PARAMETRIC STUDY OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE VOLUMETRIC SOLAR RECEIVERS

José Natividade¹; Pedro J. Coelho¹

¹ Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa

doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-2732

Resumo

Solar energy has been a major target for renewable energy investment for the past years due to its extraordinary potential when compared to other energy sources, with the purpose of increasing the conversion efficiencies and making it profitable, while exploring new ways of harnessing more solar radiation. This study is focused on one of the most recent technologies regarding solar energy, the solar power tower, which is a prospective solution to replace the common coal power plants. It is concerned with the reticulated porous ceramic (RPC) material used to absorb the reflected radiation intensity at the top of the tower and transfer that energy to a working fluid. In this work, a simple one-dimensional computational model, taking into account the heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation, is used to predict the performance of the RPC absorber. The individual working parameters, such as the thermal conductivity, the porosity of the absorber and the fluid mass flow rate are then studied with the purpose of increasing the solar to thermal conversion efficiency at the volumetric receiver, and several case studies are presented.

Palavras-chave: Solar power tower; Solar energy; Volumetric solar absorber; Reticulated porous material; Heat transfer model