Pavlović, S. R., et al.

: Optical Analysis and Performance Evaluation of …

THERMAL SCIENCE, Year 2016, Vol. 20, Suppl. 5, pp. S1237-S1249 S1237

OPTICAL ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

OF A SOLAR PARABOLIC DISH CONCENTRATOR

by

Saša R. PAVLOVI]a ∗, Darko M. VASILJEVI]b, Velimir P. STEFANOVI]a,

Zoran M. STAMENKOVI]a, and Evangelos A. BELLOSc
a
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering University of Nis, Nis, Serbia
b
Photonics Center, Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
c
School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens,
Zografou, Athens, Greece

Original scientific paper

DOI: 10.2298/TSCI16S5237P

In this study, the optical design of a solar parabolic dish concentrator is present-
ed. The parabolic dish concentrator consists from 11 curvilinear trapezoidal re-
flective petals made of polymethyl methacrylate with special reflective coating.
The dish diameter is equal to 3.8 m and the theoretical focal point distance is
2.26 m. Numerical simulations are made with the commercial software TracePro
from Lambda Research, USA, and the final optimum position between absorber
and reflector was calculated to 2.075 m; lower than focus distance. This paper
presents results for the optimum position and the optimum diameter of the receiv-
er. The decision for selecting these parameters is based on the calculation of the
total flux over the flat and corrugated pipe receiver surface; in its central region
and in the peripheral region. The simulation results could be useful reference for
designing and optimizing of solar parabolic dish concentrators as for as for CFD
analysis, heat transfer and fluid flow analysis in corrugated spiral heat absorbers.
Key words: paraboloid dish concentrator, ray tracing analysis,
TracePro software, spiral geometry, scheme macro language

Introduction and survey of literature

Solar collector is the device that transforms solar energy into useful heat. These de-
vices are able to concentrate solar radiation and convert it into low, medium or high tempera-
ture thermal processes. With the threats of global warming and the increased energy demand
worldwide, the use of renewable energy sources is becoming more and more attractive. Char-
acteristics of solar thermal collectors, especially the concentrating type, are well-established
in research literature. Many applications use solar collectors, as industrial processes, electrici-
ty plants and water heating systems for covering the domestic water demand in buildings. The
solar concentrating collectors operate by focusing solar beam radiation onto a small area
known as the focal area. Many classes of concentrating collectors are available, each with dif-
ferent concentrating ratio and maximum absorber temperature, depending on the type of ap-
plication. Generally, solar thermal utilization is separated into low-temperature solar systems
and high-temperature solar concentrating systems. Pavlović et al. [1] has investigated the op-

––––––––––––––
∗ Corresponding author: saledoca@gmail.com
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timal geometric parameters of a dish solar thermal concentrator using Monte Carlo ray tracing
method. This paper presents results for the optimal position and diameter of the receiver. The
decision for choosing the optimal position and diameter of the receiver is based on calculation
of the total flux on the receiver surface, on the center and on the periphery of the receiver. The
low manufacturing cost, the two-axis tracking solar system and the design with flat mirror
system (Solarux CSP) are its advantages, which are described in this paper. Moreover, this
paper has been focused on air-conditioning, heating, and producing electricity by using So-
larux CSP. The aim of this system is to use planar mirrors instead of parabolic mirrors in or-
der to reduce the cost and to design a system that can be manufactured easily by every kind of
terrain (rocky, plain, etc.) and can be used by developing countries [2]. The low temperature
solar systems (FPC and ETC), which may not involve sunlight concentration, have lower
conversion efficiency. The high temperature solar thermal systems (PTC, CPC, Dish, Fres-
nel), which require sunlight concentration, have higher conversion efficiency [3, 4]. Pavlovic
et al. [5] presented a mathematical and physical model of the new offset type parabolic con-
centrator and a numerical procedure for predicting its optical performance. The designed par-
abolic concentrator is a low cost solar collector for medium temperature applications. Pav-
lović et al. [6] developed mathematical model of solar parabolic dish concentrator based on
square flat facets applied to polygeneration systems. Authors developed an optimization algo-
rithm for determining the optimum geometric, optical and cost parameters.
Traditionally, the optical analysis of solar concentrators is carried out by computer
ray-trace programs. This calculating method is fast and accurate but assumes that the radiation
source is a uniform disk. Ali et al. [7] have presented a study that aims to develop a 3-D static
solar concentrator that can be used as low cost and low energy substitute. Their goal was to
design solar concentrators for production of portable hot water in rural India. Kaushika and
Reddy [8] used an aluminum frame satellite dish with diameter of 2.405 m as reflector to re-
duce the weight of the structure and the cost of the solar system. In their system, the average
water/vapor temperature was 300 °C, when the absorber was placed at the focal point. The
cost of the examined system was estimated about 1000 US$. Ouederni et al. [9] tested a para-
bolic concentrator of 2.2 m diameter with 85% reflectance and they concluded that the aver-
age temperature in their system was approximately 380 °C. Rafeeu and Ab-Kadir [10] pre-
sented a simple study in designing, manufacturing and testing small laboratory scale parabolic
concentrators. They made two dishes from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and one from stain-
less steel. Li et al. [11] presented a procedure to design a facet concentrator for a laboratory-
scale research on medium-temperature solar applications. Qianjun et al. [12] has investigated
on the photo-thermal conversion efficiency in order to improve the cost effectiveness of the
examined solar system. They used the Monte Carlo ray tracing method for calculating the ra-
diation flux distribution on the receiver and the ANSYS Fluent for calculation of radiation
and convection heat transfer mechanisms. Their results proved that the maximum energy effi-
ciency was about 52% when the direct normal irradiation was 800 W/m2. Eswaramoorthy and
Shanmugam [13] investigated the thermal efficiency of solar a cooker with parabola diameter
of 3.56 m and total aperture of 10.53 m2, with a finally thermal efficiency of 60%. Reddy
et al. [14] have experimentally investigated a solar parabolic dish collector with 20 m2 aper-
ture in order to investigate its performance with the examined modified cavity receiver. The
average value of the overall heat loss coefficient was found to be about 356 W/m2. Jones and
Wang [15] computed the flux distribution on a cylindrical receiver of parabolic dish concen-
trator using geometric optics method. Parameters such as concentrator surface errors, pointing
offset errors and finite sun shape were taken into consideration in the geometric optics meth-
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od. Thakkar et al. [16] have investigated the possible use of parabolic dish collector in process
industries. They presented a mathematical model for heating application using thermal oil.
Blazquez et al. [17] described optical test for the DS1 (parabolic Stirling dish) prototype, a
study that was carried out by CTAER. The aim of this investigation was to characterize the
optical parameters of DS1 prototype. The results comparison proved that the dish surface had
an average optical error of 2.5 mrad and an estimated spillage value of 7%, for the examined
geometry. Li et al. [18] presented the radiation flux distributions of the concentrator-receiver
system by Monte Carlo ray tracing. The final radiation flux profiles were subsequently trans-
ferred to a CFD code as boundary conditions in order to simulate the fluid flow and the con-
jugated heat transfer in the receiver cavity by coupling the radiation, natural convection, and
heat conduction numerically. Pavlović et al. [19, 20] presented an optical design and ray trac-
ing analysis of a solar dish concentrator composed of 12 curvilinear trapezoidal reflective fac-
ets made from solar mirror with silvered coating layer. The goal of this paper was to present
the optical design of a low-tech solar concentrator that can be used as a potentially low-cost
tool for laboratory-scale research on the medium temperature thermal processes, cooling, in-
dustrial processes, polygeneration systems, etc. As it stated in the previous paragraph, the op-
tical analysis of radiation concentrators has been carried out by means of computer ray-trace
programs. Recently, an interesting analytical solution for the optical performance of parabolic
dish reflectors with flat receivers was presented by O'Neill and Hudson [21]. Their method for
calculating the optical performance is fast and accurate but assumes that the radiation source
is a uniform disk. For successfully operation, the dish solar collector system, the optimal de-
sign of the receiver and the heat flux distributions are very important parameters that should
be known [22-25].
In this paper, two types of the parabolic dish receivers have been analyzed. One is the
flat dish receiver and the other a spiral coil receiver. The optimal parameters of this receiver
have been defined after making a sensitivity analysis with two parameters: the receiver posi-
tion and the receiver diameters. For each study case, the total energy delivered to the receiver
and the average heat fluxes are calculated. This design reduces dramatically the system cost,
while allows concentration ratios suitable for medium and high temperature level applica-
tions. The reason for the lower cost is based on the use of small parts which can be easily fab-
ricated. If the reflector were a continuous dish, then its construction and its installation would
be difficult with the respective increase in the cost. The dimensions of reflecting surface (di-
ameter and focal length) are determined by desired power, taking into consideration the max-
imum levels of direct normal radiation and the respective thermal efficiency of collector.
Geometrical model of solar parabolic
dish concentrator
The mathematical representation of the examined solar parabolic dish concentrator
is a paraboloid that can be represented as a surface obtained by rotating a parabola around ax-
is [1]. The model of the parabolic concentrator is designed with 11 curvilinear trapezoidal re-
flective petals, because in the position of the 12th there is the bracket. The geometrical model
of the segmented solar reflector with corrugated spiral coil absorber is shown in figs. 1(a-c).
The general mathematical formula for the paraboloid is given from the following
equation:

x2 + y 2 =
4f z (1)
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Figure 1. Parabolic dish segmented reflector with corrugated coiled heat absorber

Usually, the paraboloids used in solar collectors have rim angles from 10° up to 90°.
The paraboloids with small rim angles have the focal point and receiver at large distance from
the surface of the concentrator. Paraboloids with rim angle smaller than 50° are used for cavi-
ty receivers, while paraboloids with large rim angles are most appropriate for the external
volumetric receivers (central receiver solar systems).The examined parabolic solar concentra-
tor has its rim angle, ψrim, equal to 45.6° and its focal to diameter ratio equal to 0.59. The
model of the solar parabolic concentrator is very complex and has a large number of elements
that ensure proper positioning of the system at any point of time. This model of solar parabol-
ic dish concentrator provides maximum concentration of solar radiation in the receiver at any
point of time with minimal optical losses. After finishing the system, experiments will be
made in the solar laboratory of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Nis, Serbia. The next
step will be a validation between numerical and experimental results. Moreover, this study
presents results which will aid to the final design of the system, in order to achieve maximum
experimental performance. It is important to state that the total cost of the collector is about
7000 euros. Design parameters of the solar parabolic dish concentrator are included in tab. 1.
The main objectives of the receiver design were to:
− maximize the solar energy delivered to the absorber,
− maximize the efficiency coefficient of the heat exchange process,
− make the receiver to be able to perform in a wider and higher temperature range,
− make compact and light receiver to ensure minimal mechanical load to the construction of
solar concentrator, and
− make simple construction to ensure low production costs and maintenance.
The shape of the receiver depends on its dimensions and mainly to the concentrator
focal length and the rim angle. Since the rays of the sun that reach to the concentrator are not
parallel due to the finite angular size of the sun’s disc and the parabolic dish surface is not
ideal, the distribution of reflected rays across the focus forms an image of finite size centered
close to the focus. Photo-thermal conversion in a dish cavity receiver is a key process to uti-
lize efficiently solar energy, mainly because the cavity receiver converts the collected solar
radiation into thermal energy by coupling complicated heat transfer phenomena.
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Table 1. Design parameters of the solar parabolic dish concentrator

Parameters Numerical value Unit
Concentrator aperture diameter 3.8 [m]
Concentrator aperture area 10.28 [m2]
Surface area of parabolic dish 21.39 [m2]
Focal-diameter ratio f/D = 0.59 [–]
Direct normal insolation DNI = G0= 800 [Wm–2]
Flat circular absorber diameter dr1 =0.2; dr2 = 0.3; dr3opt = 0.4 [m]
Receiver type 1 Circular flat plate absorber [–]
Receiver type 2 Spiral corrugated heat absorber [–]
Reflectivity of segmented petals 0.98 [–]
Focal distance ftheorethical = 2.26 [m]
R1 0.2 [m]
R2 1.9 [m]
θsun 4.65·10 –3
[rad]
ψ1 5.06 [°]
ψ2 45.6 [°]
Depth of the concentrator 0.399 [m]

