THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

Thermal Science - Online First

Dimitrios N. Korres

,

Christos Sammoutos

,

Panagiotis Lykas

,

Saša R. Pavlović

,

Marko S. Perić

,

Christos Tzivanidis

,

Evangelos A. Bellos

online first only

A critical parametric investigation of a solar dish concentrator integrated with a stirling power engine

ABSTRACT
In this work, a novel solar parabolic dish collector with an integrated rhombic Stirling engine is investigated. The collector is studied in steady-state conditions for several different operating cases, while an analytical solution is developed for calculating the useful power output as a function of the receiver's temperature. The results are successfully verified via a numerical model developed in SolidWorks software, resulting in deviations lower than 5.3%. Subsequently, the verified analytical solution is used for conducting a parametric study in which the aperture diameter of the dish is modified, considering a receiver temperature range from 300 to 600oC. The collector's thermal efficiency is calculated for each operating case. Moreover, the mechanical efficiency of the Stirling engine is calculated via a developed model. The overall efficiency is then calculated, and the optimum operating point in each diameter case is revealed. The maximum overall efficiency considering a reflector's outer diameter of 1.2 m is calculated at 38.71%, whereas it is determined at 41.51% for a diameter of 1.4 m. Finally, it is found that the greater the diameter, the higher the optimum efficiency and the receiver temperature at which the optimum efficiency is achieved.
KEYWORDS
solar collector, parabolic dish concentrator, Stirling engine, numerical model, analytical solution
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2025-07-07
PAPER REVISED: 2025-08-05
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2025-08-06
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2025-11-08
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI250707200K
REFERENCES
  1. Kannan, N., Vakeesan, D., Solar energy for future world: - A review, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., vol. 62, pp. 1092-1105, Sep. 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2016.05.022
  2. T. S. Ge et al., Solar heating and cooling: Present and future development, Renew. Energy, vol. 126, pp. 1126-1140, Oct. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.06.081
  3. Al-Shetwi, A. Q., Hannan, M. A., Jern, K. P., Mansur, M. T., Mahlia, M. I., Grid-connected renewable energy sources: Review of the recent integration requirements and control methods, J. Clean. Prod., vol. 253, p. 119831, Apr. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119831
  4. Islam, M. T., Huda, N., Abdullah, A. B., Saidur, R., A comprehensive review of state-of-the-art concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies: Current status and research trends, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., vol. 91, pp. 987-1018, Aug. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2018.04.097
  5. Bellos, E., A geospatial comparative analysis of solar thermal concentrating power systems in Greece, Clean. Energy Syst., vol. 4, p. 100055, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.cles.2023.100055
  6. Korres, D. N., Tzivanidis, C., An innovative small-sized double cavity PTC under investigation and comparison with a conventional PTC, Sustain. Energy Technol. Assess., vol. 53, p. 102462, Oct. 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.seta.2022.102462
  7. Korres, D. N., et al., An Innovative Parabolic Trough Collector Design with a Twin-Cavity Receiver, Appl. Sci., vol. 12, no. 24, p. 12551, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.3390/app122412551
  8. Ahmadpour, A., et al., Optimization and modelling of linear Fresnel reflector solar concentrator using various methods based on Monte Carlo Ray-Trace, Sol. Energy, vol. 245, pp. 67-79, Oct. 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.solener.2022.09.006
  9. Maimoon, Atif, Al-Sulaiman, F. A., Energy and exergy analyses of solar tower power plant driven supercritical carbon dioxide recompression cycles for six different locations, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., vol. 68, pp. 153-167, Feb. 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2016.09.122
  10. Çınar, C., Aksoy, F., Solmaz H., Yılmaz E., Uyumaz, A., Manufacturing and testing of an α-type Stirling engine, Appl. Therm. Eng., vol. 130, pp. 1373-1379, Feb. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.11.132
