The non-uniform concentrated solar flux distribution on the outer surface of the absorber tube can lead to large circumferential temperature difference and high local temperature of the absorber tube wall,which is one...The non-uniform concentrated solar flux distribution on the outer surface of the absorber tube can lead to large circumferential temperature difference and high local temperature of the absorber tube wall,which is one of the primary causes of parabolic trough solar receiver(PTR)failures.In this paper,a secondary reflector used as a homogenizing reflector(HR)in a conventional parabolic trough solar collector(PTSC)was recommended to homogenize the solar flux distribution and thus increase the reliability of the PTR.The design method of this new type PTSC with a HR was also proposed.Meanwhile,the concentrated solar flux distribution was calculated by adopting the Monte Carlo ray-trace(MCRT)method.Then,the coupled heat transfer process within the PTR was simulated by treating the solar flux calculated by the MCRT method as the heat flux boundary condition for the finite volume method model.The solar flux distribution on the outer surface of the absorber tube,the temperature field of the absorber tube wall,and the collector efficiency were analyzed in detail.It was revealed that the absorber tube could almost be heated uniformly in the PTSC with a HR.As a result,the circumferential temperature difference and the maximum temperature could be reduced significantly,while the efficiency tended to decrease slightly due to the inevitably increased optical loss.Under the conditions studied in this paper,although the collector efficiency decreased by about 4%,the circumferential temperature difference was reduced from about 25 to 3 K and the maximum temperature was reduced from667 to 661 K.展开更多
In this paper, the heat transfer enhancement in a solar parabolic trough receiver tube with porous insert and non-uniform heat flux condition was investigated. A new optimization method, which couples genetic algorith...In this paper, the heat transfer enhancement in a solar parabolic trough receiver tube with porous insert and non-uniform heat flux condition was investigated. A new optimization method, which couples genetic algorithm(GA) and computational fluid dynamics(CFD) based on Socket communication, was proposed to optimize the configuration of porous insert. After the acquisition of the optimal porous inserts, some performance evaluation criterions such as synergy angle, entransy dissipation and exergy loss were introduced to discuss the heat transfer performance of the enhanced receiver tubes(ERTs) with optimal and referenced porous inserts. The results showed that, for a large range of properties of porous insert(including porosity and thermal conductivity) and Reynolds number, the heat-transfer performance of ERT with porous insert optimized by GA is always higher than that of the referenced ERTs. Better heat-transfer performance can further improve the solar-to-thermal energy conversion efficiency and mechanical property of the solar parabolic trough receiver. When some porous materials with high thermal conductivity are adopted, ERT can simultaneously obtain perfect thermal and thermo-hydraulic performance by using the same optimized porous insert, which cannot be achieved by using the referenced porous insert. In the view of those introduced evaluation criterions, using the optimized porous insert can obtain better synergy performance and lesser irreversibility of heat transfer than using the referenced porous insert. Entransy dissipation per unit energy transferred and exergy loss rate have equivalent effects on the evaluation of irreversibility of heat transfer process. These evaluation criterions can be used as optimization goals for enhancing the comprehensive performance of the solar parabolic trough receiver.展开更多
Based on the analysis of computation methods and heat transfer processes of the parabolic trough receiver running in steady state, a two-dimensional empirical model was developed to investigate the thermal performance...Based on the analysis of computation methods and heat transfer processes of the parabolic trough receiver running in steady state, a two-dimensional empirical model was developed to investigate the thermal performance of heat loss of parabolic trough receivers under steady state equilibrium. A numerical simulation was conducted for the parabolic trough receiver involved in a literature. Comparisons between numerical and experimental results show that the empirical model is accurate enough and can be used to investigate the thermal performance of heat loss of parabolic trough receivers. The thermal performance of heat loss of UVAC3 and the new-generation UVAC2008 was investigated respectively. The simulation results show that selective coatings and annular pressure influence the thermal performance of heat loss of parabolic trough receivers greatly, wind velocity influences the thermal performance of thermal loss of parabolic trough receivers only a little in contrast with the emittance of selective coatings and air pressure in annular space. And the thermal performance of thermal loss of the new-generation parabolic trough receiver has been improved in a large amount.展开更多
