Numerical Study on the Optical and Radiative Properties of the Gradually-varied Volumetric Solar Receiver

The volumetric solar receiver is one important component of the Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) system. In this paper, a gradually-varied volumetric solar receiver is proposed. Based on a modified random generation method, a 3D model of this type of solar receiver is reconstructed. With the use of Monte Carlo Ray Tracing method (MCRT), the optical and radiative properties of this novel structure are investigated. The result shows that the radiative heat loss could be reduced owing to the lower reflectivity of this novel structure. It also outperforms in the photon absorption compared with the uniform structures that was examined in this paper. Furthermore, a more ideal photon distribution inside the structure is exhibited by the gradually-varied volumetric solar receiver.