In this paper, two types of receivers are investigated: flat plate receiver and receiver
with spirally coiled pipe with transverse circular corrugation. Flat plate receiver, fig. 2(a) has
the circular flat absorber surface as the entrance to cavity. The diameter of the absorber is de-
signed to capture the radiation from the concentrator. The circular flat absorber can be made
from stainless steel painted in black. Figure 2(b) illustrates the cross section of that flat plate
cylindrical cavity receiver. The circular flat plate at the entrance of the cavity receiver and the
spiral pipe absorber where the working fluid flows, are shown in this figure. The main reason
for positioning circular flat plate in entrance of the cavity is the increase of the receiver’s
thermal efficiency and decrease of thermal losses. In the examined system, the circular flat
plate receiver had diameter equal to 400 mm and is made from copper.

Figure 2. (a) Cavity receiver with flat

circular disk absorber, (b) cross
section of cylindrical cavity receiver
with flat circular disk, and (c) cross
section of cylindrical cavity receiver
with corrugated coiled heat absorber

The second type of receiver is cylindrical cavity receiver, made from aluminum,
with corrugated coil absorber directly exposed to the concentrated solar radiation. The pattern
of the spiral is the Archimedean spiral. Figure 2(c) depicts the cross section of this type of re-
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ceiver. The main characteristic of corrugated coil absorber is that only half of the absorber is
exposed to the concentrated solar radiation. In order to obtain the best ratio between active
surface and total volumen of absorber Archimedean spiral is chosen, which geometry is de-
scribed by eqs. 2 and 3.
 t 
x=
(t )  0.4 − 0.35  cos(t ) (2)
 26π 

 t 
y=
(t )  0.4 − 0.35  sin(t ) (3)
 26π 
This spiral has the following good characteristics:
− it is compact and can be easily and cheaply produced, and
− it has greater convective heat transfer.
Designing 3-D model of the spiral coil in CAD software is a very demanding task,
thus authors decided to develop mathematical model for the Archimedean spiral coil and im-
plement it in the Scheme macro language. The scheme macro language is LISP type pro-
gramming language used in program
Table 2. Geometrical parameters of spiral coil receiver TracePro for extending standard capabil-
ities of program TracePro and solving
di [mm] 9.3 inside diameter of pipe
highly specialized problems. With the
d0 [mm] 12.2 outside diameter of pipe developed program in the Scheme macro
δ [mm] 0.25 pipe wall thickness language, we had possibility to automat-
ically design various spiral coil receiv-
Rmin [mm] 25 minimum radius of the coil ers. After examination of several possi-
Rmax [mm] 202 maximum radius of the coil ble spiral coils we decided that the most
p0 [mm] 13.6 spiral coil pitch convenient spiral coil for our receiver is
the spiral coil made of stainless steel
n [–] 13 number of coil turns AISI 304 with dimensions presented in
tab. 2. Usually in this type of receivers,
the working fluid (pressurized water, thermal oil, air, propylene glycol) circulates inside the
tube, entering from the rim and leaving at the center where the radiation intensity and temper-
ature are higher. To avoid pipe deformations, the receiver has a small hole in the center, of
about 50 mm in diameter.
Numerical ray tracing simulations to determine
the optimal concentrating characteristics
of the solar parabolic collector
For optical ray tracing analysis of the solar parabolic thermal concentrator, software
TraceProis used. The input parameters for all the simulations are the following.
− Eleven trapezoidal reflective petals are defined as standard mirrors with the coefficient of
reflection 0.95.
− Absorbing surface of the receiver is defined as perfect absorber.
− Irradiance 800 W/m2.
− Radiation source is defined as a virtual window to a distant source with parallel rays em-
anating as if from a window; position of the radiation source is 2500 mm from the vertex
of parabolic reflecting surface, in order to be above the focal point.
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− Radiation source is defined as circular ray pattern with diameter same as diameter of par-
abolic dish (3800 mm); number of rays traced was 119401.
− In TracePro software Monte Carlo ray tracing is used; uniform spatial profile and solar
angular profile is used (equivalent to a solar dish of 0.26 degree half angle); uniform flux
and weighted angle is used.
− Wavelength is 0.5461 μm.
The first step in analysis is the determination of the theoretical focal point distance.
The examined solar dish concentrator had focal point distance equal to 2260 mm. The spot di-
ameter of receiver was 28 mm. The average irradiance at this small receiver surface was
1.21·107 W/m2. The total flux (total power or solar concentrated incident power) on the re-
ceiver was 7507.1 W. The maximum radiant density flux at small spot diameter (theoretical
focal spot diameter) was 2.56·107 W/m2.
Theoretical focal point distance of 2260 mm was not adequate because spot diameter
was only 28 mm. For such small receiver diameter there would be high temperature level. For
this reason, several numerical simulations were done to determine the optimal position and
size of the receiver. For these simulations, receiver was a flat circular disk with diameter of
400 mm. Position of the receiver (measured from the vertex of parabolic reflecting surface)
was varied from 1900 m to 2300 mm with step size 50 mm. The total flux (total absorbed
power of incoming solar radiation) and the average irradiance as a function of the distance
from the vertex of the parabolic reflecting surface to the receiver position are presented in
figs. 3 and 4, respectively.

