Design and Analysis of a Solar Receiver for Micro Gas Turbine based Solar Dish Systems

The solar receiver is one of the key components of hybrid solar micro gas turbine systems which would seem to present a number of advantages when compared with Stirling engine systems. A solar receiver meeting the specific requirements for integration into the power conversion system of the solar laboratory of the Royal Institute of Technology - which will emulate a solar dish system and is currently under construction - was designed. The simulations that have been performed utilize a heat transfer and pressure drop model coupled with a multi-objective optimizer as well as a coupled-CFD/FEM tool, allowing determination of the ideal receiver design for the expected conditions. The analysis has shown that the use of volumetric solar receivers to provide heat input to micro gas turbine based solar dish systems appears to be a promising solution; with pressurized receiver configurations as the preferred choice due to significant lower pressure drops as compared to atmospheric configurations.
QC 20121210