The Simulation Model of Flux Density Distribution on an Absorber Tube

A parabolic trough collector (PTC) is an important component of parabolic trough solar thermal power generation system. The main purposes of calculating the flux density distribution are as follows: (1) the heat flux distribution on the absorber tube surface is a key boundary condition in the heat transfer performance analysis; (2) it can present a reference for design and optimization of PTCs, and make PTCs more cost effective. In this paper, coordinate transformations and Monte Carlo Ray Trace (MCRT) method are combined to simulate the circumferential flux distribution of absorber tubes. In the simulation process, non-parallelism of solar rays with cone optics, geometric concentrating ratio (GC), rim angle, transmittance of the glass tube, absorption of the absorber tube, reflectivity of the glass tube and reflectivity of the parabolic trough mirror are considered. The results show good agreement with references.