Heat Transfer Analysis of Cavity Absorber in LFRSC System – A Review of CFD Approach

Abstract

The Linear Fresnel Reflector Solar Concentrator (LFRSC) system is one of the basic solar equipment through which solar energy is converted into thermal energy with the help of heat transfer fluid which flows through the absorber. A detailed review of the literature that deals with the numerical analysis in the design of absorber is presented. Most of the researchers used Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) as a numerical simulation tool for modeling the absorber. CFD uses powerful computer and applied mathematics, to model fluid flow situations for the prediction of heat and momentum transfer of the flow processes. The quality of the solutions obtained from CFD simulation is largely within the acceptable range as compared to experimental values proving that CFD is an effective tool for predicting the behavior and performance of an absorber. In most of the reviews, a modern CFD code ANSYS FLUENT version is used to simulate heat transfer and fluid flow through a conventional absorber of LFRSC system. The review is performed in a thematic way in order to allow an easier comparison, discussion and evaluation of the findings obtained by researchers related to modeling of the absorber which affects the performance of LFRSC system.