Numerical performance analysis of novel solar tower receiver

Abstract

Concern over the altering climate due to the release of anthropogenic greenhouse gases has caused a major shift in the developments of ways to minimise human impact on the climate. Solar energy is seen as one of the most promising sources to transform the energy market for low-carbon energy generation. Currently, solar power is generated via photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. The advantage of CSPs to scale up renewable energy to utility level, as well as to store thermal energy for electrical power generation when the sun is not available (after sunset or during cloudy periods) makes this technology an attractive option for sustainable clean energy. CSP development, however, is still in its infancy, and for it to be a competitive form of energy-generation technology, techno-economic developments in this field need to improve the efficiency and decrease the costs of this technology. A policy report by the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC) (2011) indicated that central receiver (solar tower) CSP systems show the greatest margin for technological improvements (40% to 65% is estimated), and that an improvement in receiver technology could make the greatest contribution to increase efficiency. This study therefore focused on analysing the optical and thermal performance of a new proposed solar cavity molten salt receiver design for a central receiver CSP system using a numerical approach. In this study, the receiver’s performance was analysed by first selecting an existing heliostat field, Planta Solar 10 (PS-10). For the numerical analysis to reflect conditions that are as realistic as possible, numerical models for different aspects were selected and validated. For modelling the sun, the solar tracking numerical model proposed by Iqbal (1983) was selected and implemented after literature and comparison showed adequate results. The direct normal irradiation (DNI) was modelled by applying a clear sky model, with the parameterisation model C proposed by Iqbal (1983) as the chosen model. The variables in this model that were subject to temperature, and humidity values were more accurately presented by adding numerical approximations of the region’s actual weather data. The DNI model reflected realistic fluctuations. For the thermal modelling, a validation study was conducted on impingement flow heat transfer to select an appropriate Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model that would provide accurate results when conducting the thermal performance test on the receiver. The study concluded that the transitional Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model performed the best. A new method was also developed and validated that allows one to not only simulate complex geometries within the Monte Carlo ray tracing environment SolTrace, but also to apply the results obtained by simulating this model as a heat source within the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) environment ANSYS Fluent. This allows SolTrace modelling to be more accurate, since models do not need to be approximated to simple geometries. It also provides an alternative for solar modelling in ANSYS Fluent. The optical analysis was conducted by first performing an analysis on the receiver aperture and studying its sensitivity on the captured flux. This was followed by analysing the optics of the proposed receiver, the flux distributions on a simplified absorber surface area, and how these distributions are altered by changing some parameters. An in-depth analysis was finally done on the absorber area by applying the aforementioned model to simulate complex geometries within SolTrace, with the results illustrating the difference of the detailed geometry on optical modelling. An alternative receiver design with improved optical features was proposed, with an initial study providing promising results. The thermal analysis was done within the CFD environment, with only a section of the absorber surface area considered, and by applying the solar flux simulated during the optical analysis as heat source within the geometry model. This allowed the model to simulate the effects of re-radiation at the surface of the absorber while simulating the heat transfer at the fluid molten salt side simultaneously. The results showed that, for the current design and requirements, the absorber surface temperature reaches impractical temperatures. Altering the design or being more lenient on the requirements has, however, shown dramatic improvements in terms of thermal performance. Sensitivity studies for both the optical and thermal analyses have shown that changes in design can dramatically improve the performance of the design, making it a possible feasible receiver design for central receiver systems.