Numerical investigation on the flow and thermal behaviors of the volumetric solar receivers with different morphologies

Morphologies of the porous materials influence the processes of solar radiation transport, flow, and thermal behaviors within volumetric solar receivers. A comprehensive comparative study is conducted by applying pore scale numerical simulations on volumetric solar receivers featuring various morphologies, including Kelvin, Weaire-Phelan, and foam configurations. The idealized unit cell and X-ray computed tomography scan approaches are employed to reconstruct pore scale porous models. Monte Carlo ray tracing and pore scale numerical simulations are implemented to elucidate the radiative, flow, and thermal behaviors of distinct receivers exposed to varying thermal boundary conditions and real irradiation situations. The findings demonstrate that the foam structure exhibits greater solar radiation absorptivity, while Kelvin and Weaire-Phelan structures enhance the penetration depth under non-perpendicular solar irradiation. In comparison with Kelvin and Weaire-Phelan configurations, the foam structure presents efficient convective heat transfer, with the Weaire-Phelan structure showing pronounced thermal non-equilibrium phenomena. The variance in convective heat transfer coefficient between Kelvin and Weaire-Phelan configurations is approximately 8.4%. The foam structure exhibits higher thermal efficiency and flow resistance under non-perpendicular irradiation compared to Kelvin and Weaire-Phelan structures, attributed to its smaller pore size and intricate flow channels. An increase of 1.3% in thermal efficiency is observed with a substantial rise in pressure drop of 32.2%.