Design procedure of stationary compound parabolic concentrator with flat plate absorber for effective year-round performance – Response Surface Methodology and Tracepro as tools

The stationary Compound Parabolic Concentrators (CPC) with a low concentration ratio (C<2) are suitable for pre-heating processes in industrial applications. The reported literature does not analyze the radiation available or the solar angles for whole year towards design of CPC which could provide maximum annual energy. This paper optimizes the design factors of CPC, such as acceptance half-angle (θ_a) and truncation ratio (TR), to yield maximum energy around the year, maximize optical efficiency and minimize reflector material. Annual irradiation data for the location - Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, India (ϕ- 10°45′36″ N) is considered for the present study. The raw irradiation data is processed to get monthly average daily data, which is used as input for the TracePro v21.1. The experimental design (DOE) is made in response surface methodology (RSM) by considering the factors of θ_a - 18.5 to 28.5° and TR - 0.5 to 1.0. Nine Geometric models were created using Solidworks based on the combination of parameters given by RSM and simulated using TracePro to estimate the annual energy collection and average optical efficiency. Using the TracePro analysis month wise energy collection is calculated and reported. Further, a model relating θ_a and TR to the annual energy collected was obtained. According to the results obtained from the multi-objective optimization, the optimum concentration ratio is 2 with the θ_a of 28.5° without truncation. The results also indicate that the deviation from the average energy collected by the optimized design over the year is less when compared to the other designs.