Pairing Directional Solar Inputs From Ray Tracing to Solar Receiver/Reactor Heat Transfer Models on Unstructured Meshes: Development and Case Studies
- Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
A novel method for pairing surface irradiation and volumetric absorption from Monte Carlo ray tracing to computational heat transfer models is presented. The method is well-suited to directionally and spatially complex concentrated radiative inputs (e.g., solar receivers and reactors). The method employs a generalized algorithm for directly mapping absorbed rays from a Monte Carlo ray tracing model to boundary or volumetric source terms in the computational mesh. The algorithm is compatible with unstructured, two and three-dimensional meshes with varying element shapes. Four case studies were performed on a directly irradiated, windowed solar thermochemical reactor model to validate the method. The method was shown to conserve energy and preserve spatial variation when mapping rays from a Monte Carlo ray tracing model to a computational heat transfer model in ansys fluent.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 1670763
- Report Number(s):
- SAND2020-7653J; 687627
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 143, Issue 3; ISSN 0199-6231
- Publisher:
- ASMECopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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