Simulation based heat enhancement for concentrated solar power

Conventional CSP systems experience laminar flow through the heat collection pipe. By introducing physical changes to this pipe turbulent flow could be created to enhance heat absorption. Various models to create turbulent flow are discussed of which three designs were considered for simulated turbulent flow in CSP applications. The designs are based on helical coil insert, pin protrusions and dimple insert. Various parameters were set such as heat flux and fluid speed to achieve turbulent simulation.

The helical coil insert was found to best suited for heat enhancement. The results indicate the helical coil enhancement can increase the overall efficient of a CSP by 20% -30%, based on the thermal performance of 1,2-1,3. This indicates negligible pressure drop for an increase in heat transfer.

The efficiency depends on the radiation’s uniformity on the receiver, an insight gained from the study is that the less uniform the radiation, the more efficient the helical coil will perform. Another advantage the coil has; is that it reduces the thermal stress by the fluid wall domain. This is all due to the 3-dimensional vortex generated by the helical coil.

The study recommends experimenting with variations in the parameters of the helical coil insert. Turbulent flow in the heat collection pipe has an advantage of extracting more heat generated by sun therefore having the possibility of increasing the efficiency of CSP systems.