Energy 48 (2012) 298e306

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Energy
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A detailed thermal model of a parabolic trough collector receiver

Soteris A. Kalogirou*
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, P. O. Box 50329, 3603 Limassol, Cyprus

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Parabolic trough collectors are made by bending a sheet of reflective material into a parabolic shape. A
Received 26 October 2011 metal black pipe, covered with a glass tube to reduce heat losses, is placed along the focal line of the
Received in revised form collector. The concentrated radiation reaching the receiver tube heats the fluid that circulates through it,
24 March 2012
thus transforming the solar radiation into useful heat. It is sufficient to use a single axis tracking of the
Accepted 8 June 2012
sun and thus long collector modules are produced. In this paper a detailed thermal model of a parabolic
Available online 11 July 2012
trough collector is presented. The thermal analysis of the collector receiver takes into consideration all
modes of heat transfer; convection into the receiver pipe, in the annulus between the receiver and the
Keywords:
Parabolic trough
glass cover, and from the glass cover to ambient air; conduction through the metal receiver pipe and
Heat loss glass cover walls; and radiation from the metal receiver pipe and glass cover surfaces to the glass cover
Conduction and the sky respectively. The model is written in the Engineering Equation Solver (EES) and is validated
Convection radiation with known performance of existing collectors and subsequently is used to perform an analysis of the
Receiver thermal performance collector we are going to install at Archimedes Solar Energy Laboratory at the Cyprus University of
Technology.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
As shown in Fig. 1, a parabolic trough collector (PTC) is made by
bending a sheet of reflective material into a parabolic shape. A
metal black pipe, covered with a glass tube to reduce heat losses, is
placed along the focal line of the collector. When the parabola is
pointed towards the sun, the parallel rays incident on the reflector
are reflected and focused onto the receiver tube. The concentrated
radiation reaching the receiver tube heats the fluid that circulates
through it, thus transforming the solar radiation into useful heat. It
is sufficient to use a single axis tracking of the sun and thus long
collector modules are produced [1,2].
The collector can be orientated in an east-west direction,
tracking the sun from north to south, or orientated in a north-south
direction, tracking the sun from east to west. The advantages of the
former tracking mode is that very little collector adjustment is
required during the day and the full aperture always faces the sun
at noon time but the collector performance during the early and
late hours of the day is greatly reduced due to large incidence
angles (cosine loss). North-south orientated troughs have their
highest cosine loss at noon and the lowest in the mornings and
evenings when the sun is due east or due west. Over the period of
one year, a horizontal north-south trough field usually collects
slightly more energy than a horizontal east-west one. However the
* Tel.: þ357 2500 2621; fax: þ357 2500 2637.
E-mail address: Soteris.kalogirou@cut.ac.cy.
north-south field collects a lot of energy in summer and much less
in winter. The east-west field collects more energy in winter than
a north-south field and less in summer, providing a more constant
annual output. Therefore, the choice of orientation usually depends
on the application and whether more energy is needed during
summer or during winter [1,2].
Parabolic trough technology is the most advanced of the solar
thermal technologies because of considerable experience with the
systems and the development of a small commercial industry to
produce and market these systems. Parabolic trough collectors are
built in modules that are supported from the ground by simple
pedestals at either end. Photographs of PTC collectors are shown
in Fig. 2.
Parabolic trough collectors are the most mature solar technology
to generate heat at temperatures up to 400
C for solar thermal
electricity generation or process heat applications. The biggest
application of this type of system is the Southern California power
plants, known as Solar Electric Generating Systems (SEGS), which
have a total installed capacity of 354 MWe [3]. SEGS I is 14 MWe,
SEGS IIeVII are 30 MWe each and SEGS VIII and IX are 80 MWe each.
The receiver of a parabolic trough is linear. Usually a tube is
placed along the focal line to form an external surface receiver (see
Fig. 1). The size of the tube, and therefore the concentration ratio, is
determined by the size of the reflected sun image and the
manufacturing tolerances of the trough. The surface of the receiver
is typically plated with selective coating that has a high absorptance
for solar irradiation but a low emittance for thermal radiation.

