The vacuum characteristics and lifetime are the key problems of parabolic trough receiver. Heat loss of the receiver will greatly increase when the vacuum has been lost. Especially, if hydrogen is inside the annulus space of the receiver, heat loss at a level is approximately a factor of four higher than the loss for a receiver with good vacuum. Suitable vacuum levels and residual gases should be maintained in the receiver to ensure performances during its projected lifetime. In this paper, the variations of composition and partial pressure of residual gases with temperature in the receiver were measured by a high sensitivity quadrupole mass spectrometer gas analyzer. The effects of residual gas and getter on the vacuum lifetime of receiver were analyzed. The results showed that hydrogen was the main residual gas in the annular space of receiver without getter, and the nitrogen was the main gas released in the receiver with getter. It can be confirmed that the residual gas analysis was a very effective way to predict and evaluate the vacuum lifetime of the receiver. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.