A Major project Report on

FABRICATION OF PARABOLIC DISH AND PARABOLIC TROUGH THROUGH

CONCENTRATED SOLAR TECHNOLOGY

SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF

“BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY”

IN

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Submitted by

MD ZAHAAN KHAN 15261A0330

YASH MOHTA 15261A0358

AKKENPALLY SAI KIRAN 16265A0302

SHIVANURI ANIL KUMAR 16265A0310

Under the esteemed guidance of

Mrs.M PRATYUSHA

Asst. professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (MECHATRONICS)

MAHATMA GANDHI INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

(Affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad)

Gandipet, Hyderabad – 500 075

www.mgit.ac.in

2015-2019

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 MAHATMA GANDHI INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Accredited by National Board of Accreditation, New Delhi,

(Affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad)

Gandipet, Hyderabad – 500 075

www.mgit.ac.in

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project report entitled

FABRICATION OF PARABOLIC DISH AND PARABOLIC TROUGH THROUGH

CONCENTRATED SOLAR TECHNOLOGY

Submitted By

MD ZAHAAN KHAN 15261A0330

YASH MOHTA 15261A0358

AKKENAPALLY SAI KIRAN 16265A0302

SHIVANURI ANIL KUMAR 16265A0310

In partial fulfilment for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Technology in

Mechanical Engineering is a record of bonafide work carried out by him under my guidance
and supervision during the academic year 2018-19. The results embodied in this project report
have not been submitted to any other University or Institute for the award of any Degree or
Diploma.

Internal Guide Head of the department

Mrs. M. Pratyusha Dr.K. Sudhakar Reddy

Asst. Professor

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER

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 CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION 10

CHAPTER 2-CSP SCENARIO IN INDIA 12

CHAPTER 3-CONCENTRATING SOLAR COLLECTORS 20

3.1-CSP Plant components 21

3.2-Types of concentrating solar collectors 22

3.2.1-Parabolic trough type 23

3.2.2-Parabolic dish type 23

3.2.3-Concnetrating linear Fresnel lens 24

3.2.4-Solar power tower 25

CHAPTER 4-PARABOIC TROUGH SYSTEM 26

4.1-Introduction 26

4.2-History 27

4.3-Geometry 28

4.4- Parameters for the geometry description of parabolic trough 29

4.5- Layout of parabolic trough plant 30

CHAPTER 5-PARABOLIC DISH SYSTEM 32

5.1-Introduction3 32

5.2-History 33

5.3-Geometry 34

5.4- Parameters for the geometry description of parabolic dish 34

5.5- Layout of parabolic dish plant 35

CHAPTER 6-DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF PARABOLIC TROUGH 37

6.1-Design of parabola 37

6.2-Fabrication of parabolic trough 42

6.2.1-Carpentry 42

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 6.2.2-Metal sheet cutting 44

6.2.3-Applying reflective film 44

6.3-Asssembly of parabolic trough 45

6.4-Testing of parabolic trough 47

6.5-Calaculation of parabolic trough system 48

6.6-Improvements 53

CHAPTER 7-DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF PARABOLIC DISH 56

7.1-Materials/Components used for parabolic dish 56

7.2-Fabrication 59

7.3- Applying the reflective film 61

7.4-Assembly of parabolic dish 65

7.5-Calculations 65

7.6-Testing 71

7.7-Improvements 72

CHAPTER 8-RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 74

CHAPTER 9-CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE 75

REFERENCES 77

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 List of figures
1.1 Typical CSP Plant layout 10