Figure 3. Total flux as a function of receiver Figure 4. Concentrated solar radiation

position received by the receiver as a function of its
position

It is obvious from figures 4 and 5 that the optimum position for the flat circular re-
ceiver is 2075 mm measured from the vertex of the parabolic reflecting surface. At this dis-
tance, the total flux was 7799.99 W and average irradiance was 62070 W/m2. The total flux
and the average irradiance was rising from receiver's position on 1900 mm till receiver's posi-
tion on 2075 mm because the focal area diameter was greater than receiver's diameter. At the
1900 mm position, the focal area diameter was 740 mm and receiver's diameter was 400 mm.
At the optimum position of 2075 mm the focal area diameter is 400 mm, while the total flux
and the average irradiance have optimal values. For positions greater than 2075 mm, the focal
area diameter was smaller than receiver's diameter and the total flux and the average irradi-
ance have constant values. In figs. 5 and 6 the maximum irradiance and the average irradiance
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as a function of the focal area diameter are presented, respectively. It should be considered
here that the ordinate axis is on the logaritmic (log10) scale. This was necessary because of
the huge differences in values for the maximum irradiance and the average irradiance. At the
theoretical focal point distance (2260 mm) focal area diameter was only 28 mm and at the po-
sition of 1900 mm, the focal area diameter was 740 mm. At the theoretical focal point dis-
tance the maximum irradiance was 2.56·107 W/m2 and at the position 1900 mm the maximum
concentrated irradiance was 38558 W/m2.

Figure 5. Maximum irradiance as a function of Figure 6. Average irradiance as a function of

focal area diameter focal area diameter

After a successful determination of the optimum position for the receiver location,
the next step was to define the optimum reciever's diameter. Several numerical simulations
were performed for receiver diameter from 100 mm to 400 mm with step size 30 mm. For
each numerical simulation the total flux and the average irradiance were calculated. The val-
ues of the total flux and of the average irradiance are the deciding factors for selecting the op-
timum size of the receiver. The optical concentration ratio as a function of the receiver diame-
ter is depicted in fig. 7. The optical concentration ratio in solar concentrators represents a
compromise between their optical and thermal performance. The examined parabolic solar
collector optimum value of the optical concentration ratio was 77.86 for the receiver with
400 mm diameter. Figure 8 illustrates the geometrical concentration ratio. Similar reasoning is
true for the geometrical concentration ratio. The optimal value for the geometrical concentra-
tion ratio was 81.84 for the receiver with 400 mm diameter.

Figure 7. Optical concentration ratios as a function Figure 8. Geometrical concentration ratios as a

of receiver diameter function of receiver diameter
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Figure 9 displays the total flux as a function of the receiver diameter. It is obvious
that the larger receiver means that receiver captures the incoming solar radiation with a better
way. The maximum total flux value was 7799.9 W for the receiver with 400 mm diameter.
Figure 10 shows the optical efficiency as a function of the receiver diameter. For the optical
efficiency, similar reasoning is correct. Larger receiver means better capture of the incoming
solar radiation, so the total flux and the optical efficiency are higher. The maximum value for
the optical efficiency was 0.95 for receiver with 400 mm diameter.

