Experimental research on heat transfer characteristic of HITEC molten salt in evacuated tube solar collector

HITEC molten salt (7% NaNO 3 , 53% KNO 40% 2 ) has been identified as a suitable heat transfer fluid for concentrated solar power (CSP) systems, such parabolic trough collectors (PTC) and evacuated tube (ETSC). In order to optimize the flow performance of in ETSC, test rig was built conduct an experimental study, varying inlet outlet temperatures mass rates HITEC. Results show that loss ETSC is lower than other tubes. The convective coefficient much round tube. Because data largely differed from classical correlation equations, new empirical equation set deviation between experiment within ±19.2%. Finally, by comparing under different irradiation intensities, it concluded can work stably when temperature exceeds 700 W/m .