Thermo-Fluid-Dynamics of a Ceramic Foam Solar Receiver: A Parametric Analysis

Abstract

The high efficiency of concentrated solar power (CSP) in energy conversion makes it a very attractive device for using solar energy as a substitute of nonrenewable energy sources. The open volumetric receiver plays an important role in the performance of a CSP. The optimized design of solar receiver implies the thorough knowledge of the heat transfer between the air and the foam and of the temperature distribution in the receiver. Heat transfer in the cylindrical SiC porous volumetric receiver of a solar tower, undergoing the impact of concentrated solar radiation, is investigated numerically in this paper. Governing equations are written with the volume averaging technique. A two-equation model for the energy equation, under the local thermal nonequilibrium assumption, is used. Numerical simulations are carried out through the commercial code COMSOL Multiphysics. The solid and fluid temperatures, the fluid velocity and the pressure drop, for various boundary and morphological conditions, are predicted and discussed. The receiver efficiency is finally maximized carrying out an extended parametric analysis of process parameters.

Notes on contributors

Assunta Andreozzi received her MSc degree in Aerospace Engineering, cum laude, from Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli in 1998. She received her PhD degree in Aerospace Science and Technology from the same University in 2001. She was a researcher at the Faculty of Engineering of the Università di Napoli Federico II from 2002 until December 2011. She has been Professor in Applied Thermodynamics, always in the Università degli studi di Napoli Federico II, from December 2011 until now. Her current research fields are: natural and mixed convection in channels and in open-ended cavities, indoor environmental control, analysis and design of solar energy systems, heat transfer in porous media, fire safety engineering, bio heat transfer. She has been the coauthor of 100 scientific papers. She has been in charge of research projects funded by the Ente nazionale per le energie alternative (ENEA), Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca and Regione Campania. She is reviewer for many international journals on heat transfer and fluid flow. She has been the lead guest editor for the special issue “Novel Analytical and Numerical Methods in Heat Transfer Enhancement and Thermal Management” published in Journal of Applied Mathematics. She is a member of the Unione Italiana di Termofluidodinamica.

Nicola Bianco got a MSc degree in Mechanical Engineering, cum laude, at the Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II in 1995. He obtained the PhD degree in Thermomechanical Engineering at the same University in 1999. He has been Assistant Professor of Applied Thermodynamics at the Facoltà di Ingegneria dell'Università di Napoli Federico II, from 2001 to 2005. He is Associate Professor of Applied Thermodynamics, still at Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, from 2005 until now. He has been in charge of research projects funded by ENEA, MIUR, Regione Campania and by private companies. He is the principal investigator in some of these projects. He has been the author or the coauthor of more than 150 scientific papers published in international journals and presented at national and international conferences. His research fields, by means of analytical, numerical and experimental techniques, are natural and mixed convection in channels and open-ended cavities, heat conduction in solids with a moving heat source above, combined radiation-conduction effects in multilayer thin films irradiated by stationary or moving laser sources, thermo-energetic analysis and design of solar systems, heat transfer in automotive. Recently his research interests have focused in energy saving in buildings, fire safety engineering and heat transfer in porous media. As part of his research activities, he gained a lot of experience in the modeling and evaluation, both numerically and experimentally, of the radiative contribution to heat transfer in thermodynamic components. He is coordinator of the International Agreement between the University Federico II of Naples and the BBSR, German Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development.

Marcello Iasiello got a MSc degree in Mechanical Engineering for the Energy and the Environment, cum laude, at the Università di Napoli Federico II in December 2012. He obtained the PhD degree in Mechanical Systems Engineering at the same University in May 2016, and he is a Research Fellow since December 2017. He has been coauthor of about 15 scientific papers published in international journals. His research field is the analysis of transport phenomena in porous media with analytical, numerical and experimental approaches, with an emphasis on open cell foams and biological systems.

Vincenzo Naso earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Engineering Faculty of the Università degli studi di Napoli in 1967. He has been a Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Università degli studi Federico II in Napoli (Italy) since 1980. He is an Emeritus Professor in the same University. He carried out research activities in film boiling, liquid crystals thermometry, heat transfer in fins, heat removal from photo-voltaic cells by a heat pipe and solar assisted heat pumps. His areas of interest have also included natural and mixed convection in channels and open-ended cavities, heat conduction in solids with a moving heat source above, combined radiation-conduction effects in multilayer thin films irradiated by stationary or moving laser sources, thermo-energetic analysis and design of solar systems. His current fields of interests are heat transfer in porous media and modeling and evaluation, both numerically and experimentally, of the radiative contribution to heat transfer in thermo dynamic components, optimal operation planning of distributed energy systems through multi-objective approach. He was the co-chair of the ASME-ATI-UIT 2010 Conference in Sorrento (Italy) and of the ASME-ATI-UIT 2015 Conference in Napoli.