Modeling of Solar Receiver for Cracking of Liquid Petroleum Gas

Abstract

The paper presents the model of an industrial solar receiver/reactor for thermal cracking of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) at the typical temperature range of 800–850°C. The concentrated solar radiation enters the receiver located on the ground and provided with a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) at the ceiling. This is achieved with a “reflecting solar tower.” The radiative model uses the classical concept of equivalent gray plane to represent a panel of 40 cracking tubes placed in parallel of a refractory wall of the receiver. The radiative flux distribution on each wall is calculated and the chemistry in each reactor tube is evaluated until convergence is achieved. The design of an industrial size receiver, its behavior, and performance have been evaluated using this model. The computer program based on this model was run for a variety of flow conditions, feed compositions, and pressures.