The International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) has established a concentrated solar thermal-based test rig facility at Hyderabad, Telangana.
This will help India’s solar industry test capability and performance of solar thermal components.
The development of solar thermal technologies for low and medium-temperature applications requires much attention of indigenous solar thermal components manufacturing facilities and cost-effective engineering designs because most of the solar thermal companies import components particularly from China and Europe.
Apart from the development, the testing and validation of the components in real-field conditions are critical for deployment of solar thermal technology.
In order to cater to this need, the new concentrated solar thermal-based single-axis parabolic trough test rig facility will validate the indigenous components by comparing the performance (heat gain and heat loss properties) of components.
The facility has features for simultaneous testing of standard and indigenous solar receiver tubes. It has a thermic fluid-based closed-loop system which can operate between 50 degree celsius and 350 degree celsius temperature range.
It can conduct heat gain studies in real-field conditions with actual measurement of solar irradiance condition and has an electrical heater support for measuring the actual heat loss of solar receivers at different operating temperatures.
The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation’s (HPCL) R&D division recently sanctioned a project to ARCI for validating their indigenously developed heat transfer fluids with comparison of a world-leading commercial product.
