CFD investigation of the radiation and convection losses for a cavity solar receiver at the CSIRO National Solar Energy Centre was carried out using Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). In general, if there is no wind effect, the convective heat losses through the aperture are between 5% to 15% of the radiative losses with this ratio increasing for larger apertures. Modelling results suggest that with no wind effect, thermal efficiency is in the range of around 71-85% for a receiver with 0.4m × 0.4m

more »

... bsorber and 0.4m × 0.4m aperture operated between 700 and 900 °C with a total absorbed energy of 25 kW. Preliminary analysis indicated that for a small cavity receiver, ambient wind may have a substantial impact on the overall heat loss from the receiver. In order to achieve high thermal efficiency, it is suggested that a small receiver should have wind guards installed to reduce the wind effect.