Investigation of the Influence of the Particle Movement Velocity and the Light Flux Reflection Effect on the Conditions of Heat and Mass Transfer Processes in a Direct Absorption Solar Collector

Abstract

AbstractThe problem of developing alternative energy sources with a high efficiency was raised in the middle of the 20th century. One of the possible ways to solve it is the development of systems based on direct absorption solar collectors based on nanofluids. Systems of this kind are the most environmentally friendly and modern, the disadvantages of which include the complexity of maintenance and climatic restrictions of widespread use. The purpose of this paper is to determine ways to improve the efficiency of heat transfer in solar energy collection and storage systems by means of mathematical modeling of heat and mass transfer processes in direct absorption solar collectors based on nanofluid. When constructing a mathematical model, the contributions of the diffusion and electrostrictive components were taken into account. A mathematical model of heat and mass transfer in a liquid-phase medium with nanoparticles under the influence of a light field has been studied. It takes into account one-dimensional concentration convection in the form of a boundary value problem for a system of second-order partial differential equations. An algorithm for the numerical simulation of such processes has been developed and implemented in software, the main element of which is a conservative finite-difference scheme of the second order of approximation. The effect of particle motion velocity and the effect of reflection of the light flux on the conditions for the processes of heat and mass transfer in a direct absorption solar collector has been numerically studied. The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 19-31-90070. To carry out the calculations, the computing resources of the Center for Collective Use “Data Center of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences” were used. KeywordsDirect absorption solar collectorMathematical modelingHeat and mass transfer processFinite difference methodApproximationComputational experiment