Investigation of temperature distribution on a new linear Fresnel receiver assembly under high solar flux. (27th May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Parikh, Abhishek; Martinek, Janna; Mungas, Greg; Kramer, Nick; Braun, Robert; Zhu, Guangdong
• Is Part Of: International journal of energy research. Volume 43:Number 9(2019)
• Page Start: 4051
• Page End: 4061
• Publication Date: 2019-05-27
• Subjects: concentrating solar power -- linear Fresnel -- operating temperature -- secondary reflector -- solar flux; Power resources -- Periodicals; Power (Mechanics) -- Periodicals; Power resources -- Research -- Periodicals; 621.042
• DOI: 10.1002/er.4374
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0363-907X

Abstract

Summary: A linear Fresnel collector design with an operation temperature of 300°C or above typically requires a solar flux concentration ratio of at least 20 on the surfaces of the receiver assembly. For the commercial linear Fresnel collector design in this work, the receiver assembly includes a secondary reflector and an evacuated receiver tube. The high‐concentration solar flux may impose additional operating‐temperature requirements on the secondary reflector and receiver tube. Thus, a careful heat‐transfer analysis is necessary to understand the operating temperature of the receiver assembly component surfaces under design and off‐design conditions to guide appropriate material selections. In this work, a numerical heat‐transfer analysis is performed to calculate the temperature distribution of the surfaces of the secondary reflector and receiver glass envelope for a commercial collector design. Operating conditions examined in the heat‐transfer analysis include various wind speeds and solar concentration ratios. The results indicate a surface temperature higher than 100°C on the secondary reflector surface, which suggests that a more advanced secondary reflector material is needed. The established heat‐transfer model can be used for optimization of the other types of linear Fresnel collectors.