Preliminary Study of Direct High-Temperature Air Generation Inside Linear Fresnel Concentrating Solar Collectors
Abstract
Medium temperature heat required by industry and food processing facilities worldwide is provided mainly consuming fossil fuel. Alternative renewable energy sources are needed to reduce the environmental impact of high energy-demanding sectors and prevent fuel scarcity. Among solar technologies, concentrating collectors enable to provide high and medium temperature heat, showing great potential as an alternative energy source. In order to reduce the complexity of the solar facility, a novel layout is proposed in this work, aiming to inform on the feasibility of direct air heating inside a linear concentrating collector. The drawback of low air heat capacity is mitigated by increasing density and recovering the compression power through a turbine. It results in an especial solar Brayton cycle, aiming to produce medium temperature air instead of mechanical power. A model is proposed to approach the design of a first experimental installation. Direct Air Heating, SHIP, Solar Heat for Industry, Linear Fresnel collectors, Brayton cycle