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Experimental evaluation of solar thermal performance of linear Fresnel reflector

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Abstract

The solar thermal performance of a 102 kW rated thermal capacity linear Fresnel reflector system was evaluated experimentally under fixed and variable airflow rate through the oil-air heat exchanger. The solar thermal system consisted of 240 mirrors (linear Fresnel solar reflectors), each of 1485 by 625 mm size to heat the thermal oil, which was used to heat the air using the oil to air heat exchanger (AFfE). The results show that the actual maximum efficiency of the solar collector lies in the range of 0.28 to 0.34, whereas the calculated one is about 0.54 for the variable airflow rates. However, for a fixed airflow rate, the actual maximum efficiency is between 0.26 and 0.30. It implies that the actual solar collector efficiency is much lower than the calculated values. One of the major factors, which is not accounted for in the theoretical efficiency calculation, is the effect of dust on the primary and secondary mirrors. The investigated site is observing considerable sand movement, which is affecting the thermal output of the solar collector. The maximum heat exchanger effectiveness, e, obtained for variable and fixed airflow conditions is 0.9 and 0.8, respectively.

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Abbreviations

AHE:

Air heat exchanger

al, a2:

Collector’s thermal coefficients (0.032, 0.00018)

CRT:

Central receiver tube

Cp:

Specific heat of thermal oil, J/kgK

DM:

Direct normal irradiance, W/m2

IAM:

Incident angle modifier

KT :

Transversal incident angle modifier (IAMT)

KL :

Longitudinal incident angle modifier (IAML)

LFR:

Linear Fresnel reflector

ṁ :

Thermal oil mass flow rate, kg/s

P:

Calculated thermal power output, W

Pa :

Actual thermal power output, W

S:

Mirror surface area, m

Tfiuid :

Average inlet and outlet temperature of the fluid, °C

Tair :

Ambient air temperature, °C

Tin :

Oil temperature at the inlet of the receiver tube, °C

Tout :

Oil temperature at the outlet of the receiver tube, °C

Tin, air :

Air temperature at the inlet of the heat exchanger, °C

Tout, air :

Air temperature at the outlet of the heat exchanger, °C

Tin, oil :

Oil temperature at the inlet of the heat exchanger, °C

ΔT:

Differential temperature (Tfluid - Tair), °C

ηo :

Collector’s optical efficiency (0.67)

η c :

Efficiency of the solar collector

ε :

Efficiency of the heat exchanger

a:

Actual

air:

Ambient air

c:

Collector

fluid:

Thermal oil

in:

Inlet

o:

Optical

out:

Outlet

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the support provided by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) through the Science & Technology Unit at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) for funding this work through project No. 10-ENE1372-04 as part of the National Science, Technology and Innovation Plan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Engineering Research, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

    Shafiqur Rehman, Aftab Ahmad & Luai M. Alhems

  2. Toba Tek Singh, Pakistan

    Muhammad M. Rafique

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  1. Shafiqur Rehman
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  2. Aftab Ahmad
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Correspondence to Aftab Ahmad.

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Recommended by Associate Editor Bong Jae Lee

Shafiqur Rehman is a Research Engineer (Associate Professor) at the Center for Engineering Research, the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Pretoria, South Africa in Wind Engineering. His research interests include renewable energy resources assessment, meteorological measurements, wind farm, solar photovoltaic power plant, and hybrid power system design and optimization.

Engr. Aftab Ahmad is a Research Engineer at the Center for Engineering Research of the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran Saudi Arabia. He received an M.S. in Thermal Sciences from King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals in 1988. His current work is in renewable energy, thermal performance of building envelope, energy conservation studies, multiphase flow, instrumentation and heat transfer.

Luai M. Alhems is a Professor of thermo-fluids in Mechanical Engineering at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He received his Ph.D. in 2002 from Texas A&M University-College Station. His research interests are gas turbine, energy systems, failure analysis, wind energy and energy conservation. He is the Director of the Center for Engineering Research (CER), Research Institute at KFUPM.

Muhammad M. Rafique earned his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum & Mnerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. His undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering is from University of Engineering & Technology (UET), Lahore, Pakistan. His main areas of interest are energy conversion and management, desalination, sorption, solar air conditioning, desiccant cooling, heat and mass transfer, and development of renewable energy technologies.

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Rehman, S., Ahmad, A., Alhems, L.M. et al. Experimental evaluation of solar thermal performance of linear Fresnel reflector. J Mech Sci Technol 33, 4555–4562 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-019-0852-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-019-0852-6

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