Thermal Performance Study of the Dish Concentrating with a Stirling Engine

Abstract

As we know, there are a large number of applications that need thermal energy, such as heating water for domestic use, drying fruits, heating and cooling, and even electric power generation. On the other hand, Syria is classified as an excellent solar country, as the annual average energy amount of the total horizontal solar radiation received per square meter of land reaches more than 2000 [kW.h/m².year] according to National Center for Energy Research, and this greatly encourages the deployment of solar applications.The research focuses on highlighting renewable energies, especially solar energy, to reduce environmental pollution and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and to present a detailed study of the parabolic dish concentrator with the Stirling engine in terms of studying the engineering and thermal performance and calculating the efficiency of this type of the solar concentrators. It has been shown that for a parabolic dish concentrator with diameter of 5 [m], focal length of 7.81 [m], rim angle of 0.328 [rad], and a reflectivity of 0.94, the overall efficiency of the system is 0.27, and the electrical capacity generated 3244.91 [W] in the month of September where direct solar radiation is greatest.