Comparing the effect of using two different reflectors on the performance of a parabolic solar concentrator for boiling water

Abstract

In this paper, a comparison was presented between the use of two parabolic solar concentrators to boil water with the same aperture diameter (96 cm) with two different reflectors, one made of aluminum foil and the other one made of mirror pieces. The two concentrators were made using a satellite dish of the same diameter. When using aluminum foil as a reflector, it was cut into strips with a width of 10 cm and glued to the inner surface of the dish. As for the mirror pieces, they were cut into pieces (5 * 5cm) and glued to the surface of the dish. A metal tin can with a volumetric capacity (1 liter) was used as a thermal receiver. Experiments were conducted to boil water from the roof of the house in Nasiriyah, southern Iraq. During these experiments, the optical efficiency of the parabolic solar concentrator, the amount of heat loss from the heat receiver by radiation and convection, the collector efficiency of the solar concentrator were calculated.