IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v91y2015icp663-677.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fluid flow distribution optimization for minimizing the peak temperature of a tubular solar receiver

Author

Listed:
  • Wei, Min
  • Fan, Yilin
  • Luo, Lingai
  • Flamant, Gilles

Abstract

High temperature solar receiver is a core component of solar thermal power plants. However, non-uniform solar irradiation on the receiver walls and flow maldistribution of heat transfer fluid inside the tubes may cause the excessive peak temperature, consequently leading to the reduced lifetime. This paper presents an original CFD (computational fluid dynamics)-based evolutionary algorithm to determine the optimal fluid distribution in a tubular solar receiver for the minimization of its peak temperature. A pressurized-air solar receiver comprising of 45 parallel tubes subjected to a Gaussian-shape net heat flux absorbed by the receiver is used for study. Two optimality criteria are used for the algorithm: identical outlet fluid temperatures and identical temperatures on the centerline of the heated surface. The influences of different filling materials and thermal contact resistances on the optimal fluid distribution and on the peak temperature reduction are also evaluated and discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Wei, Min & Fan, Yilin & Luo, Lingai & Flamant, Gilles, 2015. "Fluid flow distribution optimization for minimizing the peak temperature of a tubular solar receiver," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 663-677.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:91:y:2015:i:c:p:663-677
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2015.08.072
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544215011482
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2015.08.072?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Qiangqiang & Li, Xin & Wang, Zhifeng & Chang, Chun & Liu, Hong, 2013. "Experimental and theoretical analysis of a dynamic test method for molten salt cavity receiver," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 214-221.
    2. Li, Qi & Flamant, Gilles & Yuan, Xigang & Neveu, Pierre & Luo, Lingai, 2011. "Compact heat exchangers: A review and future applications for a new generation of high temperature solar receivers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4855-4875.
    3. Behar, Omar & Khellaf, Abdallah & Mohammedi, Kamal, 2013. "A review of studies on central receiver solar thermal power plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 12-39.
    4. Cocco, Daniele & Serra, Fabio, 2015. "Performance comparison of two-tank direct and thermocline thermal energy storage systems for 1 MWe class concentrating solar power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 526-536.
    5. Zaversky, Fritz & Sánchez, Marcelino & Astrain, David, 2014. "Object-oriented modeling for the transient response simulation of multi-pass shell-and-tube heat exchangers as applied in active indirect thermal energy storage systems for concentrated solar power," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 647-664.
    6. Guo, Xiaofeng & Fan, Yilin & Luo, Lingai, 2014. "Multi-channel heat exchanger-reactor using arborescent distributors: A characterization study of fluid distribution, heat exchange performance and exothermic reaction," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 728-741.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Abedini Najafabadi, Hamed & Ozalp, Nesrin, 2018. "An advanced modeling and experimental study to improve temperature uniformity of a solar receiver," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 984-998.
    2. Maakala, Viljami & Järvinen, Mika & Vuorinen, Ville, 2018. "Optimizing the heat transfer performance of the recovery boiler superheaters using simulated annealing, surrogate modeling, and computational fluid dynamics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 361-377.
    3. Do, Kyu Hyung & Kim, Taehoon & Han, Yong-Shik & Choi, Byung-Il & Kim, Myungbae, 2017. "Investigation on flow distribution of the fuel supply nozzle in the annular combustor of a micro gas turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 361-373.
    4. Daabo, Ahmed M. & Mahmoud, Saad & Al-Dadah, Raya K. & Ahmad, Abdalqader, 2017. "Numerical investigation of pitch value on thermal performance of solar receiver for solar powered Brayton cycle application," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 523-539.
    5. Li, Jieyang & Hu, Jinpeng & Lin, Meng, 2022. "A flexibly controllable high-flux solar simulator for concentrated solar energy research from extreme magnitudes to uniform distributions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    6. Rodríguez-Sánchez, M.R. & Sánchez-González, A. & Santana, D., 2019. "Field-receiver model validation against Solar Two tests," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 43-52.
