Impact of the Parabolic Solar Concentrator’s Rim Angle on the Quantity of Reflected Rays and Concentrated Flux on the Receiver

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to define the effect of the Solar Parabolic Concentrator’s rim angle on the quantity of the reflected rays and the concentrated flux of the receiver. Six rim angles $15^{\circ}, 25^{\circ}, 45^{\circ}, 60^{\circ}, 75^{\circ}$ and 90° have been studied and simulated using Comsol multiphysics which is a numerical simulation software based on the finite element method. A simulation was carried out under genuine states of ambient temperature and direct normal radiation in Rabat. The results show that the best rim angle is $45^{\circ}. For$ this optimal value of the rim angle, the obtained concentration ratio is of the order of 71, the average received flux is about 61.13 $kW/m^{2}$ and the maximum temperature at the surface of the receiver is 676° C.