Design of a compound parabolic concentrator for a multi-source high-flux solar simulator.

• A three-dimensional compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) is designed for a high-temperature solar chemical reactor. • The optical design is guided by Monte Carlo ray-tracing simulations. • A cooling system is designed using engineering heat transfer correlations. • The CPC increases the concentration ratio, reduces spillage loss and reduces flux non-uniformity. A three-dimensional compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) is designed for high-temperature solar thermochemical applications driven by radiation from a multi-source high-flux solar simulator. The basic geometrical parameters of the CPC including the acceptance angle and the entry aperture radius are determined using optical simulations. A cooling system for overheating protection is designed using engineering heat transfer correlations. A prototype CPC is manufactured using additive manufacturing and single point diamond turning techniques. The optical simulations show that the CPC increases the concentration ratio by a factor of 4.1 at an optical efficiency of 85.4%, reduces spillage loss from 78.9% to 32.1%, and reduces the flux non-uniformity on the target surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]