Design and analysis of a novel multi-sectioned compound parabolic concentrator with multi-objective genetic algorithm

Currently, the high curvature curved reflective structure of standard compound parabolic concentrator (S-CPC) is expensive to manufacture, and the energy distribution on its absorber is extremely nonuniform. To solve these two problems simultaneously, a multi-objective optimization design method of multi-sectioned compound parabolic concentrator (M-CPC) based on the genetic algorithm is proposed, and a ray-path control experiment is conducted to verify the reliability of the calculation program. Several characteristics of the optimized concentrators and the basic model are studied comparatively. The energy distributions of different concentrators are visually displayed, the application value of M-CPC is discussed and the recommended design parameters with different types of absorbers are given. The results show that the obtained M-CPCs can significantly improve the uniformity of energy distribution on the absorber. In particular, the M-CPC with five reflective planes on the single side could reduce the average energy non-uniformity factor from 2.23 to 0.92, and the peak energy density on the absorber surface could be reduced from 46002.67W/m(2) to 2851.00W/m(2). The range of the initial acceptance angle and the working time are extended, and the problem of sudden cooling and heating on the absorber could be alleviated. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.