Heat Transfer Enhancement in Concentrated Volumetric Solar Receiver Incorporated with Thermoelectric Generator

The heat transfer characteristics of a novel thermal storage unit, consisting of a concentrated volumetric solar receiver, a selective absorber surface and thermoelectric generator, are investigated for thermal performance improvement purposes. A numerical study, incorporating the radiation heating model, is performed to account for the absorption of the solar irradiation by the volumetric receiver. The concentrated volumetric solar receiver has an elliptic trough, a circular glass tube, an absorber plate located at the glass tube surface and thermoelectric generator. A phase change material together with a mesh of highly conductive material is used to enhance the thermal storage capacity of the proposed system. To assess the transient performance characteristics of the thermal system, temperature and gain parameters are studied and compared. High thermal conductivity mesh is employed to enhance the transient thermal storage capacity of the system due to increased conduction heat transfer in the phase change material. A thermoelectric generator is used to improve the performance of the overall system.