0360-5442/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2012.06.023
 S.A. Kalogirou / Energy 48 (2012) 298e306
Fig. 1. Schematic of a parabolic trough collector.
A glass cover tube is usually placed around the receiver tube to
reduce the convective heat loss from the receiver, thereby further
reducing the heat loss coefficient. A disadvantage, resulting from
the use of the glass cover tube, is that the reflected light from the
concentrator must pass through the glass to reach the receiver,
adding a transmittance loss of about 0.9, when the glass is clean.
The glass envelope usually has an anti-reflective coating to improve
transmissivity. One way to further reduce convective heat loss from
the receiver tube and thereby increase the performance of the
collector, particularly for high temperature applications, is to
evacuate the space between the glass cover tube and the receiver.
The total receiver tube length of PTCs is usually from 25 m to 150 m.
New developments in the field of parabolic trough collectors
aim at cost reduction and improvements of the technology. In one
system the collector can be washed automatically thus reducing
drastically the maintenance cost, which is the mostly used process
required [1].
A comprehensive review on parabolic trough collectors and
their applications is presented by Fernandez-Garcia et al. [4]. The
review covers a historical survey, types of collectors and their
characteristics and applications by region/country and by process
coupled to the collector such as concentrating solar power (CSP),
industrial process heat (IPH), hot water and space heating, air
conditioning and refrigeration, pumping irrigation water, desali-
nation and solar chemistry.
The purpose of this paper is to present a detail thermal model of
the receiver of the collector. Many researchers presented studies of
energy models of parabolic trough collectors. The most important
ones are the study of Karimi et al. [5], Forristall [6] and Gong et al.
[7]. Karimi et al. [5] applied a piecewise two-dimensional model of
the receiver by considering the circumferential variation of solar
flux, performed by dividing the receiver into longitudinal and
isothermal nodal sections and applying the principle of energy
balance to the glazing and receiver nodes. Forristall [6] build and
analysed both a 1-D and a 2-D heat transfer model of a PTC receiver
Fig. 2. Photos of parabolic trough collectors (left picture is Eurotrough, right picture is industrial solar technology collector).
299
implemented in EES. A recent study presented by Gong et al. [7]
presented an optimised model and tested China’s first high
temperature parabolic trough receiver.
Various other groups published models of PTCs. Premjit et al. [8]
presented a numerical investigation of parabolic trough receiver
performance with outer vacuum shell whereas Munoz et al. [9]
presented the thermal regimes in solar thermal linear collectors.
The type of collector considered however in this last paper is linear
Fresnel type which is different than the PTC. Tao and He [10] pre-
sented also a numerical study on coupled fluid flow and heat
transfer process in a PTC tube. In this work a unified two-
dimensional model is developed and the temperature distribu-
tions in the receiver are presented. Huang et al. [11] presented the
performance simulation of a PTC. The paper deals with the optical
performance of a PTC and a new analytical model is given. The
effects of the optical error, tracking error, position error, optical
properties of reflector, transmittance and absorptivity of vacuum
tube receiver and efficiencies of the trough systems are simulated
and analysed.
Some other important designs of solar collectors published are
the works presented by Issa et al. [12] and concern v-trough
concentrators, and Al-Nimr et al. [13,14] and concern size optimi-
sation and a tubeless solar collector respectively.
The model presented in this paper takes into consideration all
modes of heat transfer; convection into the receiver pipe, in the
annulus between the receiver and the glass cover, and from the
glass cover to ambient air; conduction through the metal receiver
pipe and glass cover walls; and radiation from the metal receiver
pipe to glass cover and from glass cover to the sky.
2. The energy model
Although for low-temperature applications bare tube receivers
can be used the usual case is to have a glazed receiver, so only this case
is considered in this paper. For the annulus between the receiver and
300
the glass cover two conditions are considered the vacuum and the air
case. The former is usually used in high temperature applications.
The model is written in Engineering Equation Solver (EES) [15].
