In current designs of parabolic trough collectors for concentrating solar power plants, the absorber tube is manufactured in segments that are individually insulated with glass vacuum jackets. During the lifetime of a power plant, some segments lose vacuum and thereafter suffer from significant convective heat loss. An alternative to this design is to use a vacuum pump to actively maintain low pressure in a long section of absorber with a continuous vacuum jacket. A detailed thermal model of such a configuration is needed to inform design efforts for such a receiver. This paper describes a combined conduction, convection, and radiation heat transfer model for a receiver that includes the effects of nonuniform solar flux on the absorber tube and vacuum jacket as well as detailed analysis of conduction through the rarefied gas in the annular gap inside the vacuum jacket. The model is implemented in commercial CFD software coupled to a Monte Carlo ray-tracing code. The results of simulations performed for a two-dimensional cross-section of a receiver are reported for various conditions. The parameters for the model are chosen to match the current generation of parabolic trough receivers, and the simulation results correspond well with experimental measurements.
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e-mail: coskv@student.ethz.ch
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August 2011
Research Papers
Numerical Analysis of Heat Loss From a Parabolic Trough Absorber Tube With Active Vacuum System
Volkan Coskun,
Volkan Coskun
Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering,
e-mail: coskv@student.ethz.ch
ETH Zurich
, Sonneggstrasse 3, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
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Aldo Steinfeld
Aldo Steinfeld
Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering,
ETH Zurich
, Sonneggstrasse 3, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
;andSolar Technology Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institute
, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
e-mail:
Search for other works by this author on:
Volkan Coskun
Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering,
ETH Zurich
, Sonneggstrasse 3, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
e-mail: coskv@student.ethz.ch
Aldo Steinfeld
Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering,
ETH Zurich
, Sonneggstrasse 3, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
;andSolar Technology Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institute
, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
e-mail: J. Sol. Energy Eng. Aug 2011, 133(3): 031015 (5 pages)
Published Online: July 28, 2011
Article history
Received:
May 6, 2011
Accepted:
May 11, 2011
Online:
July 28, 2011
Published:
July 28, 2011
Citation
Roesle, M., Coskun, V., and Steinfeld, A. (July 28, 2011). "Numerical Analysis of Heat Loss From a Parabolic Trough Absorber Tube With Active Vacuum System." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. August 2011; 133(3): 031015. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4004276
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