedings of the ASME 2014 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. Volume 6B: Energy. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. November 14–20, 2014. V06BT07A002. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/IMECE2014-37103
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