This is done for two reasons; the EES includes routines to estimate
the properties of various substances by specifying any two prop-
erties, such as temperature and pressure and EES can be called from
TRNSYS which allows the development of a model which can use
the capabilities of both programs. The model is validated with
known performance of existing collectors and subsequently was
used to perform an analysis of the collector we are going to install
at Archimedes Solar Energy Laboratory at the Cyprus University of
Technology.
The collector performance model uses an energy balance
between the fluid flowing through the receiver, usually a heat
transfer fluid (HTF), and the atmosphere. It includes all equations
necessary to predict the various expressions of the energy balance,
which depend on the ambient conditions and the collector receiver
optical properties and condition.
A cross-section of the collector receiver and the subscript defi-
nitions are shown in Fig. 3a whereas Fig. 3b shows the steady-state
thermal resistance model obtained from an energy balance of the
receiver. The model assumes that all temperatures, heat fluxes, and
thermodynamic properties are uniform around the circumference
of the receiver. This is not very true as the radiation profile is not
uniform and the bottom part receives much higher solar flux than
the top part because of the radiation reflected by the parabolic
mirror. For small solar collectors however, this simplification does
not introduce severe inaccuracies. In the resistance model the
incoming solar energy and optical losses have been omitted for
clarity. The optical losses are due to imperfections in the collector
mirrors, tracking errors, shading and cleanliness of the mirror and
receiver glazing. The incoming solar energy, which effectively is
equal to the solar energy input minus optical losses, is absorbed by
the glass envelope (qgo,SolAbs) and receiver pipe (qpo,SolAbs). Most of
the energy that is absorbed by the receiver is conducted through
the receiver pipe material (qpi-po,cond) and eventually transferred to
the HTF by convection (qf-pi,conv). The remaining energy is trans-
mitted back to the glass envelope by convection (qpo-gi,conv) and
radiation (qpo-gi,rad). The energy reaching the glass cover from
radiation and convection then passes through the glass envelope
a (sky) s
Glass cover
(air) a
Heat transfer fluid
po
pi go
f gi
Receiver pipe
qpo,SolAbs
Nomenclature
b The Nusselt number depends on the type of flow through the
HTF PIPE ANNULUS GLASS
Rpo-gi,rad
Rf-pi,conv Rpi-po,cond Rgi-go,cond
f pi po gi
Rpo-gi,conv
Thermal resistance model
Fig. 3. Collector receiver model a) nomenclature, b) Thermal resistance network for
the cross-section of the receiver.
S.A. Kalogirou / Energy 48 (2012) 298e306
wall by conduction (qgi-go,cond) and along with the energy absorbed
by the glass envelope wall (qgo,SolAbs) is lost to the environment by
convection to ambient air (qgo-a,conv) and radiation towards the sky
(qgo-s,rad).
The energy balance equations are determined by considering
that the energy is conserved at each surface of the receiver cross-
section, shown in Fig. 3. Therefore:
qfpi;conv ¼ qpipo;cond (1)
qpo;SolAbs ¼ qpogi;conv þ qpogi;rad þ qpipo;cond (2)
qpogi;conv þ qpogi;rad ¼ qgigo;cond (3)
qgigo;cond þ qgo;SolAbs ¼ qgoa;conv þ qgos;rad (4)
qHeatLoss ¼ qgoa;conv þ qgos;rad (5)
It should be noted that the solar absorption at the outside pipe,
qpo,SolAbs and outside glass, qgo,SolAbs surfaces are treated as heat
flux expressions, which simplifies the solar absorption expressions
as it considers the heat conduction through the receiver pipe and
glass envelope wall to be linear. In reality, the solar absorption in
the glass envelope wall (semitransparent material) and receiver
pipe (opaque metal material) are volumetric phenomena. However,
it is well known from heat transfer textbooks [16] that most of the
absorption in the metallic surfaces (receiver pipe) occurs very close
to the surface (within a few mm) and although solar absorption
occurs throughout the thickness of the glass envelope wall, the
absorptance is very small (a ¼ 0.02). Thus, the error in treating solar
absorption as a surface phenomenon is very small.
The various heat transfer interactions are analysed in different
sections below, starting from the heat transfer fluid inside towards
the air and sky outside the receiver assembly.
2.1. Convection heat transfer between the HTF and the receiver pipe
Newton’s law of cooling states that the convection heat transfer
from the inside surface of the receiver pipe to the HTF is given by
hA(Ts  TN). Therefore, in the case of the PTC model and using the
nomenclature adopted in Fig. 3:


