Experimental Investigations on Mild Steel Compound Parabolic Reflector with Aluminum Foil as Selective Surface and Top Cover

AbstractThe paper explores the experimental results of the prototype compound parabolic trough solar collector made of mild steel and its surface coated with an aluminum foil of thickness 10 micron as a selective surface. This prototype has been tested with top cover for instant water heating and steam generation application. The performance of collector has been evaluated with receiver coated with selective absorber coatings. This line focusing parabolic trough yields instantaneous efficiency of 60% with top cover. Actual field experimentation for performance evaluation of prototype system has been done during month of April and May 2012 at Shivaji university, Kolhapur [Latitude: 16.42° N, Longitude: 74.13°W].For the hotter climatic conditions, this type of system may play an important role in industrial process heating applications