Figure 9. Total flux as a function of receiver Figure 10. Optical efficiency as a function of
diameter receiver diameter

Comparison of optical
performances of flat
and corrugated coil
absorber
For comparing the optical
performances of flat and corru-
gated coil absorber, software
TracePro from Lambda Re-
search Corporation USA is
used. Figure 11 shows the dis-
tribution of the irradiance along
the receiver’s diameter. Re-
ceived irradiance by the receiv-
er for flat absorber is displayed
with green line and irradiance
for corrugated coil absorber is
displayed with red line. It is Figure 11. Irradiance for flat and corrugated coil absorber
obvious that the red line is
wavy and this is because corrugated coil absorber consists from 13 coils. Irradiance for corru-
gated coil absorber is smaller than for flat absorber because of complicated geometry of cor-
rugated coil absorber. The vacuums in the spiral let a part of the solar irradiation to pass
through the spiral absorber and the intercept factor is lower.
Total flux, minimum, maximum and average irradiance for flat absorber and corru-
gated coil absorber is displayed in tab. 3.
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Table 3. Optical properties for flat and corrugated coil absorber

Flat absorber Corrugated coil absorber
Total flux [W] 7800.3 7244.9
–2 –9
Minimum irradiance [Wm ] 1.8681·10 4.5188·10–9
Maximum irradiance [Wm–2] 131390 98584
–2
Average irradiance [Wm ] 62073 14641

Solar energy measurement and validation

All the numerical simulations are based on constant value of irradiance (800 W/m2).
This value was chosen because it correspondents to the average irradiance for town of Nis.
We decided to measure global solar radiation for several hours in order to see if our chosen
values respond to the changing solar radiation during day. After measuring global solar radia-
tion, we also measured the diffuse radiation. To obtain the direct component of solar radiation
we set shadow band above pyranometer. If the pyranometer rotates with the solar tracker, you
have to deduct diffuse hemispherical irradiance
(DHI) from global hemispherical irradiance
(GHI), where DI is measured with a shaded py-
ranometer which must also be on the tracking
system: DNI = GI (on tracker) − DI (on track-
er). Measurements are done on the roof of solar
laboratory of Mechanical Engineering Faculty,
University of Nis. Authors have chosen a clear
and sunny day (18th September 2015, from
9 a. m. till 4:40 p. m.) for measurements. Meas-
urements are done with the pyranometer Kipp
& Zonen CM11 (shown in fig. 12). The basic
technical characteristics of the pyranometer
Figure 12. Pyranometer Kipp&Zonen CM11 Kipp & Zonen CM11 are:
− radiation measurement range is 0÷1400
W/m2 (max. 4000 W/m2),
− spectral range is 305-2800 nm, and
− sensitivity is 4-6 µV/(W/m2).
The maximum relative error in measuring
of the total solar radiation was ΔG/G = 3%. The
pyranometer measures the incident solar radia-
tion from all directions (2π steradian) in the
hemisphere above the plane of the instrument.
The measurement is the sum of the direct and
the diffuse solar irradiation and it is called as
global solar irradiance. Figure 13 illustrates di-
rect normal irradiance (DNI) as a function of
time. It is shown that DNI is greater than 800
W/m2 for period from 9 a. m. till 3 p. m. hours.
Figure 13. Direct normal irradiance as a For 9 hours, DNI was 817 W/m2 and for 15
function of time hours DNI was 854 W/m2. After 3 p. m., the
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pyranometer came in the shadow of cage in which all laboratory equipment is placed. This is
explained by the rapid decline of DNI after 15 hours.
The variation of total heat flux and of average irradiation is shown in figs. 14 and
15, respectively. The shape of these curves is similar, fact that proves the direct relation be-
tween these parameters.