qfpi;conv ¼ hf pDpi Tpi  Tf (6)
qgo,SolAbs
and the convection heat transfer coefficient at the inside pipe
diameter, hf is given by:
kf
hf ¼ NuDpi (7)
Dpi
where: NuDpi ¼ Nusselt number based on Dpi ()
In Eq. (6), both Tf and Tpi are independent of angular and
longitudinal directions of the receiver. The same applies for all
temperatures and properties in the energy model.
receiver pipe. The model includes conditional statements to
Rgo-s,rad determine the type of flow, although usually, at typical operating
s SKY conditions, the flow in the receiver pipe is well within the turbulent
go
a AIR flow region. Additionally it is assumed that the flow in the pipe is
Rgo-a,conv thermally and hydrodynamically fully developed, which is fully
correct for the turbulent flow regime (except for the initial length
corresponding to the first 10 pipe diameters). It is however not fully
correct for the laminar flow regime but as these collectors are
usually very long and rarely operate in the laminar flow regime (to
 S.A. Kalogirou / Energy 48 (2012) 298e306 301

have an increased heat transfer coefficient) the possible error
introduced is not important and can be considered as a safety
margin, as the Nuselt number and thus the convection coefficient,
in the developing region is bigger than the one in the fully devel-
oped region. Additionally, in the laminar flow the entrance region is
not that big as the circulating fluid is water with a relatively low
Prandtl number.
When the Reynolds number is lower than 2300, laminar flow
exists in the receiver pipe and the Nusselt number is constant. For
pipe flow, the constant value, assuming constant heat flux, as in the
case of a PTC, is equal to 4.36 [16].
Turbulent and transitional cases occur at Reynolds
number > 2300. Therefore, the following Nusselt number correla-
tion developed by Gnielinski [17] is used for the convective heat
transfer from the receiver pipe to the HTF:
The thermal conductivity depends on the receiver pipe material
type. The receiver performance model includes three types of
stainless steels (304L, 316L, and 321H) and one copper, which can
be chosen by the user at the beginning. If copper is chosen, the
thermal conductivity is constant equal to 385 W/m-
C. If stainless
steel 304L or 316L is chosen, the thermal conductivity is calculated
with the following equation:
kpipe ¼ ð0:013ÞTpipo þ 15:2 (11)
and if stainless steel 321H is chosen:
kpipe ¼ ð0:0153ÞTpipo þ 14:775 (12)
Both equations were determined by linearly fitting data from
Davis [18].

fpi

 !0:11 2.3. Heat transfer from the receiver pipe to the glass envelope
8 ReDpi  1000 Prf Prf
NuDpi ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi

As was mentioned before, between the receiver pipe and the
1 þ 12:7 fpi =8 Prf  1 Prpi
2=3
glass envelope heat transfer occur by convection and radiation.
For 0:5 < Prf < 2000 and 2300 < ReDpi < 5  106 Convection heat transfer depends on the annulus pressure [19]. At
low pressures (<0.013 Pa), heat transfer is by molecular conduc-
(8)
tion, whereas at higher pressures is by free convection. Because
with there is a difference in temperature between the outsider receiver
pipe surface and the inside glass envelope surface, radiation heat
h
 i2
fpi ¼ 1:82 log ReDpi  1:64 (9) transfer also occurs. The radiation heat transfer calculation is
simplified by assuming that the glass envelope wall is opaque to
where infrared radiation and gray surfaces, for which (r ¼ a). All these are
examined separately in the following sections.
Prf ¼ Prandtl number evaluated at the HTF temperature, Tf ()
Prpi ¼ Prandtl number evaluated at the receiver pipe inside 2.3.1. Convection heat transfer
surface temperature, Tpi () As mentioned above, two heat transfer mechanisms are
considered in the determination of the convection heat transfer
Except for Prpi, all fluid properties are evaluated at the mean HTF between the receiver pipe and glass envelope wall (qpo-gi,conv).
temperature, Tf. The correlation assumes uniform heat flux and These are the free-molecular and natural convection [19]. The cases
temperature, and assumes that the receiver pipe has a smooth of vacuum and pressure in the annulus are examined separately.
inside surface. a) Vacuum in annulus: When the annulus is under vacuum
The above equations are valid for both turbulent pipe flow and (pressure <0.013 Pa), the convection heat transfer between the
the transitional flow which occur for Reynolds numbers between receiver pipe and glass envelope occurs by free-molecular
2300 and 4000 [16]. Furthermore, the above correlations are convection and is given by [20]:
adjusted for fluid property variations between the receiver pipe  
wall temperature and the bulk fluid temperature. If the correlation qpogi;conv ¼ pDpo hpogi Tpo  Tgi (13)
is used out of the range of validity, shown in Eq. (8), the program where
will display a warning message.
kstd
hpogi ¼ !
Dpo Dpo
2.2. Conduction heat transfer through the receiver pipe wall   þ bl þ1
Dgi Dgi (14)
2 ln
Dpo
Conduction heat transfer through the receiver pipe wall is   4
determined by the Fourier’s law of conduction through a hollow For : RaDgi < Dgi = Dgi  Dpo
cylinder given by [16]:
and
 
2pkpipe Tpi  Tpo
qpipo;cond ¼ ! (10) ð2  aÞð9g  5Þ
Dpo b ¼ (15)
ln 2aðg þ 1Þ
Dpi
 
where 2:331  1020 Tpogi þ 273
l ¼
 (16)
2
Pa d
kpipe ¼ receiver pipe thermal conductivity at the average
receiver pipe temperature (Tpi þ Tpo)/2 (W/m-
C) where kstd ¼ thermal conductivity of the annulus gas at standard
temperature and pressure (W/m-
C)
In this equation the thermal conductivity is considered as This correlation slightly overestimates the heat transfer for very
constant, and evaluated at the average temperature between the small pressures (<0.013 Pa). The molecular diameters of air, d, is
inside and outside receiver pipe surfaces. obtained from Marshal [21] and is equal to 3.55  108 cm, the
302 S.A. Kalogirou / Energy 48 (2012) 298e306

