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Thermo-mechanical performance enhancement of volumetric solar receivers using graded porous absorbers

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  • Sharma, Sonika
  • Talukdar, Prabal

Abstract

The potential of graded porous absorbers in enhancing the thermo-mechanical performance of a volumetric solar receiver is investigated. A coupled numerical model is developed and simulations are conducted on various configurations with porosity and pore size variations in axial, radial, and bidirectional arrangements. The performance of graded configurations is first compared with a representative uniform configuration, and then the optimal configurations within each arrangement are further analyzed to determine the overall best configuration. The parametric study reveals conflicting thermo-mechanical performances in majority of the arrangements. The configurations with a porosity range of 0.9–0.95 and a pore size range of 2–4 mm exhibit the best performance across all variations. Among the best configurations, the bidirectional configuration with radially decreasing porosity and axially increasing pore size demonstrates the best performance with an increase of 8.96 % in air outlet temperature and a decrease of 22.7 % and 4 % in Failure Index and pressure drop, respectively. Bidirectional configuration maintained superior performance over the receiver length range of 1–6 cm and velocity range of 0.4–2.4 m/s. The results underscore the suitability of certain graded arrangements for achieving improved thermal performance while ensuring higher mechanical safety.

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  • Sharma, Sonika & Talukdar, Prabal, 2024. "Thermo-mechanical performance enhancement of volumetric solar receivers using graded porous absorbers," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:304:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224018449
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.132070
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    References listed on IDEAS

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