Designing highly-efficient parabolic trough receiver(PTR)contributes to promoting solar thermal utilization and alleviating energy crisis and environmental problems.A novel finned PTR with inner tube(FPTR-IT),which ca...Designing highly-efficient parabolic trough receiver(PTR)contributes to promoting solar thermal utilization and alleviating energy crisis and environmental problems.A novel finned PTR with inner tube(FPTR-IT),which can provide different grades of thermal energy with two heat transfer fluids(oil and water),is designed to improve thermal efficiency.In this FPTR-IT,an inner tube and straight fins are employed to respectively lessen heat loss at upper and lower parts of the absorber.Based on the design,a numerical model is developed to investigate its performance.Comparisons with other PTRs indicate that the FPTR-IT can combine the advantages of PTR with inner tube and finned PTR and obtain the best performance.Moreover,performance evaluation under broad ranges of direct normal irradiances(300–1000 W/m^(2)),flow rates(50–250 L/min)and inlet temperatures(400–600 K)of oil as well as flow rates(3.6–10 L/min)and inlet temperatures(298.15–318.15 K)of water is investigated.Compared with conventional PTR,heat loss is reduced by 20.7%–63.2%and total efficiency is improved by 0.03%–4.27%.Furthermore,the proportions of heat gains for water and oil are located in 8.3%–73.9%and-12.0%–64.3%,while their temperature gains are located in 11.6–37.9 K and-1.2–19.6 K,respectively.Thus,the proposed FPTR-IT may have a promising application prospect in remote arid areas or islands to provide different grades of heat for electricity and freshwater production.展开更多
Despite having very high solar irradiance,Pakistan still does not have any installed concentrated solar power(CSP)plant.Several studies have shown that multiple locations within the country are suitable for CSP plants...Despite having very high solar irradiance,Pakistan still does not have any installed concentrated solar power(CSP)plant.Several studies have shown that multiple locations within the country are suitable for CSP plants,but there is limited availability of comprehensive comparative studies.Therefore,this article presents a comparative analysis of different CSP technologies in Pakistan,focusing on their potential to address the country’s energy crisis.The study evaluates the pros and cons of different CSP technologies at various locations through site assessment,modelling,optimization and economic analysis using the System Advisor Model.Quetta and Nawabshah were selected as the locations for modelling multiple scenarios of 100-MW plants,using central receiver systems,parabolic trough collectors and linear Fresnel reflectors.The plants were integrated with thermal energy storage and the storage capacity was optimized using parametric analysis.The results showed that a central receiver system for the location of Quetta was the most favourable option,with an annual energy yield of 622 GWh at 7.44 cents/kWh,followed by a central receiver system for Nawabshah(608 GWh,9.03 cents/kWh).This study is the first to show that switching between line-concentrated and point-concentrated CSP technologies can open new opportunities for sites in Pakistan with relatively high solar resources,resulting in a 21.3%reduction in the levelized cost.展开更多
Parabolic trough receiver is a key component to convert solar energy into thermal energy in the parabolic trough solar system.The heat loss of the receiver has an important influence on the thermal efficiency and the ...Parabolic trough receiver is a key component to convert solar energy into thermal energy in the parabolic trough solar system.The heat loss of the receiver has an important influence on the thermal efficiency and the operating cost of the power station.In this paper,conduction and radiation heat losses are analyzed respectively to identify the heat loss mechanism of the receiver.A 2-D heat transfer model is established by using the direct simulation Monte Carlo method for rarefied gas flow and heat transfer within the annulus of the receiver to predict the conduction heat loss caused by residual gases.The numerical results conform to the experimental results,and show the temperature of the glass envelope and heat loss for various conditions in detail.The effects of annulus pressure,gas species,temperature of heat transfer fluid,and annulus size on the conduction and radiation heat losses are systematically analyzed.Besides,the main factors that cause heat loss are analyzed,providing a theoretical basis for guiding the improvement of receiver,as well as the operation and maintenance strategy to reduce heat loss.展开更多
Cameroon lives in the era of great infrastructures in order to reach the economic emergence by 2035. These infrastructures require a solid framework of energy provisions from many natural energy sources and resources ...Cameroon lives in the era of great infrastructures in order to reach the economic emergence by 2035. These infrastructures require a solid framework of energy provisions from many natural energy sources and resources that the country possesses. Speaking of natural energy resources, the country is particularly gifted by solar energy potential in the far north. This region of the land is densely populated but much of the populations do not have access to electricity since they live in remote areas far from national electricity grid. Solar thermal energy appears then as real potential to fulfill the growing demand of energy and reduce fossil fuel use dependence. Moreover, it would also be a grandiose opportunity for hospitals in these regions to provide hot water for Sterilization. As the design of a solar thermal plant strongly relies on the potential of direct solar irradiance and the performance of a solar parabolic trough collector (PTC) estimated under the local climate conditions, in this paper, we annually compute direct solar radiation based on monthly average Linke turbidity factor and various tracking modes in two chosen sites in the far north region of Cameroon. Also, a detailed two dimensional numerical heat transfer analysis of a PTC has been performed. The receiver has been divided into many control volumes along his length and each of them is a column consisting of glass, vacuum, absorber and fluid along which mass and energy balance have been applied. Direct solar irradiation, ambient temperature optical and thermal analyses of the collector receiver takes into consideration all modes of heat transfer and the nonlinear algebraic equations were solved simultaneously at each instant during a day of computation using Engineering Equation Solver (EES). To validate the numerical results, the model was compared with experimental data obtained from Sandia National Laboratory (SNL). It has shown a great concordance with a maximum relative error value of 0.35% and thermal efficiency range of systems about 66.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.51176155 and 51306149)the Research Project of Chinese Ministry of Education(Grant No.113055A)
