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Design and Storage of Solar Thermal Energy Production

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Sustainable and Clean Energy Production Technologies

Part of the book series: Clean Energy Production Technologies ((CEPT))

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Abstract

Available solar energy is in diluted form; therefore, we need a reflector to collect solar thermal energy. Parabolic dish collector is a good source for medium- and high-temperature ranges. It is used to increase the concentrated heat flux at the receiver surface. Due to the high concentration ratio, the temperature at the localized surface of the receiver is very high. Therefore, to reduce the localized point heat flux on the flat receiver surface, we disperse the concentrated flux over the entire surface using the optimization of the receiver placement. In the existing design criteria, the receiver is placed at a focal point called the focal plane, but with the help of numerical simulation of the parabolic dish collector, we can disperse the concentrated flux up to periphery. A new approach has been used to design a parabolic dish collector to increase the life of the system without sacrificing efficiency. The dish collector system has been designed for 1 kW output for 6 h a day. The projected area of the dish collector is 7.08 m2. Rim angle is varied from 15° to 90°. The concentration ratio is varied for 60, 80, 100, and 120. It is established that the rim angle of 45° is 8% more efficient than the rim angle 15°. The surface energy per unit time (4.45 kJ/s) is maximum at 45° rim angle, and surface energy per unit time (4.08 kJ/s) is minimum at rim angle 15°. When the receiver is placed at the optimal plane, the dispersion of energy density is up to the periphery, and the maximum loss is less than 2% in the case of 45° rim angle. When the rim angle is beyond 75°, the energy density is not distributed up to the periphery, and energy density is high at the center.

Solar thermal energy is stored by phase change material (PCM) of medium- and high- temperature range. The bulk temperature of NaCl is higher than that of LiBr and NaOH, but the total energy stored by NaCl is less than the LiBr and NaOH. Energy stored in NaOH is more than 90% from NaCl and 13.5% from LiBr. PCM should be selected so that it should melt completely but not reach up to the vaporization phase. Therefore, for latent heat storage, NaOH is a better option than LiBr and NaCl.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

    B. Kumar & J. N. Roy

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

    M. K. Das

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vignan’s Institute of Information Technology, Duvvada, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

    B. Kumar

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  1. B. Kumar
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

    Dan Bahadur Pal

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

    Jay Mant Jha

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Kumar, B., Das, M.K., Roy, J.N. (2022). Design and Storage of Solar Thermal Energy Production. In: Pal, D.B., Jha, J.M. (eds) Sustainable and Clean Energy Production Technologies . Clean Energy Production Technologies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9135-5_10

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