Experimental Study of Steam Generation through Solar Parabolic Trough Collector for Prospective Use in Small Industries

The solar parabolic trough collector technology is one of the most reliable technologies in the field of solar thermal. This is due to the fact that temperatures as high as 300-400°C can be achieved using this technology. This technology is used for hot water production, process steam requirement, power generation and many more. In the present work a thermal study on a parabolic trough collector is performed to observe the range of steam temperatures to be useful for small scale industry applications. The paper presents the steam temperatures, temperature profiles for the solar collector components and the solar radiation variation over the day. On the basis of several experiments it was found that in the parabolic trough collector the maximum pressure of 221 bar and the maximum steam temperature of around 374°C is achieved. From the experimental data obtained, the variation in temperatures with solar radiation on clear and intermittent cloud cover is discussed. From the results it can be concluded that this system may be used successfully for production of hot water and steam for use in many different industries such as dairy, textile, paper, timber, bricks, chemicals, plastics etc. Hot water and steam from solar system can be used in small scale industries for rose water making, cooking, drying, sterilization, food processing etc. In this paper a design for rose water making process through parabolic trough collector has been proposed. Keywords: Solar concentrator, parabolic trough, cylindrical parabolic collector, steam, temperature profile, industry applications.