yiding cao of the department of mechanical and material engineering at florida international university in miami recently released a report on “separate-type heat pipe solar receivers for concentrating solar power.”

(wikimedia commons)

cao concluded that using separate-type heat pipe (sthp) solar receivers would enable more efficient operation of concentrated solar power plants without having to rely on a heat transfer fluid. sthp receivers had high heat transfer capacity, non-condensable release mechanism, can handle a high concentrated solar flux, and will lower costs.

according to the abstract:

“this paper introduces separate-type heat pipe (sthp) based solar receiver systems that enable more efficient operation of concentrated solar power plants without relying on a heat transfer fluid. the solar receiver system may consist of a number of sthp modules that receive concentrated solar flux from a solar collector system, spread the high concentrated solar flux to a low heat flux level, and effectively transfer the received heat to the working fluid of a heat engine to enable a higher working temperature and higher plant efficiency.

“in general, the introduced sthp solar receiver has characteristics of high heat transfer capacity, high heat transfer coefficient in the evaporator to handle a high concentrated solar flux, non-condensable gas release mechanism, and lower costs. the sthp receiver in a solar plant may also integrate the hot/cold tank based thermal energy storage system without using a heat transfer fluid.”

read the full report at http://www.thermalfluidscentral.com/journals/index.php/heat_pipes/article/view/437/397.

to learn more about loop heat pipes, which are utilized in sthp solar receivers, read this article from coolingzone media sponsor qpedia thermal emagazine, “understanding loop heat pipes,” at https://www.coolingzone.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/qpedia_may08_understanding_loop_heat_pipes-3.pdf.