thermal conductivity of air is 0.02551 W/m-
C, the interaction
coefficient is 1.571, the mean-free-path between collisions of
a molecule is 88.67 cm, and the ratio of specific heats for the annulus
air is 1.39. These are for average fluid temperature of 300
C and
pressure equal to 0.013 Pa. Using these values, the convection heat
transfer coefficients (hpo-gi) is equal to 0.0001115 W/m2-
C.
b) Pressure in annulus: If the receiver annulus vacuum is lost or
the receiver is filled or partially filled with ambient air
(pressure > 0.013 Pa), the convection heat transfer mechanism
between the receiver pipe and glass envelope occurs by
natural convection. For this purpose the Raithby and
Holland’s correlation for natural convection in an annular space
(enclosure) between horizontal concentric cylinders is used, given
by [16]:
2.4. Conduction heat transfer through the glass envelope
The anti-reflective treatment on the inside and outside surfaces
of the glass envelope is assumed not to introduce any thermal
resistance or to have any effect on the glass emissivity. This is
reasonably accurate since the treatment is usually a chemical
etching which does not add any additional elements to the glass
surface [6]. The conduction heat transfer through the glass enve-
lope uses the same equation as the conduction through the receiver
pipe wall described in Section 2.2. As in the receiver case, the
temperature distribution is assumed to be linear. Furthermore, the
thermal conductivity of the glass (kglass) is assumed constant e as
explained in Section 2.1 e with a value of 1.04, which corresponds
to Pyrex glass [22].

2pkeff  
2.5. Heat transfer from the glass envelope to the atmosphere
qpogi;conv ¼   Tgi  Tpo For : 0:7  Prpogi
Dgi
ln (17)
Dpo The heat transfer from the glass envelope to the atmosphere
2
 6000 and 10  Fcyl Rapogi  10 7 occurs by convection and radiation. Depending on whether there is
wind the convection will either be forced or natural. Radiation heat
!1 loss occurs due to the temperature difference between the glass
keff Prpogi 4
1 envelope and sky. All these are examined separately below.
4
¼ 0:386 Fcyl RaDpo (18)
kag 0:861 þ Prpogi
2.5.1. Convection heat transfer
The convection heat transfer is determined by knowing the
 

Dgi 4 Nusselt number, which depends on whether the convection heat

ln transfer is natural (no wind) or forced (wind case). When there is
Dpo
Fcyl ¼
 (19) wind, the convection heat transfer from the glass envelope to the
3=5 3=5 5
L3c Dgi  Dpo atmosphere presents a much bigger heat loss. This is estimated
ðDgi  Dpo Þ from Newton’s law of cooling:
in these equations the critical length is given by: Lc ¼ .
2  
where
qgoa;conv ¼ hgoa pDgo Tgo  Ta (21)
kag ¼ thermal conductivity of annulus gas at Tpo-gi (W/m-
C)
Prpo-gi ¼ Prandtl number for gas properties evaluated at Tpo-gi kair
hgoa ¼ Nu (22)
() Dgo Dgo
RaDpo ¼ Rayleigh number evaluated at Dpo ()
where
This correlation assumes long, horizontal, concentric cylinders
at uniform temperatures. All physical properties are evaluated at hgo-a ¼ convection heat transfer coefficient for air at (Tgo  Ta)/2
the average temperature (Tpo þ Tgi)/2. (W/m2-
C)
kair ¼ thermal conductivity of air at (Tgo  Ta)/2 (W/m-
C)
2.3.2. Radiation Heat Transfer NuDgo ¼ average Nusselt number based on the glass envelope
In deriving an equation for the radiation heat transfer, several outside diameter Dgo ()
assumptions were made as follows:
a) No wind: When there is no wind, the convection heat transfer
 Non-participating gas in the annulus, from the glass envelope to the environment occurs by natural
 The surfaces are gray, convection and the correlation developed by Churchill and Chu is
 Diffuse reflections and irradiation used to estimate the Nusselt number [16]:
 Long concentric isothermal cylinders, and
2 32
 The glass envelope is opaque to infrared radiation. 1=6
0387RDgoa
NuDgo ¼ 40:60 þ n 5
  9 o278 (23)
Not all these assumptions are completely accurate. For instance, 1 þ 0:559=Prgoa 16
the glass envelope wall and the selective coatings are not gray, and
the glass envelope wall is not completely opaque for the entire 105 < RaDgo < 1012
thermal radiation spectrum [22]. However, any errors associated
 
with the assumptions are relatively small. g b Tgo  Ta D3go
The radiation heat transfer between the receiver pipe and glass RaDgo ¼ Prgoa (24)
v2goa
envelope (qpo-gi,rad) is estimated with the following equation [16]:

