Development and construction of a conical solar concentrator

  • Authors

    • Chinelo Ike NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA
    2014-11-17
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbas.v3i4.3587
  • Aperture, Concentration Ratio, Solar Absorber, Solar Contractor, Working Fluid.
  • This research work reports the development, construction and study of the performance of the conical shaped concentrator made from fabricated iron sheet of thickness 2mm. The inner side of the cone shape was line with strips of plane mirror cemented to the surface by the help of araldite mixed with sawdust. The concentrator has an aperture of 8050.20cm2 while the two solar absorber used for the study has surface area 790.60cm2 and 720.50cm2 with the concentration ratio being 9.50 and 10.60 respectively. The conical solar concentrator was tested under various operation condition, such as; different concentration ratio, static condition of the absorber fluid temperature against local time of the day showed that higher temperatures of the fluid were obtained on bright sunny days when the collector received beam radiation (highest temperature recorded =166oC) and a rapid decline of the fluids temperatures when a cloudy interception of the sun occurred.

  • References

    1. E. B. Babatunde, Some solar radiations and their interpretations with regards to radiations and their interpretations with regards to radiation transfer in the atmosphere. Nigerian Journal of Pure and Applied Science, (2003), 4; 50 – 56
    2. E. A. Arinze, Solar energy for crop drying in developing countries proceedings of workshop on solar drying in Africa, Dakar Senegal, (1986), 128-147
    3. D. A. Adeyemo, B. S. Allimi, D. A. Pelemo, M. K. Fasasi, S. A. Owolabi, and J. A. Shaniyi, Design, Construction and Performance of focusing type solar cooker (Nig.), Journal of Physics (2002), 14(2), 109 – 112.
    4. C. U. Ike, Climatological effects of total solar radiation in Awka, Nigeria, IOSR Journal of Applied Physics, (2013), 5(2), 51-54
    5. R. T. A. Prodo, and F. L Ferreira,. Management of albedo and analysis of its influence on the surface temperature of building materials. (2005),
    6. E. B. Babatunde, A. O. Falaiye, and A. B. Afolabi, Solar radiation energy balancing at the edge of the earth’s atmosphere. Proc. of regional conference on climate change of Nigeria Meteorological Society (NMS), Lagos, Nigeria, (2003), 11-14 November.
    7. C. U. Ike, The effect of temperature on the performance of a PV solar system in Eastern Nigeria, International Journal of Engineering and Science, (2013), Vol. 3, 10 – 14
    8. A. Shariah, and G. Lof, Effects of auxiliary heater on annual performance of thermosyphon solar water heater simulated under variable operating conditions, solar energy 2009, (2010), 60, 119 – 126.
  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Ike, C. (2014). Development and construction of a conical solar concentrator. International Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 3(4), 490-496. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbas.v3i4.3587