Review on influencing parameters in the performance of concentrated solar power collector based on materials, heat transfer fluids and design

One of the major challenges preventing the concentrated solar power (CSP) industry from occupying a greater portion of the world's energy portfolio are unattractive start up and operating costs for developers and investors. In order to overcome these reservations, plant designers must be able to achieve greater efficiencies of power production. Molten salt nitrates are ideal candidates for CSP heat transfer fluids and have been proposed to offer significant performance advantages over current silicone based oil heat transfer fluids. Ternary molten salt nitrates offer high operating temperatures while maintaining low freezing temperatures. However, a shortage of important thermophysical property data exists for these salts. Previous work has shown the ternary compositions of LiNO3–NaNO3–KNO3 salts offer the widest possible temperature range for use in a CSP system. The present work contains data for the viscosity, specific heat, and latent heat of some mixtures of these salts at various temperatures, providing vital information for plant designers to optimize power generation and attract future investment to CSP systems.

Download Full-text

Evaluation of Several Types of High Temperature Heat Transfer Fluids for Concentrated Solar Power System

10.1615/tfec2018.fmi.021710 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ye Zhang ◽

Yuanyuan Li ◽

Peiwen Li

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

High Temperature ◽

Power System ◽

Solar Power ◽

Concentrated Solar Power ◽

Heat Transfer Fluids ◽

Temperature Heat

Download Full-text

A new numerical method for determining heat transfer and packing distribution in particle heat exchangers for concentrated solar power

International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow ◽

10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2021.108805 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 90 ◽

pp. 108805

Author(s):

Sahan Trushad Wickramasooriya Kuruneru ◽

Yen Chean Soo Too ◽

Jin-Soo Kim

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Numerical Method ◽

Heat Exchangers ◽

Solar Power ◽

Concentrated Solar Power

Download Full-text

Design Studies for a Solar Reactor Based on a Simple Radiative Heat Exchange Model

Journal of Solar Energy Engineering ◽

10.1115/1.1934702 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 127 (3) ◽

pp. 425-429 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

C. Wieckert

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Solar Power ◽

Radiation Heat Transfer ◽

Heat Transfer Analysis ◽

Physical Parameters ◽

Concentrated Solar Power ◽

Radiation Heat ◽

Small Aperture ◽

Lower Cavity ◽

Solar Reactor

A high-temperature solar chemical reactor for the processing of solids is scaled up from a laboratory scale (5kW concentrated solar power input) to a pilot scale (200kW). The chosen design features two cavities in series: An upper cavity has a small aperture to let in concentrated solar power coming from the top. It serves as the solar receiver, radiant absorber, and radiant emitter to a lower cavity. The lower cavity is a well-insulated enclosure. It is subjected to thermal radiation from the upper cavity and serves in our application as the reaction chamber for a mixture of ZnO and carbon. Important insight for the definition of the geometrical parameters of the pilot reactor has been generated by a radiation heat transfer analysis based on the radiosity enclosure theory. The steady-state model accounts for radiation heat transfer within the solar reactor including reradiation losses through the reactor aperture, wall losses due to thermal conduction and heat consumption by the endothermic chemical reaction. Key results include temperatures of the different reactor walls and the thermal efficiency of the reactor as a function of the major geometrical and physical parameters. The model, hence, allows for a fast estimate of the influence of these parameters on the reactor performance.

Download Full-text