Theoretical and Experimental Study on Heat Transfer and Thermal Performance of Concentration Solar Collector of Horizontal Coaxial Cylinders

Abstract

Heat transfer and thermal performance of the concentrating solar collector of horizontal coaxial cylinders for a solar thermal power source are studied theoretically and experimentally. The design parameters considered in the theory are the concentration ratio, the diameters of a semi-transparent glass tube and a selective absorber tube, the effective length and the optical property of an absorber tube, the storage temperature, the pressure in the annulus, and the inlet temperature and the flow rate of a heat transfer medium. The thermal performance of the absorber system is evaluated by the outlet temperature of the fluid, the collector efficiency, the exergy efficiency and the final conversion efficiency. The experimental results confirm the calculation method of heat transfer and thermal performance.