Performance simulation of solar cavity receiver

One of the most important components of solar thermal power system is the receiver, which performance is in direct relation to the efficiency of the whole power generation system. The calculation of internal surface heat flux and thermal efficiency of the receiver therefore plays a very important role in receiver design. A calculation method of the cavity receiver is put forward. The first step of this method is using the Monte Carlo method to simulate the track of solar beam and compute surface heat flux inside the receiver. The second one is employing the correlations of flow boiling heat transfer to figure out the wall temperature of boiling tubes laid inside the receiver and the convective heat transfer coefficient in the tubes. The last one is simulating the air flow field inside the receiver to calculate convective thermal loss of the receiver. As every step can not be independently calculated, all steps are coupled and an iterative scheme is needed as well. Internal surface heat flux and thermal efficiency of the receiver can be finally gained with this method, and the result of calculation can provide theoretical guide for receiver design.