 1
4  T4
spDpo Tpo b¼ (25)
gi Τgoa
qpogi;rad ¼   !! (20)
1 1  3 gi Dpo
þ vgoa
3 po 3 gi Dgi Prgoa ¼ (26)
agoa
 S.A. Kalogirou / Energy 48 (2012) 298e306 303

where report [24], which was based on field tests conducted by Dudley et al.
[25], and software performance modelling. These are as follows:

RaDgo ¼ Rayleigh number for air based on the glass envelope
outside diameter, Dgo ()
ago-a ¼ thermal diffusivity for air at Tgo-a (m2/s)
Prgo-a ¼ Prandtl number for air at Tgo-a ()
ngo-a ¼ kinematic viscosity for air at Tgo-a (m2/s)
This correlation assumes a long isothermal horizontal cylinder.
Also, all the fluid properties are determined at the mean film
temperature, (Tgo þ Ta)/2.
b) Wind: When there is wind, the convection heat transfer from
the glass envelope to the environment occurs by forced convection.
The Nusselt number in this case is estimated with Zhukauskas’
correlation for external forced convection flow normal to an
isothermal cylinder [23]:
 1
Pra 4 incident angle modifier is used, which accounts for end shading of
NuDgo ¼ C Rem n
Dgo Pra 0:7 < Pra < 500;
Prgo (27)
and 1 < ReDgo < 106
the constants C and m are given in Table 1, obtained from Incropera
et al. [23] whereas the constant n is equal to 0.37 for Pr  10 and is
equal to 0.36 for Pr > 10.
All fluid properties are evaluated at atmospheric temperature,
Ta, except Prgo, which is evaluated at the glass envelope wall outside
surface temperature.
2.5.2. Radiation heat transfer
In this model, the useful solar irradiance is considered in the
solar absorption expressions. Thus, the radiation transfer between
the glass envelope wall and sky is caused by the temperature
difference between the glass cover and the sky. This is done by
assuming that the cover is a small convex gray object in a large
blackbody cavity, the sky. In this case, net radiation transfer
between the glass envelope and sky is given by [16]:


4
qgos;rad ¼ s3 go pDgo Tgo  Ts4 (28)
It should be noted that the sky, especially during non-clear
conditions, does not act as a blackbody; however, it is common
practice to model it as such and to use an effective sky temperature
to compensate for the difference [1]. To simplify the model, the
effective sky temperature is approximated as Ta-8
C, despite the
fact that several relations have been proposed to relate the effective
sky temperature for clear skies to measured meteorological data.
esh ¼ Receiver shadowing (bellows, shielding, supports), 0.974
()
etr ¼ Tracking error, 0.994 ()
ege ¼ Geometry error (mirror alignment), 0.98 ()
rcl ¼ Clean mirror reflectance, 0.935 ()
edm ¼ Dirt on mirrors (reflectivity/rcl) [reflectivity is an input
parameter, usual value: 0.88e0.93]
eda ¼ Dirt on receiver, (1 þ edm)/2 ()
eun ¼ Unaccounted, 0.96 ()
The terms, esh, etr, ege, and eun, are estimates. The clean mirror
reflectance rcl is a known value, and the two dirt effects edm and eda
are obtained from recommendations by Duffie and Beckman [26]. It
should be noted that these parameters are valid only for normal
solar incidence irradiance. To account for incident angle losses, the
the trough, reflection and refraction loses, and selective coating
incident angle effects.
The above list of parameters account for collector geometric
effects (shadowing, tracking, alignment), mirror and glass envelope
transmittance effects (mirror reflectance and dirt), and a parameter
for unexplained differences between field test data and modelled
data. All these values can be altered by the user if better and more
accurate values become available.
Generally, the incident angle modifier is used to account for cases
when the solar irradiance is not normal to the collector aperture [1,2].
It is a function of the solar incidence angle (q) to the normal of the
collector aperture. The equation determined from a collector testing
carried out at Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) is given by [25]:
2
Kq ¼ cosðqÞ þ 0:000884q  0:00005369q (29)
Other optical properties required include the selective coating
absorptance and emittance, and the glass envelope transmittance,
absorptance and emittance. The glass envelope absorptance and
emissittance are constant (independent of temperature) and
independent of selective coating type. The values used in the model
are a ¼ 0.02 and 3 ¼ 0.86 and can be changed by the user if there is
a need. The glass envelope transmittance and the selective coating
absorptance and emittance depend on the type of selective coating.
Both the envelope transmittance and the coating absorptance are
constants; whereas the coating emittance is a function of temper-
ature. The properties of the Luz cerment selective coating type used
in the model are as follow [6]:

