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Thermal and chemical reaction performance analyses of solar thermochemical volumetric receiver/reactor with nanofluid

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  • Wang, Yangjie
  • Li, Qiang
  • Xuan, Yimin

Abstract

In this paper, a novel solar thermochemical volumetric receiver/reactor with nanofluid is proposed. Thermal and chemical performance analyses of the volumetric receiver/reactor are numerically investigated and compared with those of the conventional surface receiver/reactor. A two-dimensional axisymmetric heat and mass transfer model coupled with reaction kinetics is developed to predict the temperature distribution and reactant conversion ratio. The effects of particle characteristics including size and volume fraction and solar irradiation intensity are discussed. The results indicate that for the nanofluid with a volume fraction greater than 0.005, an optical path depth of 0.015 m is sufficient to absorb almost 100% of the incident solar energy. The volume weighted average temperature of the volumetric receiver/reactor with a volume fraction of 0.05 and particle diameter of 10 nm can reach 506.0 K which is about 8.8 K higher than that of the surface receiver/reactor leading to a 5.2% increase of the outlet methanol conversion ratio from 56.9% to 62.1% under a typical operating condition. The methanol conversion ratio increases with the reduction of nanoparticle size and the increment of the volume fraction and solar irradiation intensity. The thermochemical efficiency has a maximum value of 48.9% when solar irradiation intensity is 600 W/m2.

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  • Wang, Yangjie & Li, Qiang & Xuan, Yimin, 2019. "Thermal and chemical reaction performance analyses of solar thermochemical volumetric receiver/reactor with nanofluid," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:189:y:2019:i:c:s0360544219318183
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2019.116123
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    1. Rezapour, Mojtaba & Gholizadeh, Mohammad, 2021. "Analysis of methanol thermochemical reactor with volumetric solar heat flux based on Parabolic Trough Concentrator," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 1088-1100.
    2. Zeng, Jia & Xuan, Yimin & Li, Qiang, 2023. "Direct solar-thermal scalable-decomposition of methanol flowing through a nanoparticle-packed bed reactor under outdoor environment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    3. Bahiraei, Mehdi & Mazaheri, Nima, 2021. "Application of an ecofriendly nanofluid containing graphene nanoplatelets inside a novel spiral liquid block for cooling of electronic processors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    4. Liang, Huaxu & Wang, Fuqiang & Yang, Luwei & Cheng, Ziming & Shuai, Yong & Tan, Heping, 2021. "Progress in full spectrum solar energy utilization by spectral beam splitting hybrid PV/T system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    5. Mallah, Abdul Rahman & Zubir, M.N.M. & Alawi, Omer A. & Kazi, S.N. & Ahmed, W. & Sadri, R. & Kasaeian, Alibakhsh, 2022. "Experimental study on the effects of multi-resonance plasmonic nanoparticles for improving the solar collector efficiency," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 1204-1223.

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