文摘The non-uniform concentrated solar flux distribution on the outer surface of the absorber tube can lead to large circumferential temperature difference and high local temperature of the absorber tube wall,which is one of the primary causes of parabolic trough solar receiver(PTR)failures.In this paper,a secondary reflector used as a homogenizing reflector(HR)in a conventional parabolic trough solar collector(PTSC)was recommended to homogenize the solar flux distribution and thus increase the reliability of the PTR.The design method of this new type PTSC with a HR was also proposed.Meanwhile,the concentrated solar flux distribution was calculated by adopting the Monte Carlo ray-trace(MCRT)method.Then,the coupled heat transfer process within the PTR was simulated by treating the solar flux calculated by the MCRT method as the heat flux boundary condition for the finite volume method model.The solar flux distribution on the outer surface of the absorber tube,the temperature field of the absorber tube wall,and the collector efficiency were analyzed in detail.It was revealed that the absorber tube could almost be heated uniformly in the PTSC with a HR.As a result,the circumferential temperature difference and the maximum temperature could be reduced significantly,while the efficiency tended to decrease slightly due to the inevitably increased optical loss.Under the conditions studied in this paper,although the collector efficiency decreased by about 4%,the circumferential temperature difference was reduced from about 25 to 3 K and the maximum temperature was reduced from667 to 661 K.
基金supported by the Key Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.51436007)the Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.51590902)
文摘In this paper, the heat transfer enhancement in a solar parabolic trough receiver tube with porous insert and non-uniform heat flux condition was investigated. A new optimization method, which couples genetic algorithm(GA) and computational fluid dynamics(CFD) based on Socket communication, was proposed to optimize the configuration of porous insert. After the acquisition of the optimal porous inserts, some performance evaluation criterions such as synergy angle, entransy dissipation and exergy loss were introduced to discuss the heat transfer performance of the enhanced receiver tubes(ERTs) with optimal and referenced porous inserts. The results showed that, for a large range of properties of porous insert(including porosity and thermal conductivity) and Reynolds number, the heat-transfer performance of ERT with porous insert optimized by GA is always higher than that of the referenced ERTs. Better heat-transfer performance can further improve the solar-to-thermal energy conversion efficiency and mechanical property of the solar parabolic trough receiver. When some porous materials with high thermal conductivity are adopted, ERT can simultaneously obtain perfect thermal and thermo-hydraulic performance by using the same optimized porous insert, which cannot be achieved by using the referenced porous insert. In the view of those introduced evaluation criterions, using the optimized porous insert can obtain better synergy performance and lesser irreversibility of heat transfer than using the referenced porous insert. Entransy dissipation per unit energy transferred and exergy loss rate have equivalent effects on the evaluation of irreversibility of heat transfer process. These evaluation criterions can be used as optimization goals for enhancing the comprehensive performance of the solar parabolic trough receiver.
基金supported by the Beijing Municipal Science Foundation (Grant No. 3081002)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50736005)
文摘Based on the analysis of computation methods and heat transfer processes of the parabolic trough receiver running in steady state, a two-dimensional empirical model was developed to investigate the thermal performance of heat loss of parabolic trough receivers under steady state equilibrium. A numerical simulation was conducted for the parabolic trough receiver involved in a literature. Comparisons between numerical and experimental results show that the empirical model is accurate enough and can be used to investigate the thermal performance of heat loss of parabolic trough receivers. The thermal performance of heat loss of UVAC3 and the new-generation UVAC2008 was investigated respectively. The simulation results show that selective coatings and annular pressure influence the thermal performance of heat loss of parabolic trough receivers greatly, wind velocity influences the thermal performance of thermal loss of parabolic trough receivers only a little in contrast with the emittance of selective coatings and air pressure in annular space. And the thermal performance of thermal loss of the new-generation parabolic trough receiver has been improved in a large amount.
