Wind dependence of energy losses from a solar gas reformer

The thermal performance of a cavity receiver design for the CSIRO solar gas reformer is studied using transient Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. Under process control-induced operating conditions targeting constant internal wall temperatures, energy losses from the cavity nearly double for high-wind conditions as compared to no-wind conditions. Receiver geometry, inner cavity wall temperature and wind interact to result in differences in energy losses under steady wind velocities that can differ up to 40 percent depending on wind direction. The findings in this paper are useful for targeting improvements in receiver design and solar flux control during solar reactor operation.