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Numerical investigation of flow and heat transfer in a volumetric solar receiver

Author

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  • Fend, Th.
  • Schwarzbözl, P.
  • Smirnova, O.
  • Schöllgen, D.
  • Jakob, C.

Abstract

Volumetric solar receivers are used in solar power plants to convert concentrated solar radiation into high temperature heat to operate a thermal engine. In general, porous high temperature materials are used for this purpose. Since the pore geometry is important for the efficiency performance of the receiver, current R&D activities focus on the optimization of this quantity. In this study, the influence of slight geometry changes of this component on its temperature distribution and efficiency has been investigated with the objective of an overall improvement. A numerical analysis of the mass and heat transfer through the receiver has been performed. The investigated receiver was an extruded honeycomb structure made out of Silicon Carbide. Additionally, experimental tests have been performed. In these tests, selected receiver samples have been exposed to concentrated radiation. From these tests solar-to-thermal efficiency data have been derived, which could be compared with the calculated data. Two numerical models have been developed. One makes use of the real geometry of the channel (single channel model), the other one considers the receiver to be “porous continuum”, which is described by homogenized properties such as permeability and effective heat conductivity. The experimental parameters such as the average solar heat flux and the mass flow were taken into account in the models as boundary conditions. Various quantities such as the average air outlet temperatures, the temperature distributions and the solar-to-thermal efficiency were used for the comparison. The correspondence between the experimental and numerical results of both numerical models confirms the capability of the approaches for further studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Fend, Th. & Schwarzbözl, P. & Smirnova, O. & Schöllgen, D. & Jakob, C., 2013. "Numerical investigation of flow and heat transfer in a volumetric solar receiver," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 655-661.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:60:y:2013:i:c:p:655-661
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2013.06.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fend, Thomas & Hoffschmidt, Bernhard & Pitz-Paal, Robert & Reutter, Oliver & Rietbrock, Peter, 2004. "Porous materials as open volumetric solar receivers: Experimental determination of thermophysical and heat transfer properties," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 823-833.
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    1. Roldán, M.I. & Zarza, E. & Casas, J.L., 2015. "Modelling and testing of a solar-receiver system applied to high-temperature processes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 608-618.
    2. Pitot de la Beaujardiere, Jean-Francois P. & Reuter, Hanno C.R., 2018. "A review of performance modelling studies associated with open volumetric receiver CSP plant technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3848-3862.
    3. Carlos E. Arreola-Ramos & Omar Álvarez-Brito & Juan Daniel Macías & Aldo Javier Guadarrama-Mendoza & Manuel A. Ramírez-Cabrera & Armando Rojas-Morin & Patricio J. Valadés-Pelayo & Heidi Isabel Villafá, 2021. "Experimental Evaluation and Modeling of Air Heating in a Ceramic Foam Volumetric Absorber by Effective Parameters," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, April.
    4. Avila-Marin, Antonio L. & Fernandez-Reche, Jesus & Carballo, Jose Antonio & Carra, Maria Elena & Gianella, Sandro & Ferrari, Luca & Sanchez-Señoran, Daniel, 2022. "CFD analysis of the performance impact of geometrical shape on volumetric absorbers in a standard cup," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P1), pages 256-272.
    5. Reddy, K.S. & Nataraj, Sundarraj, 2019. "Thermal analysis of porous volumetric receivers of concentrated solar dish and tower systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 786-797.
    6. Zaversky, Fritz & Aldaz, Leticia & Sánchez, Marcelino & Ávila-Marín, Antonio L. & Roldán, M. Isabel & Fernández-Reche, Jesús & Füssel, Alexander & Beckert, Wieland & Adler, Jörg, 2018. "Numerical and experimental evaluation and optimization of ceramic foam as solar absorber – Single-layer vs multi-layer configurations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 351-375.
    7. Avila-Marin, Antonio L., 2022. "CFD parametric analysis of wire meshes open volumetric receivers with axial-varied porosity and comparison with small-scale solar receiver tests," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 1094-1105.
    8. Nakakura, Mitsuho & Matsubara, Koji & Cho, Hyun-Seok & Kodama, Tatsuya & Gokon, Nobuyuki & Bellan, Selvan & Yoshida, Kazuo, 2017. "Buoyancy-opposed volumetric solar receiver with beam-down optics irradiation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 2337-2350.
    9. Antonio Froio & Andrea Bertinetti & Alessandro Del Nevo & Laura Savoldi, 2020. "Hybrid 1D + 2D Modelling for the Assessment of the Heat Transfer in the EU DEMO Water-Cooled Lithium-Lead Manifolds," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-23, July.
    10. Avila-Marin, Antonio L. & Fernandez-Reche, Jesus & Gianella, Sandro & Ferrari, Luca & Sanchez-Señoran, Daniel, 2022. "Experimental study of innovative periodic cellular structures as air volumetric absorbers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 391-404.
    11. Navalho, Jorge E.P. & Pereira, José C.F., 2020. "A comprehensive and fully predictive discrete methodology for volumetric solar receivers: application to a functional parabolic dish solar collector system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    12. Pabst, Christoph & Feckler, Gereon & Schmitz, Stefan & Smirnova, Olena & Capuano, Raffaele & Hirth, Peter & Fend, Thomas, 2017. "Experimental performance of an advanced metal volumetric air receiver for Solar Towers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 91-98.
    13. Avila-Marin, Antonio L. & Caliot, Cyril & Alvarez de Lara, Monica & Fernandez-Reche, Jesus & Montes, Maria Jose & Martinez-Tarifa, Adela, 2019. "Homogeneous equivalent model coupled with P1-approximation for dense wire meshes volumetric air receivers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 908-919.
    14. Capuano, Raffaele & Fend, Thomas & Stadler, Hannes & Hoffschmidt, Bernhard & Pitz-Paal, Robert, 2017. "Optimized volumetric solar receiver: Thermal performance prediction and experimental validation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(PB), pages 556-566.
    15. Andrade, L.A. & Barrozo, M.A.S. & Vieira, L.G.M., 2016. "A study on dynamic heating in solar dish concentrators," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(P1), pages 501-508.
    16. Guene Lougou, Bachirou & Wu, Lianxuan & Ma, Danni & Geng, Boxi & Jiang, Boshu & Han, Donmei & Zhang, Hao & Łapka, Piotr & Shuai, Yong, 2023. "Efficient conversion of solar energy through a macroporous ceramic receiver coupling heat transfer and thermochemical reactions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    17. Avila-Marin, A.L. & Fernandez-Reche, J. & Martinez-Tarifa, A., 2019. "Modelling strategies for porous structures as solar receivers in central receiver systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 15-33.
    18. Akba, Tufan & Baker, Derek & Mengüç, M. Pınar, 2023. "Gradient-based optimization of micro-scale pressurized volumetric receiver geometry and flow rate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 741-752.
    19. Kasaeian, Alibakhsh & Barghamadi, Hossein & Pourfayaz, Fathollah, 2017. "Performance comparison between the geometry models of multi-channel absorbers in solar volumetric receivers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 1-12.

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