Figure 14. Total flux as a function of time Figure 15. Average irradiation as a function of time

Discussion
In this study an optical optimization of a parabolic dish concentrator is presented.
The main optimization parameter is the distance between the absorber and the reflector and
finally the optimum position was found to be lower than the focal distance. This result is very
important and can be utilized in the future for designing similar concentrated systems. More-
over, two different receivers are tested in order to compare their optical efficiency. The flat
circular disk plate has greater performance that the corrugated coil absorber because the sec-
ond has not a continuous surface. However, the final results proved that these absorbers give
similar results; something that proves the satisfying performance of the spiral coil absorber. In
the final part of this study, measurements for the Nis are presented in order to validate the hy-
pothesis of the value of 800 W/m2 for the direct solar irradiation in the simulations with
TracePro. This solar potential is high enough for utilizing this collector in medium and high
temperature applications.
Conclusion
The optical design of a solar parabolic dish concentrator is presented. The examined
parabolic dish concentrator consists from 11 curvilinear trapezoidal reflective petals made of
PMMA XT (polymethyl methacrylate) with special reflective silvered coating. The concentra-
tor diameter is 3.8 m and the theoretical focal point distance 2.26 m. The innovative point of
this study is the optical comparison between a flat circular disk and a corrugated coil receiver.
Numerical simulations are carried out with the commercial software TracePro from Lambda
Research, USA. The optimum position of the receiver is 2.075 m measured from the vertex of
parabolic reflecting surface. The optimum diameter of the receiver is 400 mm. The flat disk,
which is the theoretical optimum absorber optically, performs better at about 8%, a small dif-
ference which proves the high performance of the spiral absorber. Moreover, the measure-
ments proved that the DNI in city of Nis is close to 800 W/m2, fact that validates the selected
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value in the simulation. In real system, which is in final stage of construction, the receiver
will have cylindrical shape and inside the cylinder cavity there will be a spiral corrugated pipe
from stainless steel AISI 304. After constructing this system, experiments will be done on the
roof of the solar laboratory of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nis, Serbia.
Acknowledgment
This paper is done within the research framework of research projects: III42006 –
Research and development of energy and environmentally highly effective polygeneration
systems based on renewable energy resources and III45016 – Fabrication and characterization
of nanophotonic functional structures in biomedicine and informatics. Both projects are fi-
nanced by Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Republic of
Serbia. Authors acknowledge to Lambda Research Corporation for allowing to use software
TracePro for Ph. D. thesis research of Saša Pavlović. Authors will like to thank Robert Ma-
tovinović for helping us to develop software in scheme macro language. Moreover, Evangelos
Bellos would like to thank Onassis foundation for its financial support.
Nomenclature
D – diameter of parabola, [m] ψrim – rim angle, [°]
d – pipe diameter, [m] ψ1 – inner rim angle, [°]
dr – flat circular absorber diameter, [m] ψ2 – outer rim angle, [°]
f – focal length, [m]
Subscripts and superscripts
ftheoretical – theoretical focal length, [m]
Go – direct normal irradiance, [Wm–2] i – inside
n – number of emitted rays o – outside
po – spiral coil pitch, [mm] sun – Sun
R – radius, [m]
Abbreviations
Rmax – maximum radius of the coil, [mm]
Rmin – minimum radius of the coil, [mm] CPC – compound parabolic collector
R1 – radius of parabolic dish reflector, [m] CSP – concentrated solar power
R2 – radius of centered hole, [m] DHI – diffuse hemispherical irradiance, [Wm–2]
t – spiral parameter, [–] DI – diffuse irradiance, [Wm–2]
x – x Cartesian co-ordinate, [m] DNI – direct normal insolation, [Wm–2]
y – y Cartesian co-ordinate, [m] ETC – evacuated tube collector
z – polar co-ordinate, [m] FPC – flat plate collector
GHI – global hemispherical irradiance, [Wm–2]
Greek symbols
GI – global irradiation, [Wm–2]
δ – pipe wall thickness, [mm] PMMA – polymethyl methacrylate
θ – polar angle, [rad] PTC – parabolic trough collector

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Paper submitted: March 31, 2016

Paper revised: August 18, 2016
Paper accepted: September 30, 2016