Wind engineering analysis of parabolic trough solar collectors: The effects of varying the trough depth

Paetzold, J.; Cochard, Steve; Vassallo, Anthony M.; Fletcher, David F.

doi:10.1016/j.jweia.2014.10.017

Cited by 31 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…5 (a) and (b) match the observations reported in the literature of the aerodynamic forces on a large solar field. The highest force coefficients are observed in the first collector row, and the values are close to those reported for an individual row of collectors as in [9]. Both coefficients drop significantly already in the second reflector row for all examined trough geometries.…”

Section: Aerodynamic Loadssupporting

confidence: 83%

“…Fields of shallow and deep continuous troughs, as compared on the level of an individual collector row in [9], were tested in this study. These were compared with the results for two trough designs with a staggered reflector layout (see Fig.…”

Section: Methodology Computational Setup and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A short domain as shown in grey in Fig. 2 was initialised from the result of a single collector row in a steady state simulation as presented in [9], simulated with a periodic inlet-outlet condition according to the mass flow rate of the atmospheric boundary layer flow as described above. These simulations with a mesh size of approximately 3M nodes were conducted using the SAS-SST turbulence model [12].…”

Section: Methodology Computational Setup and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Details of these validation and mesh independence tests are described in [9]. The wind tunnel experiments in the University of Sydney boundary layer wind tunnel were performed at a scale of 1:10.…”

Section: Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• pitch angle with three coarser meshes and one significantly finer mesh than that applied in [9]. While in the coarser meshes at least one of the output values of interest described below showed a discrepancy of larger than 2% of that of the fine mesh, the employed mesh resulted in values within 1% of those of the fine mesh.…”

Section: Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wind effects in solar fields with various collector designs

Paetzold

Cochard

Fletcher

et al. 2016

AIP Conference Proceedings

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Abstract. Parabolic trough power plants are often located in areas that are subjected to high wind speeds, as an open terrain without any obstructions is beneficial for the plant performance. The wind impacts both the structural requirements and the performance of the plant. The aerodynamic loads from the wind impose strong requirements on the support structure of the reflectors, and they also impact the tracking accuracy. On a thermal level the airflow around the glass envelope of the receiver tube cools its outer surface through forced convection, thereby contributing to the heat loss.Based on previous studies at the level of an individual row of collectors, this study analyses the wind effects in a full-scale solar field of different continuous and staggered trough designs. The airflow around several rows of parabolic trough collectors (PTC) is simulated at full scale in steady state simulations in an atmospheric boundary layer flow using the commercial computational fluid dynamics software ANSYS R CFX 15.0. The effect of the wake of a collector row on the following collectors is analysed, and the aerodynamic loads are compared between the different geometries.The outermost collectors of a solar field experience the highest wind forces, as the rows in the interior of the solar field are protected from high wind speeds. While the aerodynamic forces in the interior of the solar field are almost independent of the collector shape, the deeper troughs (with large rim angles) tested in this study show a lower heat loss due to forced convection on the outer surface of the receiver tube than the shallower ones (with small rim angles) in most of the solar field.

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Section: Aerodynamic Loadssupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Methodology Computational Setup and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%