Simulation of a Standalone, Portable Steam Generator Driven by a Solar Concentrator

Abstract

Solar energy is a good solution for energy-deficiency problems, especially in regions such ‎as rural areas in the Middle East that have not been electrified yet or are ‎under electrification. In ‎this paper, with the aid of a Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation, we propose a ‎system that comprises a trough solar concentrator and a pipe—with flowing water—that ‎is set in the concentrator focus. The aim of this work is to investigate the feasibility of generating steam ‎from such a system as well as analyzing the generated steam quantitatively ‎and qualitatively. Effects of variation of solar radiation intensity, ambient temperature, water ‎flow rate and pipe diameter on the quantity and quality of the generated steam have been investigated. The results ‎show that a quantity of about 130 kg of steam could be generated per day with a 0.01 m diameter with 0.0042 kg/s flowing water, although qualitatively, a narrower pipe achieves better performance than a wider one. About 74 kg of daily accumulated steam mass with a temperature >423 K could be achieved for a 0.005 m diameter tube compared to about 50 kg for the 0.01 m diameter tube. Steam quality factor is higher at all flow rates for the 0.005 m diameter tube compared to that of 0.01 m.

Keywords

• solar energy
• steam generation
• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation