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

Fend, Thomas; Schwarzbözl, Peter; Smirnova, Olena; Schöllgen, Daniel; Jakob, Christoph

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2013.06.001

Cited by 62 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…17 Downstream heat exchangers can obstruct the visualisation of the receiver rear surface and prevent the use of thermal imaging instrumentation (useful, for instance, to determine the radiation properties of evaluated samples or study the probability of flow instabilities in operation). A heat exchanger then needs to be placed between the fan and the receiver to prevent damages caused by the hot flow.…”

Section: Experimental Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A heat exchanger then needs to be placed between the fan and the receiver to prevent damages caused by the hot flow. 17 Downstream heat exchangers can obstruct the visualisation of the receiver rear surface and prevent the use of thermal imaging instrumentation (useful, for instance, to determine the radiation properties of evaluated samples or study the probability of flow instabilities in operation). The facility described here uses a blowing fan upstream of the working section, which makes the use of such a heat exchanger unnecessary.…”

Section: Experimental Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6 Structures are arranged into a volume so that maximum wall temperatures in operation are found deep inside the heat exchanging matrix. But researchers still rely on semiempirical correlations for radiative and convective heat transfer, [16][17][18] and optimisation is complex because of conjugate effects. 7 Relatively colder outer surfaces and minimum thermal emission losses are produced as a result, which allows volumetric receivers to operate at irradiance levels approximately 5 times higher than tubular ones.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…12 Recent advances in computational simulations have facilitated investigations into the combined heat transfer mechanisms found in volumetric receivers, [13][14][15] including the absorption of incident radiation into their solid structure and the local convective heat transfer coefficient distributions. But researchers still rely on semiempirical correlations for radiative and convective heat transfer, [16][17][18] and optimisation is complex because of conjugate effects. It is thus common that numerical studies address specific aspects of the system, rather than provide precise fully integrated validations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

A new calorimetric facility to investigate radiative-convective heat exchangers for concentrated solar power applications

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary A new calorimetric facility for the aerothermal assessment of radiative‐convective heat exchangers in concentrating solar power applications has been developed and is described in this paper. The configuration of volumetric solar receivers enables concentrated sunlight to be absorbed and conducted within their solid volume, from where it is gradually transferred by forced convection to a heat transfer fluid flowing through their structure. Current design trends towards higher thermal conversion efficiencies have led to the use of complex intricate geometries to maximise temperatures deep inside the structure. The work presented aims to aid these objectives by commissioning a new experimental facility for the fully integrated evaluation of such components. The facility is composed of a high‐flux solar simulator that provides 1.2 kW of radiative power, a radiation homogeniser, inlet and outlet collector modules, and a working section that can accommodate volumetric receivers up to 80 mm × 80 mm in aperture. Irradiance levels and flow field nondimensional governing parameters are highly representative of on‐sun experiments at larger scales. Results from experiments with a siliconised silicon carbide monolithic honeycomb are presented, conducted at realistic conditions of incident radiative power per unit mass flow rate to validate its design point operation. Measurements conducted include absorber solid temperature distributions, air inlet and outlet temperatures, pressure drop, incident heat flux, and overall thermal efficiency. The relative influence of different sources of thermal loss is analysed and discussed.

show abstract

Section: Experimental Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Experimental Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A new calorimetric facility to investigate radiative-convective heat exchangers for concentrated solar power applications

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Absorber research studies range from laboratory experiments and pilot deployments [3][4][5][6][7][8], to thermal and analytical models for optimization [9,10], to advanced numerical heat transfer investigations [11,12]. In order to investigate the absorption of incident radiation inside the solid structure of volumetric absorbers, most of the analyses conducted to date have been based on numerical methods [13][14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new laboratory-scale experimental facility for detailed aerothermal characterizations of volumetric absorbers

Gomez-Garcia¹,

Santiago²,

Luque³

et al. 2016

AIP Conference Proceedings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Thermo‐Mechanical Analysis of a Silicon Carbide Honeycomb Component Applied as an Absorber For Concentrated Solar Radiation

Fend

Schwarzboezl

Smirnova

et al. 2016

Ceramic Transactions Series

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The study focuses on a numerical model describing the thermo-mechanical processes in an open volumetric solar absorber. In this application thermal loads of up to 850 kW/m² induce mechanical stresses inside the volume of the component. The objective of the study is to identify critical thermal load cases which may especially occur during start-up or shut down cases as well as during the transition of clouds. The study can be subdivided into three major parts. In a first step, the mechanical strength of the investigated materials has been determined in double-ring, three or four-point bending tests. In a subsequent numerical stress analysis the maximum stresses in the walls of the honeycomb structure at fracture load have been determined. The results of this combined experimental/numerical approach have been compared with the strength properties of dense materials. In a second step various transient and stationary load cases were considered and the corresponding temperature distributions were calculated. Thirdly, the thermo-mechanical model was used to determine the stress distributions which have been induced. Special attention was paid on the influence of the macro geometry and cell-density. The results of the study allow important conclusions for the operation of the receiver.

show abstract

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

Cited by 62 publications

References 4 publications

A new calorimetric facility to investigate radiative-convective heat exchangers for concentrated solar power applications

A new calorimetric facility to investigate radiative-convective heat exchangers for concentrated solar power applications

A new laboratory-scale experimental facility for detailed aerothermal characterizations of volumetric absorbers

Thermo‐Mechanical Analysis of a Silicon Carbide Honeycomb Component Applied as an Absorber For Concentrated Solar Radiation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About