    7. Wei, Min & Fan, Yilin & Luo, Lingai & Flamant, Gilles, 2017. "Design and optimization of baffled fluid distributor for realizing target flow distribution in a tubular solar receiver," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 126-134.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hoz, Jordi de la & Martín, Helena & Montalà, Montserrat & Matas, José & Guzman, Ramon, 2018. "Assessing the 2014 retroactive regulatory framework applied to the concentrating solar power systems in Spain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1377-1399.
    2. Jafari, Davoud & Wits, Wessel W., 2018. "The utilization of selective laser melting technology on heat transfer devices for thermal energy conversion applications: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 420-442.
    3. Li, Qiyuan & Shirazi, Ali & Zheng, Cheng & Rosengarten, Gary & Scott, Jason A. & Taylor, Robert A., 2016. "Energy concentration limits in solar thermal heating applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 253-267.
    4. Benoit, H. & Spreafico, L. & Gauthier, D. & Flamant, G., 2016. "Review of heat transfer fluids in tube-receivers used in concentrating solar thermal systems: Properties and heat transfer coefficients," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 298-315.
    5. Xu, Li & Stein, Wesley & Kim, Jin-Soo & Wang, Zhifeng, 2018. "Three-dimensional transient numerical model for the thermal performance of the solar receiver," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 550-566.
    6. Yu, Qiang & Li, Xiaolei & Wang, Zhifeng & Zhang, Qiangqiang, 2020. "Modeling and dynamic simulation of thermal energy storage system for concentrating solar power plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    7. Okoroigwe, Edmund & Madhlopa, Amos, 2016. "An integrated combined cycle system driven by a solar tower: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 337-350.
    8. Li, Xiaolei & Xu, Ershu & Song, Shuang & Wang, Xiangyan & Yuan, Guofeng, 2017. "Dynamic simulation of two-tank indirect thermal energy storage system with molten salt," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1311-1319.
    9. Chiesi, Matteo & Franchi Scarselli, Eleonora & Guerrieri, Roberto, 2017. "Run-time detection and correction of heliostat tracking errors," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 702-711.
    10. Benkaciali, Saïd & Haddadi, Mourad & Khellaf, Abdellah, 2018. "Evaluation of direct solar irradiance from 18 broadband parametric models: Case of Algeria," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 694-711.
    11. Zhao, Zhen-Yu & Chen, Yu-Long & Thomson, John Douglas, 2017. "Levelized cost of energy modeling for concentrated solar power projects: A China study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 117-127.
    12. Koide, Hiroaki & Kurniawan, Ade & Takahashi, Tatsuya & Kawaguchi, Takahiro & Sakai, Hiroki & Sato, Yusuke & Chiu, Justin NW. & Nomura, Takahiro, 2022. "Performance analysis of packed bed latent heat storage system for high-temperature thermal energy storage using pellets composed of micro-encapsulated phase change material," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PC).
    13. Ajbar, Wassila & Parrales, A. & Huicochea, A. & Hernández, J.A., 2022. "Different ways to improve parabolic trough solar collectors’ performance over the last four decades and their applications: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    14. Wang, Jianxing & Duan, Liqiang & Yang, Yongping, 2018. "An improvement crossover operation method in genetic algorithm and spatial optimization of heliostat field," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 15-28.
    15. Wang, Kun & He, Ya-Ling & Zhu, Han-Hui, 2017. "Integration between supercritical CO2 Brayton cycles and molten salt solar power towers: A review and a comprehensive comparison of different cycle layouts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 819-836.
    16. Tehrani, S. Saeed Mostafavi & Taylor, Robert A. & Saberi, Pouya & Diarce, Gonzalo, 2016. "Design and feasibility of high temperature shell and tube latent heat thermal energy storage system for solar thermal power plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA), pages 120-136.
    17. Fasquelle, T. & Falcoz, Q. & Neveu, P. & Hoffmann, J.-F., 2018. "A temperature threshold evaluation for thermocline energy storage in concentrated solar power plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1153-1164.
    18. Moudakkar, Touria & El Hallaoui, Z. & Vaudreuil, S. & Bounahmidi, T., 2019. "Modeling and performance analysis of a PTC for industrial phosphate flash drying," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 1134-1148.
    19. Hu, Peng & Huang, Weidong, 2018. "Performance analysis and optimization of an integrated azimuth tracking solar tower," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 247-257.
    20. Ortega-Fernández, Iñigo & Rodríguez-Aseguinolaza, Javier, 2019. "Thermal energy storage for waste heat recovery in the steelworks: The case study of the REslag project," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 708-719.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:91:y:2015:i:c:p:663-677. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.