A new approach for fuel injection into a solar receiver/reactor: Numerical and experimental investigation

doi:10.1007/s11705-018-1782-z

Front. Chem. Sci. Eng.

2018, Vol. 12

Issue (4) : 683-696 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-018-1782-z

RESEARCH ARTICLE

A new approach for fuel injection into a solar receiver/reactor: Numerical and experimental investigation

M Helal Uddin¹, Nesrin Ozalp¹(

), Jens Heylen², Cedric Ophoff²

¹. Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812-3042, USA
². Mechanical Engineering Department, 3001 Leuven, Belgium

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Abstract

An innovative and efficient design of solar receivers/reactors can enhance the production of clean fuels via concentrated solar energy. This study presents a new jet-type burner nozzle for gaseous feedstock injection into a cavity solar receiver inspired from the combustion technology. The nozzle design was adapted from a combustion burner and successfully implemented into a solar receiver and studied the influence of the nozzle design on the fluid mixing and temperature distribution inside the solar receiver using a 7 kW solar simulator and nitrogen as working fluid. Finally, a thorough computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed and validated against the experimental results. The CFD results showed a variation of the gas flow pattern and gas mixing after the burner nozzle adaptation, which resulted an intense effect on the heat transfer inside the solar receiver.

Keywords solar reactor nozzle CFD heat transfer mixing and recirculation

Corresponding Author(s): Nesrin Ozalp

Online First Date: 17 December 2018 Issue Date: 03 January 2019

Cite this article:

M Helal Uddin,Nesrin Ozalp,Jens Heylen, et al. A new approach for fuel injection into a solar receiver/reactor: Numerical and experimental investigation[J]. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2018, 12(4): 683-696.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/10.1007/s11705-018-1782-z
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/Y2018/V12/I4/683

Fig.1 A simplified schematic of cross section of the nozzle [²⁴]

Fig.2 Different view of the nozzle designed for solar reactor: (left) front, (middle) isometric, and (right) cross section of the nozzle [²⁵]. All dimensions are shown in mm

Fig.3 Experimental setup at the STTL of KU Leuven

Fig.4 Experimentally measured heat flux of the 7 kW solar simulator

Physical properties	Correlations	Ref.
Density/(kg?m^?3)	$ρ g (T) = P M R T$	Manufacturer supplied
Density/(kg?m^?3)	$ρ ss = 7970 $ ,? $ρ ins = 128 $ , $ρ qua = 2214 *$
Specific heat/(J?kg^?1?K^?1)	$C p g (T) = 947.51 + 0.26667 T − 5 × 10 − 5 T 2$	[27,28]
	$C pss (T) = 349.145 + 0.469 T − 4.007 × 10 − 4 T 2 + 1.34 × 10 − 7 T 3$
	$C p ins = 1130 $ , $C p qua = 700 $	Manufacturer supplied
Viscosity/(kg?m^?1?s^?1)	$μ g (T) = 4 × 10 − 5 +5 × 10 − 7 T − 10 − 10 T 2$	[29]
Thermal conductivity/(W?m^?1?K^?1)	$k g (T) = 0.0146 + 5 × 10 − 5 T$	[27,28]
	$k ss (T) * = 11.133 + 0.013 T$	Manufacturer supplied
	$k ins (T) * = 0.0504 − 10 − 4 T + 3 × 10 − 7 T 2$ $k qua = 1.4 *$

Tab.1 Physical properties of the simulation parameters

Fig.5 Receiver geometry: (a) without nozzle and (b) with jet-type nozzle. All dimensions except angles are shown in mm

Tab.2 Grid independent test results without the nozzle

Tab.3 Grid independent test results with nozzle

Fig.6 Solar receiver without nozzle: (a) thermocouple positions and (b) temperature measurement profiles for an inlet N₂ flow of 0.6 m³?h^–1 where G, W, and E indicate the gas, wall, and exhaust

Fig.7 Solar receiver with nozzle: (a) thermocouples position, and (b) measured temperature profile for the inlet N₂ flow of 0.6 m³?h⁻¹ and the input current of 155 A

Tab.4 Comparison of simulation results with experimental results

Fig.8 Gas velocity streamlines in solar receiver: (a) without nozzle, and (b) with nozzle

Fig.9 Contours of static temperature of receiver: (a and b) without nozzle and (c and d) with nozzle. F, M, and B indicates front-, middle- and back-planes

Fig.10 Schematic illustrating flow recirculation generated by a free jet from nozzle

Fig.11 Receiver geometry with modified nozzle configuration (all dimensions are in mm)

Fig.12 Gas velocity streamline: (a) inside the receiver, and (b) at the back plate

Fig.13 Contours of static temperature for the modified nozzle along (a) ZX and (b) YZ plane

Fig.14 Centerline static temperature profiles

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