Experimental study of epoxy based graphite coating on parabolic trough solar collector

Abstract

Parabolic Trough Solar Collector is a line concentration method employed to harness solar energy for high-temperature applications. Attempts are made to improve the heat transfer of PTSC by reducing convectional losses of the absorber tube by using covering on the absorber tube. The study attempts to improve the Parabolic Trough Solar Collector performance using epoxy-based graphite coating through experimentation. The experiment is attempted for varied flow rates of 0.3, 0.7 and 1.1 litres per minute. The study highlighted that the coating method improved the rise in thermal fluid temperature over the absorber tube covering method by 24%. The improvement in heat transfer due to the graphite coating can be accounted for by the improvement in absorptivity and insulation, leading to better heat transfer to the thermal fluid utilized in the absorber tube.