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Review on influencing parameters in the performance of concentrated solar power collector based on materials, heat transfer fluids and design

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Abstract

The solar collector (reflector and receiver) is the primary device being used in the concentrating solar power technologies for tapping the solar energy to meet various objectives. The performance of the solar collector is influenced by the type of reflector and receiver being selected, and its material also has significant impact. The choice of the heat transferring medium, storage material, receiver design and its performance parameter also influences the solar collector’s performance. In this regard, a review has been carried out for these parameters and presented in this paper to highlight the challenges encountered, new methodologies identified and proposed, and future research needs by various researchers to improvise the thermal efficiencies of the different types of collectors used in the concentrating solar power technologies.

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Abbreviations

CFD:

Computation fluid dynamics

CPCP:

Compound parabolic collector

CT:

Cylindrically shaped trough reflector

DNI:

Direct normal irradiation

DSG:

Direct steam generation

HTF:

Heat transfer fluid

LFR:

Linear Fresnel reflector

MCRT:

Monte Carlo ray tracing

PTC:

Parabolic trough collector

VFPT:

Variable focus parabolic trough

WIS:

Weizmann Institute of Science

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600048, India

    Duraisamy Ramalingam Rajendran

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Velammal Engineering College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600066, India

    Esakkimuthu Ganapathy Sundaram

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Agartala, Tripura, 799046, India

    Paulraj Jawahar

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ramco Institute of Technology, Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu, 626117, India

    Vaithilingam Sivakumar

  5. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710049, China

    Omid Mahian

  6. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Quchan University of Technology, Quchan, Iran

    Omid Mahian

  7. Thermal Department, School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Evangelos Bellos

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  1. Duraisamy Ramalingam Rajendran
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  2. Esakkimuthu Ganapathy Sundaram
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Correspondence to Duraisamy Ramalingam Rajendran.

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Rajendran, D.R., Ganapathy Sundaram, E., Jawahar, P. et al. Review on influencing parameters in the performance of concentrated solar power collector based on materials, heat transfer fluids and design. J Therm Anal Calorim 140, 33–51 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-019-08759-8

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