- Title
- Solar thermal performance of a conical helix receiver tube mounted on a parabolic dish
- Creator
- Nandjembo, Frans Nelongo Pandeni
- Subject
- Solar energy
- Subject
- Power resources Energy conversion
- Date Issued
- 2018
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MEng
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/32860
- Identifier
- vital:32379
- Description
- This report presents the investigation of a conical helix receiver tube with a zero shading factor to achieve optimal performance of a small concentrating solar thermal collector. In order to understand the working performance of the conical helix receiver tube, it was compared to that of a flat spiral receiver tube. This was done by measuring temperatures at various points as well as the volume airflow rate. Optical studies were achieved using SolTrace to quantify spillage losses and optical efficiency of the dish used in the study from the parabolic dish using a simulation in SolTrace. Comparative tests were conducted between the conical receiver tube and equivalent flat receiver tube at volume air flow rates between 30 m3.h−1 and 45 m3.h−1. The conical helix receiver tube showed a linear temperature distribution, from the outer surface tube towards the inner surface tube in an ascending order, while the flat spiral receiver tube showed a non-linear temperature distribution, its temperature increased in the middle section and decreased towards the inner surface tube. The research showed that an optimally configured helical receiver tube with linear temperature change along its length outperformed the flat receiver tube.
- Format
- xx, 125 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Frans NP Nandjembo March 2018.pdf | 4 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |