Simulation of the wind influence over an open volumetric solar receiver

Kurzfassung

In a concentrated solar power (CSP) tower plant, the solar radiation that comes from a field of mirrors, called heliostats, is concentrated in receivers. It is in the receivers of the solar tower where all the radiation is absorbed and the heat is transported by a fluid medium, in this case, the open volumetric receiver technology is implemented which uses air a heat transfer medium. These receivers are a technology developed by the German aerospace center (DLR) called open volumetric receivers with air as a heat transfer medium. Various studies on improvement in the material and structural design have been conducted, such as porous ceramic material to reach high temperature levels. Furthermore, recent receiver designs include an air return system to improve the receiver efficiency. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of wind inside a new concept of a high-temperature solar heat receiver (HiTRec) and to investigate different possibilities to model the receiver for the use in a larger CFD model through steady state and transient simulations of scaled up open ceramic volumetric solar receiver.