Natural convection heat transfer in V-trough solar concentrators

Date
2013-09
Authors
Anderson, TN
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer
Abstract

Abstract The use of V-trough concentrators offers a simple approach to increasing the radiation incident on a solar receiver; this is particularly useful for increasing the temperature in thermal systems. However in order to accurately predict the performance of thermal systems under concentrated radiation, there is a need to understand the heat loss from them. This study experimentally shows that, for a laterally and longitudinally inclined enclosed V-trough concentrator, the natural convection heat loss can be predicted using an equation of the form Nu = aRab for Rayleigh numbers between 2 × 103 and 1 × 108. It is suggested that the relationship is a good representation of heat transfer in enclosed V-trough concentrators under most practical orientations, and thus lends itself for implementation into design models for V-trough concentrators.

Description
Keywords
Heat transfer , Solar concentrator , V-trough
Source
Solar Energy, vol.95(0), pp.224 - 228
Rights statement
The final publication is available at www.springerlink.com”. (Please also see Publisher’s Version and Citation)