Thermal analysis and design of a volumetric solar absorber depending on the porosity

M.I. Roldán, O. Smirnova, T. Fend, J.L. Casas and E. Zarza

Renewable Energy, 2014, vol. 62, issue C, 116-128

Abstract: The thermal evaluation of different absorber configurations for a volumetric solar receiver designed for a solar furnace has been carried out by means of commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software in a 2D numerical model. Simulation results for proposed configurations depending on the porosity are discussed and compared to find the optimum configuration for which flow instabilities and thermal stresses are minimized and higher efficiencies are reached. The results obtained from the comparison of air velocity and thermal profiles at the absorber outlet propose a gradual-porosity configuration as an alternative to a previous design of a porous silicon-carbide honeycomb structure in order to heat an air stream up to temperatures suited for several high-temperature industrial processes.

Keywords: Volumetric receiver; Heat transfer; Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD); 2D thermal simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (26)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148113003364
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:62:y:2014:i:c:p:116-128

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2013.06.043

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides

More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().