Abstract
We have been developing a tubular solar receiver to be applied in beam-down solar concentration systems for solar thermal power generation. In the tubular receiver, concentrated solar light irradiates the surface of pipes and heats a thermal medium flowing in the pipes. Analysis of radiation heat transfer on pipe array is required to design the tubular receiver. A numerical simulation program which analyzes heat transfer on the pipes and behind wall was developed and verified with the pipe array heating experiments. Heat absorption performance of a pipe array was compared with a flat surface thermal medium channels. A method for approximating complicated heat transfer in pipe arrays by that in simple flat surfaces was developed.