2.6. Solar irradiance absorption  Envelope transmittance ¼ 0.935 ()

In this model the optical efficiency terms are estimated and
combined to form an effective optical efficiency, which is subse-
quently used to determine the optical loss and solar absorption
expressions. The optical properties used in the collector perfor-
mance model were obtained from a combination of sources.
The parameters used to estimate effective optical efficiencies are
generated from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
 Coating absorptance ¼ 0.92 ()
 Coating emittance ¼ 0.06 at 100
C and 0.15 at 400
C ()
The emittance equation used for the selective coating consid-
ered, which coincide with the emittance values given above is [6]:
Coating Emittance; 3 po ¼ 0:000327ðT þ 273:15Þ
(30)
 0:065971

Table 1 The emittance values between the two reference points, of

Constants for Equation (27).
100
C and 400
C, are nearly linear. It should be noted that the
ReD C m temperature in Eq. (30) is in degrees Celsius.
1e40 0.75 0.4
40e1000 0.51 0.5 2.6.1. Solar irradiance absorption in the glass envelope
1000e200000 0.26 0.6 As stated in Section 2.1, to simplify the model and although
200000e1000000 0.076 0.7
physically this is not true, the solar absorption into the glass
304 S.A. Kalogirou / Energy 48 (2012) 298e306

envelope wall is treated as a heat flux. In fact, the solar absorption in

the glass envelope wall is a heat generation phenomenon and as
such is a function of the glass wall thickness. However, this
assumption introduces an insignificant error since the glass enve-
lope wall is relatively thin and the solar absorptance coefficient for
glass is very small, 0.02 [22]. Additionally, the optical efficiency is
used to calculate the solar absorption in the glass envelope given by:

qgo;SolAbs ¼ qsol henv aenv (31)

with

henv ¼ esh etr ege edm eda eun rcl Kq (32)

All parameters in Equation (32), except the incidence angle

modifier (Kq), are taken from the above list. Furthermore, the solar
irradiance term (qsol) in Equation (31) is determined by multiplying
Fig. 5. Comparison of measured against predicted heat lossereceiver annulus vacuum.
the direct normal solar irradiance (DNI) by the projected normal
reflective surface area of the collector, i.e., aperture area, and
dividing by the receiver length. In both equations, all terms are 1
assumed to be independent of temperature. UL
0 !
F ¼ (36)
1 Dpo Dpo Dpo
2.6.2. Solar irradiance absorption in the receiver pipe þ þ ln
As stated before, the solar energy absorbed by the receiver pipe
UL hf Dpi 2kf Dpi
occurs essentially at the surface; therefore, it is treated as a heat
the factor UL represents the collector heat loss coefficient which is
flux (see Section 2.1). Therefore, the equation for the solar
the summation of the coefficients for conduction through the glass
absorption in the receiver pipe is given by:
cover, convection from the outside of the receiver pipe to the
annulus space and ambient air, and radiation from the outside of
qpo;SolAbs ¼ qsol habs aabs (33)
the receiver pipe to the sky, given in Sections 2.3e2.5. So if this
parameter needs to be estimated, the above equations can be
With habs ¼ henv senv (34) employed to calculate it quickly.
In Equation (33), the effective optical efficiency of the glass
envelope, henv is obtained by Equation (32) and as before, all terms 3. Code testing
are assumed to be independent of temperature.
The code developed is tested using known performance
2.7. Heat removal factor measurements from test carried out at SNL and presented in
Dudley et al. [25]. The information required to input to EES code is
The heat removal factor represents the ratio of the actual useful the following:
energy gain that would result if the collector-absorbing surface had
been at the local fluid temperature. In Equation form this is given by [1]: 1. Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) (W/m2)
2. Inlet temperature (
C)


_ p
mc U F 0 Ar 3. Wind speed (m/s)
FR ¼ 1  Exp  L (35)
A r UL _ p
mc 4. Ambient temperature (
C)
5. Solar incidence angle (
)
where F΄ is the collector efficiency factor, given by [1]: 6. Coating absorptance ()
7. Coating emittance at 100
C ()
8. Coating emittance at 400
C ()
9. Mirror reflectivity ()

Fig. 4. Comparison of measured against predicted thermal efficiencyereceiver annulus

vacuum. Fig. 6. Comparison of measured against predicted thermal efficiencyereceiver annulus air.
 S.A. Kalogirou / Energy 48 (2012) 298e306 305

750 75
725 72.5
700 70
675 67.5

Heat (W/m)

Efficiency
650 65
625 62.5
600 60
575 Heat gain 57.5
550 Efficiency 55
525 52.5
500 50
50 75 100 125 150 175 200
HTF temperature (°C)

Fig. 8. Performance of the collector that will be installed at Archimedes solar energy
laboratory.

