Thermal and optical considerations of the Dish-Stirling electric generation system

Conference · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1980 · Alternative Energy Sources; (United States)

OSTI ID:7175914

Poon, P T.Y.; Higgins, S N

This paper presents the results of optical and thermal assessments of the design parameters of solar concentrator-receiver combinations suitable for a Dish-Stirling or other paraboloidal concentrator-cavity receiver systems. The Dish-Stirling system, which is presently under development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has been identified as having a high potential for providing electrical energy at a cost competitive with conventional energy sources. The net thermal power collected by the receiver is determined by the flux distribution impinging on the receiver surfaces, the intercept factor, the effective emissivity and absorptivity of the receiver, and the thermal losses due to conduction, convection and reradiation. For the purpose of wider applicability, the presentation of the results will be given primarily for a general paraboloidal concentrator-cavity receiver system rather than a specific Dish-Stirling system, which is under development. For the general system, the optical and thermal assessment results and methodology are presented so that they can be utilized by engineers who are interested in the overall system design and system tradeoffs. They include the normalized flux distribution along planes at or behind the focal planes, the intercept factor as a function of the receiver aperture radius, concentrator quality considerations including slope errors characterized by radial and circumferential standard deviations, and simple engineering expressions for computing energy balance and heat loss. A brief description of the Dish-Stirling system under development and some representative overall results of the extensive engineering analysis computations are also presented.

• Research Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California
• OSTI ID: 7175914
• Report Number(s): CONF-801210-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Alternative Energy Sources; (United States) Journal Volume: 3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140703* -- Solar Thermal Power Systems-- Distributed Collector
ABSORPTIVITY
CAVITY RECEIVERS
CONCENTRATING COLLECTORS
CONVECTION
DESIGN
DISTRIBUTED COLLECTOR POWER PLANTS
EMISSIVITY
ENERGY LOSSES
ENERGY TRANSFER
ENGINES
EQUIPMENT
FLUX DENSITY
HEAT ENGINES
HEAT LOSSES
HEAT TRANSFER
INSOLATION
LOSSES
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
OPTICS
PARABOLIC COLLECTORS
PARABOLIC DISH COLLECTORS
PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POWER PLANTS
RADIANT FLUX DENSITY
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR FLUX
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
SOLAR RECEIVERS
SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS
STIRLING ENGINES
SURFACE PROPERTIES
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
THERMAL CONDUCTION
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
THERMODYNAMICS