  11. Hooshang, M., Moghadam, A., R. S., Nia, A., Masouleh, M. T., Optimization of Stirling engine design parameters using neural networks, Renew. Energy, vol. 74, pp. 855-866, Feb. 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2014.09.012
  12. Singh, U. R., Kumar, A., Review on solar Stirling engine: Development and performance, Therm. Sci. Eng. Prog., vol. 8, pp. 244-256, Dec. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.tsep.2018.08.016
  13. Wang, K. S., Sanders, R. S., Dubey, F. H. Choo, Duan, F., Stirling cycle engines for recovering low and moderate temperature heat: A review, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., vol. 62, pp. 89-108, Sep. 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2016.04.031
  14. Zhu, S., et al., A free-piston Stirling generator integrated with a parabolic trough collector for thermal-to-electric conversion of solar energy, Appl. Energy, vol. 242, pp. 1248-1258, May 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.03.169
  15. Rabhi, L., Khmou, A., Boutammachte, N., Parametric investigation on a Gamma type Stirling engine efficiency coupled to Linear Fresnel Solar Collector, 1st International Conference on Innovative Research in Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (IRASET), Meknes, Morocco: IEEE, Apr. 2020, pp. 1-4. doi: 10.1109/IRASET48871.2020.9092029
  16. Mehrpooya, M., Ghadimi, N., Marefati, M., Ghorbanian, S. A., Numerical investigation of a new combined energy system includes parabolic dish solar collector, Stirling engine and thermoelectric device, Int. J. Energy Res., vol. 45, no. 11, pp. 16436-16455, Sep. 2021, doi: 10.1002/er.6891
  17. Lashari, A. A., Shaikh, P. H., Leghari, Z. H., Soomro, M. I., Memon, Z. A., Uqaili, M. A., The performance prediction and techno-economic analyses of a stand-alone parabolic solar dish/stirling system, for Jamshoro, Pakistan, Clean. Eng. Technol., vol. 2, p. 100064, Jun. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.clet.2021.100064
  18. Awan, A. B., Zubair, M. Z., Memon, A., Ghalleb, N., Tlili, I., Comparative analysis of dish Stirling engine and photovoltaic technologies: Energy and economic perspective, Sustain. Energy Technol. Assess., vol. 44, p. 101028, Apr. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.seta.2021.101028
  19. Matsson, J., An Introduction to SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation 2015. [Online]. Available: static.sdcpublications.com/pdfsample/978-1-58503-934-0-2.pdf
  20. Bellos, E., Tzivanidis, C., Antonopoulos, K. A., Gkinis, G., Thermal enhancement of solar parabolic trough collectors by using nanofluids and converging-diverging absorber tube, Renew. Energy, vol. 94, pp. 213-222, Aug. 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2016.03.062
  21. Korres, D., Tzivanidis, C., A new mini-CPC with a U-type evacuated tube under thermal and optical investigation, Renew. Energy, vol. 128, pp. 529-540, Dec. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.06.054
  22. Korres, D. N., Tzivanidis, C., Koronaki, I. P., Nitsas, M. T., Experimental, numerical and analytical investigation of a U-type evacuated tube collectors' array, Renew. Energy, vol. 135, pp. 218-231, May 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.12.003
  23. Korres, D. N., Tzivanidis, C., A novel asymmetric compound parabolic collector under experimental and numerical investigation," Renew. Energy, vol. 199, pp. 1580-1592, Nov. 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2022.08.030
  24. Korres, D. N., Bellos, E., Tzivanidis, C., Integration of a Linear Cavity Receiver in an Asymmetric Compound Parabolic Collector, Energies, vol. 15, no. 22, p. 8635, Nov. 2022, doi: 10.3390/en15228635
  25. Wang, H., Haechler, I., Kaur, S., Freedman, J., Prasher, R., Spectrally selective solar absorber stable up to 900 °C for 120 h under ambient conditions, Sol. Energy, vol. 174, pp. 305-311, Nov. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.solener.2018.09.009
  26. Urieli, I., Berchowitz, D. M., Stirling cycle engine analysis. in Modern energy studies. Bristol: A. Hilger, 1984
  27. Yang, H.-S., Cheng, C.-H., Huang, S.-T., A complete model for dynamic simulation of a 1-kW class beta-type Stirling engine with rhombic-drive mechanism, Energy, vol. 161, pp. 892-906, Oct. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.07.159
  28. Mathsoft Mathcad11 - User's Guide
PDF VERSION [DOWNLOAD]
A critical parametric investigation of a solar dish concentrator integrated with a stirling power engine