基金supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(Grant No.2020M672344)。
文摘Designing highly-efficient parabolic trough receiver(PTR)contributes to promoting solar thermal utilization and alleviating energy crisis and environmental problems.A novel finned PTR with inner tube(FPTR-IT),which can provide different grades of thermal energy with two heat transfer fluids(oil and water),is designed to improve thermal efficiency.In this FPTR-IT,an inner tube and straight fins are employed to respectively lessen heat loss at upper and lower parts of the absorber.Based on the design,a numerical model is developed to investigate its performance.Comparisons with other PTRs indicate that the FPTR-IT can combine the advantages of PTR with inner tube and finned PTR and obtain the best performance.Moreover,performance evaluation under broad ranges of direct normal irradiances(300–1000 W/m^(2)),flow rates(50–250 L/min)and inlet temperatures(400–600 K)of oil as well as flow rates(3.6–10 L/min)and inlet temperatures(298.15–318.15 K)of water is investigated.Compared with conventional PTR,heat loss is reduced by 20.7%–63.2%and total efficiency is improved by 0.03%–4.27%.Furthermore,the proportions of heat gains for water and oil are located in 8.3%–73.9%and-12.0%–64.3%,while their temperature gains are located in 11.6–37.9 K and-1.2–19.6 K,respectively.Thus,the proposed FPTR-IT may have a promising application prospect in remote arid areas or islands to provide different grades of heat for electricity and freshwater production.
文摘Despite having very high solar irradiance,Pakistan still does not have any installed concentrated solar power(CSP)plant.Several studies have shown that multiple locations within the country are suitable for CSP plants,but there is limited availability of comprehensive comparative studies.Therefore,this article presents a comparative analysis of different CSP technologies in Pakistan,focusing on their potential to address the country’s energy crisis.The study evaluates the pros and cons of different CSP technologies at various locations through site assessment,modelling,optimization and economic analysis using the System Advisor Model.Quetta and Nawabshah were selected as the locations for modelling multiple scenarios of 100-MW plants,using central receiver systems,parabolic trough collectors and linear Fresnel reflectors.The plants were integrated with thermal energy storage and the storage capacity was optimized using parametric analysis.The results showed that a central receiver system for the location of Quetta was the most favourable option,with an annual energy yield of 622 GWh at 7.44 cents/kWh,followed by a central receiver system for Nawabshah(608 GWh,9.03 cents/kWh).This study is the first to show that switching between line-concentrated and point-concentrated CSP technologies can open new opportunities for sites in Pakistan with relatively high solar resources,resulting in a 21.3%reduction in the levelized cost.
基金funded by the National Key R&D Program of China(No.2019YFE0102000)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.51476165).
文摘Parabolic trough receiver is a key component to convert solar energy into thermal energy in the parabolic trough solar system.The heat loss of the receiver has an important influence on the thermal efficiency and the operating cost of the power station.In this paper,conduction and radiation heat losses are analyzed respectively to identify the heat loss mechanism of the receiver.A 2-D heat transfer model is established by using the direct simulation Monte Carlo method for rarefied gas flow and heat transfer within the annulus of the receiver to predict the conduction heat loss caused by residual gases.The numerical results conform to the experimental results,and show the temperature of the glass envelope and heat loss for various conditions in detail.The effects of annulus pressure,gas species,temperature of heat transfer fluid,and annulus size on the conduction and radiation heat losses are systematically analyzed.Besides,the main factors that cause heat loss are analyzed,providing a theoretical basis for guiding the improvement of receiver,as well as the operation and maintenance strategy to reduce heat loss.
文摘Cameroon lives in the era of great infrastructures in order to reach the economic emergence by 2035. These infrastructures require a solid framework of energy provisions from many natural energy sources and resources that the country possesses. Speaking of natural energy resources, the country is particularly gifted by solar energy potential in the far north. This region of the land is densely populated but much of the populations do not have access to electricity since they live in remote areas far from national electricity grid. Solar thermal energy appears then as real potential to fulfill the growing demand of energy and reduce fossil fuel use dependence. Moreover, it would also be a grandiose opportunity for hospitals in these regions to provide hot water for Sterilization. As the design of a solar thermal plant strongly relies on the potential of direct solar irradiance and the performance of a solar parabolic trough collector (PTC) estimated under the local climate conditions, in this paper, we annually compute direct solar radiation based on monthly average Linke turbidity factor and various tracking modes in two chosen sites in the far north region of Cameroon. Also, a detailed two dimensional numerical heat transfer analysis of a PTC has been performed. The receiver has been divided into many control volumes along his length and each of them is a column consisting of glass, vacuum, absorber and fluid along which mass and energy balance have been applied. Direct solar irradiation, ambient temperature optical and thermal analyses of the collector receiver takes into consideration all modes of heat transfer and the nonlinear algebraic equations were solved simultaneously at each instant during a day of computation using Engineering Equation Solver (EES). To validate the numerical results, the model was compared with experimental data obtained from Sandia National Laboratory (SNL). It has shown a great concordance with a maximum relative error value of 0.35% and thermal efficiency range of systems about 66.