1.2: Percentage of different solar thermal power technologies 11

2.1 Various plants in India 13

2.2 Fresnel collector in Dhursar 13

2.3 Parabolic collector in Anantapur 14

2.4 Distribution of direct normal irradiation on India 15

3.1 Different types of CSP Plants 17

3.1.1 Energy conversion chain in a parabolic trough power plant and corresponding
plant components 18

3.2.1 Parabolic trough collector 19

3.2.2 Parabolic dish collector 19

3.2.3 Fresnel type collector 20

3.2.4 Solar power tower 20

4.1 Parabolic trough 21

4.1.1 Principle of parabolic trough concentration 22

4.2 Parabolic trough collector in Egypt (1913) 23

4.3 Geometry of a parabola 23

4.4 Geometrical parabolic trough parameters 24

4.5 Layout of parabolic trough plant 25

5.1 Parabolic dish 26

5.2 Parabolic dish test site 27

5.3 Geometry of parabolic dish 28

5.4 Parabolic dish parameters 29

5.5 Layout of parabolic dish plant 29

6.1 Method to draw parabola with help of carpenter’s square 33

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 6.1.1 Parabola with focal length as 170mm 32

6.1.2 Parabola with focal length of 58mm 33

6.1.3 Parabola with focal length as 160mm 34

6.2 Traced out parabola before carpentry 35

6.2.1 Wood cut out in parabolic shape after carpentry 36

6.2.2 Aluminium sheet 37

6.2.3 Solar reflective film 37

6.3 Side view of assembled parabolic trough 38

6.3.1 Isometric view of assembled parabolic trough 39

6.4 Test results of parabolic trough 40

6.6 Graph showing temperature vs. time for various colours 46

6.6.1 Improved results of parabolic trough 47

7.1 Parabolic TV dish 48

7.1.1 J-bracket 49

7.1.2 Copper coil 49

7.1.3 Ball valve 50

7.1.4 Transparent pipe 50

7.1.5 Solar reflective film 51

7.2 Procedure and application of copper coil 52

7.2.1 Copper coil winded 53

7.3 Solar reflective film 54

7.3.1 Parabolic dish after applying solar reflective film 55

7.3.2 Parabolic dish after applying solar reflective film and curing 56

7.4 Final assembly of parabolic dish 57

7.6 Temperature at the absorber 63

7.6.1 Maximum temperature at the focal point 64

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 List of tables

6.1 Results (theoretical) for parabolic trough 43

6.2 Results theoretical vs. Practical for parabolic trough 44

6.6 Improved results of parabolic trough 47

7.1 Results (theoretical) for parabolic dish 60

6.2 Results theoretical vs. Practical for parabolic dish 61

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We have taken efforts in this project. However, it would not have been possible without the
kind support and help of many individuals and organization. We would like to extend our
sincere thanks to all of them.

We are highly indebted to Mrs. PRATYUSHA, Asst. professor in the department of

Mechanical Engineering (Mechatronics) for her guidance and constant supervision for
providing necessary information for completing the project.

We would like to humbly thank Dr. K. SUDHAKAR REDDY, head of the department
Mechanical engineering (Mechatronics) for supporting and encouraging for this project.

We specially like to thank K. JAYA SANKAR, principal, Mahatma Gandhi Institute

of Technology for his guidance and moral support in the completion of the project.

We would also like to thank all the teaching staff members of our stream and our college
for their support. Last but not least we would like to thanks all our student friends who have
helped us in completing and reviewing my mini project.

Our sincere thanks to all those who have contributed in their own way in completion of
this training.

MD ZAHAAN KHAN 15261A0330

YASH MOHTA 15261A0358

AKKENAPALLY SAI KIRAN 16265A0302

SHIVANURI ANIL KUMAR 16265A0310

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 ABSTRACT

Today, concentrated solar power (CSP) offers great potential in terms of supplying a
part of the world's energy needs. The moving trend towards renewable energy source and rise
in concern about pollution from conventional power plants, people are looking towards
renewable source of energy especially solar. However, current contribution by CSP to the
world is limited due to various factors like cost, climatic condition, etc.

In our project, we demonstrate the working principle of scaled-down models of

different types of solar concentrators (Parabolic dish, parabolic trough) and utilising the
captured sun’s heat to heat water and studying its properties such as temperature and pressure.

For the construction of our models, we used inexpensive materials like aluminium sheet
for support, TV dish (as parabolic dish), copper tube for conducting heat to the working fluid
(water), wood, reflective sheet for proper reflection of sun’s heat onto a desired area.

After successful completion of the model we would like to suggest a way for the Indian
government to fully understand the potential and capabilities of CSP.

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