Monte Carlo ray tracing, coupled to a finite volume solver, is used to model 3D heat transfer in a parabolic trough solar concentrator system. The nonuniform distribution of the incident solar radiation, the radiative exchange between the various receiver surfaces, and the heat gain/loss around the receiver's circumference and along the system's axis are determined for spectral radiative properties of the receiver and concentrator surfaces. The computed heat losses and thermal efficiencies agree well with experimental data. Besides the beneficial information on peak temperatures and heat flux, the 3D model is able to predict glass temperatures more accurately than previous gray models and temperature correlations.
Issue Section:
Research Papers
References
1.
Price
, H.
, Lupfert
, E.
, Kearney
, D.
, Zarza
, E.
, Cohen
, G.
, Gee
, R.
, and Mahoney
, R.
, 2002
, “Advances in Parabolic Trough Solar Power Technology
,” J. Sol. Energy Eng.
, 124
(2
), pp. 109
–125
.10.1115/1.14679222.
Dudley
, V. E.
, Kolb
, G. J.
, Mahoney
, A. R.
, Mancini
, T. R.
, Matthews
, C. W.
, Sloan
, M.
, and Kearney
, D.
, 1994
, “Test Results: SEGS LS-2 Solar Collector
,” Technical Report No. SAND94-1884, Sandia National Laboratories
, Albuquerque, NM
.3.
Thomas
, A.
, and Thomas
, S. A.
, 1994
, “Design Data for the Computation of Thermal Loss in the Receiver of a Parabolic Trough Concentrator
,” Energy Convers. Manage.
, 35
(7
), pp. 555
–568
.10.1016/0196-8904(94)90038-84.
Odeh
, S. D.
, Morrison
, G. L.
, and Behnia
, M.
, 1996
, “Thermal Analysis of Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors for Electric Power Generation
,” Proceedings of ANZSES 34th Annual Conference
, Darwin
, Australia
, October 22–25, pp. 460
–467
.5.
Odeh
, S. D.
, Morrison
, G. L.
, and Behnia
, M.
, 1998
, “Modelling of Parabolic Trough Direct Steam Generation Solar Collectors
,” Sol. Energy
, 62
(6
), pp. 395
–406
.10.1016/S0038-092X(98)00031-06.
Forristall
, R.
, 2003
, “Heat Transfer Analysis and Modeling of a Parabolic Trough Solar Receiver Implemented in Engineering Equation Solver
,” National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden, CO, Technical Report No. NREL/TP-550-34169.7.
García-Valladares
, O.
, and Velázquez
, N.
, 2009
, “Numerical Simulation of Parabolic Trough Solar Collector: Improvement Using Counter Flow Concentric Circular Heat Exchangers
,” Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer
, 52
(3-4
), pp. 597
–609
.10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2008.08.0048.
Montes
, M. J.
, Abanades
, A.
, and Martinez-Val
, J. M.
, 2010
, “Thermofluidynamic Model and Comparative Analysis of Parabolic Trough Collectors Using Oil, Water/Steam, or Molten Salt as Heat Transfer Fluids
,” J. Sol. Energy Eng.
, 132
(2
), p. 021001
.10.1115/1.40013999.
Manzolini
, G.
, Giostri
, A.
, Saccilotto
, C.
, Silva
, P.
, and Macchi
, E.
, 2011
, “Development of an Innovative Code for the Design of Thermodynamic Solar Power Plants Part A: Code Description and Test Case
,” Renewable Energy
, 36
(7
), pp. 1993
–2003
.10.1016/j.renene.2010.12.02710.
Padilla
, R. V.
, Demirkaya
, G.
, Goswami
, D. Y.
, Stefanakos
, E.
, and Rahman
, M. M.
, 2011
, “Heat Transfer Analysis of Parabolic Trough Solar Receiver
,” Appl. Energy
, 88
(12
), pp. 5097
–5110
.10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.07.01211.
Daniel
, P.
, Joshi
, Y.
, and Das
, A. K.
, 2011
, “Numerical Investigation of Parabolic Trough Receiver Performance With Outer Vacuum Shell
,” Sol. Energy
, 85
(9
), pp. 1910
–1914
.10.1016/j.solener.2011.04.03212.
Eck
, M.
, Feldhoff
, J. F.
, and Uhlig
, R.
, 2010
, “Thermal Modelling and Simulation of Parabolic Trough Receiver Tubes
,” Proceedings of ASME 2010 4th International Conference on Energy Sustainability
, Phoenix, AZ, May 17–22, ASME
Paper No. ES2010-90402, pp. 659
–666
.10.1115/ES2010-9040213.
Cheng
, Z. D.
, He
, Y. L.
, Xiao
, J.
, Tao
, Y. B.
, and Xu
, R. J.
, 2010
, “Three-Dimensional Numerical Study of Heat Transfer Characteristics in the Receiver Tube of Parabolic Trough Solar Collector
,” Int. Commun. Heat Mass Transfer
, 37
(7
), pp. 782
–787
.10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2010.05.00214.
He
, Y.-L.
, Xiao
, J.
, Cheng
, Z.-D.
, and Tao
, Y.-B.
, 2011
, “A MCRT and FVM Coupled Simulation Method for Energy Conversion Process in Parabolic Trough Solar Collector
,” Renewable Energy
, 36
(3
), pp. 976
–985
.10.1016/j.renene.2010.07.01715.
Burkholder
, F.
, and Kutscher
, C.
, 2009
, “Heat Loss Testing of Schott's 2008 PTR70 Parabolic Trough Receiver
,” National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, Technical Report No. NREL/TP-550-45633.16.
Burkholder
, F.
, and Kutscher
, C.
, 2008
, “Heat Loss Testing of Solel's UVAC3 Parabolic Trough Receiver,” National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO
, Technical Report No. NREL/TP-550-42394.17.
Petrasch
, J.
, 2010
, “A Free and Open Source Monte Carlo Ray Tracing Program for Concentrating Solar Energy Research
,” Proceedings of ASME 2010 4th International Conference on Energy Sustainability
, Phoenix, AZ, May 17–22, ASME
Paper No. ES2010-90206, pp. 125
–132
.10.1115/ES2010-9020618.
Patankar
, S. V.
, 1980
, Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow
, Taylor & Francis
, London
.19.
Cooper
, T.
, and Steinfeld
, A.
, 2011
, “Derivation of the Angular Dispersion Error Distribution of Mirror Surfaces for Monte Carlo Ray-Tracing Applications
,” J. Sol. Energy Eng.
, 133
(4
), p. 044501
.10.1115/1.400403520.
Buie
, D.
, Monger
, A. G.
, and Dey
, C. J.
, 2003
, “Sunshape Distributions for Terrestrial Solar Simulations
,” Sol. Energy
, 74
(2
), pp. 113
–122
.10.1016/S0038-092X(03)00125-721.
Gnielinski
, V.
, 1976
, “New Equations for Heat and Mass Transfer in Turbulent Pipe and Channel Flow
,” Int. Chem. Eng.
, 16
(2
), pp. 359
–368
.22.
DOW
, 1997
, Syltherm 800 Heat Transfer Fluid
, Product Technical Data, The Dow Chemical Company
, Midland, MI
.23.
Ratzel
, A. C.
, Hickox
, C. E.
, and Gartling
, D. K.
, 1979
, “Techniques for Reducing Thermal Conduction and Natural Convection Heat Losses in Annular Receiver Geometries
,” J. Heat Transfer
, 101
(1
), pp. 108
–113
.10.1115/1.345089924.
Churchill
, S. W.
, and Chu
, H. H. S.
, 1975
, “Correlating Equations for Laminar and Turbulent Free Convection From a Horizontal Cylinder
,” Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer
, 18
(9
), pp. 1049
–1053
.10.1016/0017-9310(75)90222-725.
Žukauskas
, A.
, 1972
, “Heat Transfer from Tubes in Crossflow
,” Adv. Heat Transfer
, 8
, pp. 93
–160
.10.1016/S0065-2717(08)70038-826.
Tesfamichael
, T.
, and Wäckelgård
, E.
, 2000
, “Angular Solar Absorptance and Incident Angle Modifier of Selective Absorbers for Solar Thermal Collectors
,” Sol. Energy
, 68
(4
), pp. 335
–341
.10.1016/S0038-092X(00)00029-327.
Kennedy
, C. E.
, and Price
, H.
, 2005
, “Progress in Development of High-Temperature Solar-Selective Coating
,” Proceedings of ASME 2005 International Solar Energy Conference
, Orlando, FL, August 6–12, ASME
Paper No. ISEC2005-76039, pp. 749
–755
.10.1115/ISEC2005-7603928.
Benz
, N.
, Graf
, W.
, Hacker
, Z.
, Hildebrandt
, C.
, Möllenhoff
, M.
, Schulte-Fischedick
, J.
, and Silmy
, K.
, 2008
, “Advances in Receiver Technology for Parabolic Troughs
,” Proceedings of 14th SolarPACES Conference
, Las Vegas
, NV
, March 4–7.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.
