Receiving device for solar radiation with a container for heating a heat transfer medium in a solar thermal power plant
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solar radiation receiving devices for solar thermal power plants face challenges in being cost-effective and maintenance-friendly, particularly due to thermal expansion issues and the need for efficient support structures that can handle high temperatures and differential expansions between inner and outer walls.
Innovation Solution
A double-walled housing with alternating support elements and counter support elements that act as floating and fixed supports, allowing for relative movement in certain directions while blocking others, and incorporating sliding elements and thermal insulation to manage thermal expansion and reduce material abrasion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a double-walled housing with support elements is used to prevent thermal expansion damage, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into an inner wall and an outer wall with multiple discrete support elements and counter support elements distributed between them. This segmentation allows each support element to independently manage local thermal expansion while distributing mechanical loads, improving reliability without requiring a monolithic complex structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The support elements are designed to be movable relative to the inner and outer walls, allowing them to dynamically adjust to thermal expansion and contraction. This dynamic capability enables the structure to accommodate temperature variations automatically, maintaining reliability while using simpler individual components rather than a rigid complex assembly.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If floating supports are used to allow relative movement between inner and outer walls, then thermal expansion compensation is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The floating support elements are designed to self-adjust and self-position between the inner and outer walls through their movable connection. The supports automatically find their equilibrium positions based on thermal conditions without requiring precise pre-positioning or complex adjustment mechanisms, reducing manufacturing precision requirements while maintaining the ability to compensate for thermal expansion.
3Ease of operation
If sliding elements are used to reduce material abrasion between support elements and walls, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Sliding elements are introduced as intermediary components between the support elements/counter support elements and the inner/outer walls. These sliding elements reduce direct friction and abrasion, improving ease of operation and maintenance. The sliding elements are simple replaceable components that reduce wear on critical structural parts without significantly increasing overall device complexity.
4Loss of energy
If thermal insulation is added to reduce thermal losses, then energy efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The housing employs a nested double-walled structure where the inner wall contains the heat transfer medium and the outer wall provides structural support, with thermal insulation material nested in the space between them. This nested configuration effectively reduces thermal losses by creating a thermal barrier while utilizing the existing structural framework, avoiding the need for additional complex insulation systems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a cost-effective and maintenance-friendly support structure that compensates for thermal expansions, prevents slip and rotation issues, and reduces thermal losses, enabling efficient operation and assembly of the receiving device.
Implementation Method 1
this metal surface, also called inliner, experiences large thermal expansions in the axial and radial directions
Implementation Method 2
reduces material abrasion
Implementation Method 3
so that the energy flows to the outer wall are reduced and the outer wall is usually a maximum of 100° C.
Data Source
AI summary
A receiving device for solar radiation with a container for heating a heating transfer medium in a solar thermal power plant includes a double-walled housing which extends in a longitudinal direction, the housing surrounding an interior and having an outer wall and an inner wall surrounded by the outer wall, between which a plurality of support elements and counter support elements is disposed, wherein support elements and/or counter support elements corresponding with each other extend away from the outer wall and/or the inner wall in a radial direction, support elements and counter support elements corresponding with each other in at least the longitudinal direction are seated against each other on one side, and support elements and counter support elements corresponding with each other in the peripheral direction along at least one peripheral line are seated against each other on one side.