Single Phase Flow Analysis: An Attempt to Mitigate Particle Deposition on the Glass Window of a Fluidized Bed Solar Receiver

Abstract

The problem of particle deposition on the glass window of a solar receiver has restricted its continuous operation by reducing solar radiation transmission. A rigorous attempt has been made in this analysis by exploring the understanding of particle deposition mechanisms and their mitigating strategies. A simplified form of a fluidized bed solar receiver (FBSR) having the same flow phenomena of FBSR is chosen for the numerical analysis. In the numerical analysis, the turbulent flow in the receiver is investigated by renormalized group (RNG) theory based k–خµ models. The validation of the numerical model is carried out by measuring the turbulent flow properties using a turbulent flow instrumentation (TFI) Cobra probe. The results of this analysis revealed that mass flow into the secondary concentrator of the receiver was reduced significantly when the ratio between the outlets and inlet areas was 0.5, and the ratio between the aperture and receiver diameter was 0.41. When using window shielding jets, only 5% of the inlet mass as a window jet was sufficient to prevent any particle deposition on the glass window, however, the number of jets was found to be an important factor. At a constant mass flow rate, increasing the number of window shielding jets reduced the suction pressure from the core to the aperture, which helped to restrict the inlet flow in the secondary concentrator.