Fig. 7. Comparison of measured against predicted heat lossereceiver annulus air.

The collector to be installed at the roof of the laboratory will
have a length of 12.2 m and consists of galvanised steel mounts,
10. Glass envelope transmittance () lightweight, stiff and precise parabolic reflector panels manufac-
11. Annulus pressure or vacuum () tured from reinforced polymeric material, a structurally efficient
12. Annulus absolute pressure (kPa) galvanised steel torque tube, a tubular receiver and an accurate
13. HTF flow rate (m3/s) solar tracking system.
14. Type of heat transfer fluid (label) As the collector is able to operate up to about 200
C the
15. Receiver inside diameter (m) selective coating properties are assumed to be constant to all
16. Receiver outside diameter (m) possible temperature range. The results of the program are shown
17. Glass envelope inside diameter (m) graphically in Fig. 8 and give a thermal efficiency of about 58% at
18. Glass envelope outside diameter (m) 200
C, which is very satisfactory. These results were obtained at
19. Collector aperture area (m2) a solar radiation of 900 W/m2, wind speed of 0.45 m/s, flow rate of
20. Shadowing () 8.8 kg/s and ambient temperature of 25
C and ambient air at
21. Tracking error () atmospheric pressure in receiver annulus. These findings are in
22. Dirt factor on glass envelope () agreement with the value of efficiency given by the manufacturer
23. Dirt factor on mirror () and will be validated in the near future when the collector instal-
lation is finalised.
A comparison of the performance of the code developed and the
tests conducted at SNL is shown in the following figures. Figs. 4 and 4. Conclusions
5 show a comparison of the actual efficiency and heat loss of the
collector with the values determined from the EES code developed, In this paper a detailed thermal model, which can be used for
when vacuum exists in the receiver annulus. the analysis of a parabolic trough collector receiver is presented.
Similar results for air in the receiver annulus are presented in The model takes into consideration all modes of heat transfer;
Figs. 6 and 7. In all cases the agreement between the experimental convection into the receiver pipe, in the annulus between the
results and those obtained by the EES code is very acceptable. The receiver and the glass cover, and from glass cover to ambient air;
agreement is better for the air case whereas in both cases the conduction through the metal receiver pipe and glass cover walls;
difference increases with increasing operating temperature. The and radiation from the metal receiver pipe to the glass cover and
possible reason for the deviation presented in the case of heat loss from glass cover to the sky. The model is written in the Engineering
is the dependence of the optical properties on the temperature, Equation Solver (EES). The validation of the model is done using the
which was ignored. known performance of existing collectors tested at Sandia National
Finally, the code developed is used with the characteristics of the Laboratories, and its performance is very satisfactory. Finally, the
collector we will erect at the premises of the Cyprus University of model is used to perform an analysis of the collector we are going to
Technology and in particular at the Archimedes Solar Energy Labo- install at the Archimedes Solar Energy Laboratory of the Cyprus
ratory (ASEL). The collector is supplied from the Australian company University of Technology.
NEP-SOLAR and has the characteristics presented in Table 2.
Nomenclature
Table 2
Characteristics of the collector we will install at Archimedes solar a accommodation coefficient ()
energy laboratory. Ar receiver area (m2)
Parameter Value b interaction coefficient ()
Number of collector modules 6
cp specific heat capacity (J/kg-
C)
Collector Length 1993 mm Dpi inside diameter of the receiver pipe (m)
Collector width 1208 mm Dpo outside receiver pipe diameter (m)
Parabola focal distance 647 mm Dgi inside glass envelope diameter (m)
Mirror reflectivity 93.5%
Dgo outside glass envelope diameter (m)
Receiver material Stainless steel 304 L
Receiver external diameter 28 mm F0 collector efficiency factor ()
Receiver internal diameter 25 mm fpi friction factor for the inside surface of the receiver pipe,
Glass tube transmittance 0.89 Dpi ()
Selective coating absorptance 0.93 h convection heat transfer coefficient (W/m2-
C)
Selective coating emittance 0.18
k thermal conductivity (W/m-
C)
306 S.A. Kalogirou / Energy 48 (2012) 298e306

kf thermal conductivity of the HTF at Tf (W/m-
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