This work presents an experimental evaluation of a new design of a parabolic trough solar collector (PTC). To maximize the energy yield, a solar tracking system is implemented. The thermal performance of the PTC at three outdoor test methods is evaluated. The new design essentially affects the balloon, the trunk, the insulation, the inner reflector, the glass, the upper plane reflector, and the cover. The system performance with bi-axial orientation and an absorber with a glass-covered envelope is compared with two other designs of mono- and bi-axial orientation without a glass-covered envelope. The tests of the PTC with an aperture area of 2.88 m² were conducted in Tunisian weather conditions, and the results are compared with similar systems already published data in the literature. A dynamic simulation with TRNSYS software is developed to evaluate the system performance based on experimental results. An economic study to evaluate the system's feasibility is conducted. The results showed that the new design achieved a maximum temperature of 179°C in comparison to 134 and 120°C for the mono- and bi-axial orientation without a glass-covered envelope, respectively. Furthermore, in the new PTC design, the useful daily energy gain increased by 33% and 15%, and the system thermal efficiency increased by 8.9% and 5.8% in summer and winter, respectively, in comparison to the case of mono-axial orientation without a glass envelope. Besides, the maximum useful energy gain and the instantaneous thermal efficiency in the new design were 22.6 MJ and 73.45%, respectively, in comparison to 17.93 MJ and 67.41% for the mono-axial orientation without a glass-covered envelope. The gross payback period of the system was found to be 3.3 years with an NPV of €5257 over the lifetime of the system.

中文翻译：

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一种新型抛物槽收集器的实验研究与性能测试

这项工作对抛物槽太阳能集热器 (PTC) 的新设计进行了实验评估。为了最大限度地提高能源产量，实施了太阳能跟踪系统。评估了 PTC 在三种室外测试方法下的热性能。新设计主要影响气球、行李箱、绝缘层、内反射器、玻璃、上平面反射器和盖子。将具有双轴取向和具有玻璃覆盖外壳的吸收器的系统性能与其他两种没有玻璃覆盖外壳的单轴和双轴取向设计进行比较。孔径面积为 2.88 m ^{2的 PTC 测试}在突尼斯的天气条件下进行，并将结果与​​文献中已经公布的类似系统数据进行了比较。使用 TRNSYS 软件开发了一个动态仿真，以根据实验结果评估系统性能。进行了一项经济研究以评估该系统的可行性。结果表明，新设计的最高温度为 179°C，而单轴和双轴取向的最高温度分别为 134°C 和 120°C，而没有玻璃覆盖的外壳。此外，在新的 PTC 设计中，与单轴取向的情况相比，在夏季和冬季，有效的每日能量增益增加了 33% 和 15%，系统热效率分别增加了 8.9% 和 5.8%。没有玻璃信封。除了，新设计的最大有用能量增益和瞬时热效率分别为 22.6 MJ 和 73.45%，而没有玻璃覆盖外壳的单轴取向分别为 17.93 MJ 和 67.41%。该系统的总投资回收期为 3.3 年，在系统的整个生命周期内的 NPV 为 5257 欧元。