Optical and Thermal Assessment of a Linear Fresnel Collector with Minichannel Absorber Tube for Medium Temperature Applications
Abstract
Solar thermal energy has been the fastest-growing renewable heat technology, but most of the world’s solar thermal capacity consists of single house domestic system. Linear Fresnel collectors are considered a cost-effective technology for industrial process applications. In 2008, Diaz presented a novel mini-channel tube solar collector for low temperatures applications, showing promising results compared to conventional flat-plate and evacuated tube collectors. Considering the benefits of using mini-channels, the present work presents a novel design of a LFC by using a mini-channel tube as an absorber. The main results show an increase of 7.5% of thermal power output and 29% in optical efficiency compared to commercial LFC, proving that this design could constitute a feasible option to be integrated into medium temperature industrial processes.