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An Air-Based Cavity-Receiver for Solar Trough Concentrators
Journal article

An Air-Based Cavity-Receiver for Solar Trough Concentrators

  • Bader, Roman Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
  • Barbato, Maurizio Department of Innovative Technologies, SUPSI, 6928 Manno, Switzerland
  • Pedretti, Andrea Airlight Energy Holding SA, 6710 Biasca, Switzerland
  • Steinfeld, Aldo Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland; and Solar Technology Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
  • 2010-6-29
Published in:
  • Journal of Solar Energy Engineering. - ASME International. - 2010, vol. 132, no. 3
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Energy Engineering and Power Technology
English A cylindrical cavity-receiver containing a tubular absorber that uses air as the heat transfer fluid is proposed for a novel solar trough concentrator design. A numerical heat transfer model is developed to determine the receiver’s absorption efficiency and pumping power requirement. The 2D steady-state energy conservation equation coupling radiation, convection, and conduction heat transfer is formulated and solved numerically by finite volume techniques. The Monte Carlo ray-tracing and radiosity methods are applied to establish the solar radiation distribution and radiative exchange within the receiver. Simulations were conducted for a 50 m-long and 9.5 m-wide collector section with 120°C air inlet temperature, and air mass flows in the range 0.1–1.2 kg/s. Outlet air temperatures ranged from 260°C to 601°C, and corresponding absorption efficiencies varied between 60% and 18%. Main heat losses integrated over the receiver length were due to reflection and spillage at the receiver’s windowed aperture, amounting to 13% and 9% of the solar power input, respectively. The pressure drop along the 50 m module was in the range 0.23–11.84 mbars, resulting in isentropic pumping power requirements of 6.45×10−4−0.395% of the solar power input.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
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https://sonar.ch/global/documents/108111
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