Air curtain control system to reduce heat loss from solar thermal receivers
- Summary
- ANU researchers have
designed an air curtain control
system for thermal solar
receivers for concentrating
solar power (CSP)
applications.
>> The active control system
responds to operating
conditions, such as the
receiver orientation, operating
temperature and wind
conditions, and adjusts the
speed and angle of the air jet
in order to maintain optimum
suppression of convective
heat losses.
- Technology Benefits
- Air curtain systems can be readily
integrated with existing receiver
designs, including via retrofit, as
there is no inherent need for any
components to be located in a
high-flux region of the receiver. The
technology also has the capacity to
be hybridized with emerging receiver
technologies such as the bladed
receiver concept jointly invented by
ANU and Sandia3. It is anticipated
that a 50% reduction in receiver heat
loss can be achieved by coupling
the benefits of a bladed receiver
with active air control resulting in a
reduction in the CSP levelised cost
of electricity
- Technology Application
- Reducing heat loss
from the receiver to the external
environment through conduction,
convection and radiation.
- Detailed Technology Description
- Researchers at ANU have developed
a system that automatically controls
generation of the air curtain in
response to the operating conditions
in order to maintain optimum
suppression of convective heat losses.
The system controller controls the jet
direction and speed based on one or
more of the following input signals:
• Inclination of the receiver aperture
• Temperature at the receiver surface
• Angle of the air curtain relative to the
receiver aperture
• Speed of the airflow out of the air jet
• Ambient wind speed
• Ambient wind direction
• Ambient wind temperature
• Sun position
The appropriate parameters are set
by a predetermined algorithm based
on a combination of predictions using
fundamental flow physics, simulations
using computational fluid dynamics
models1,2 and measured performance
characteristics
- Type of Cooperation
- Licensing/ commercial development
- Application Date
- 09/12/2015 00:00:00
- Application No.
- WO2016090410
- Classes
- F24J 2/04 • F24J 2/00 • F24J 2/40 • F24J 2/46
- Others
- AU20140904974 [2014-12-09]
- Country/Region
- Australia
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