RT Journal Article
T1 The time-varying radiation applied in the temperature-sensitive reaction system stabilized with heat storage technology
A1 Wang, Yang
A1 Li, Heping
A1 Ortega-Fernández, Iñigo
A1 Huang, Xuefeng
A1 Jiang, Bo
A1 Bielsa, Daniel
A1 Palomo, Elena
AB Solar thermal plants could boost the application of methane production from microalgae. In this paper, a unique combination of solar thermal plants and microalgae bioreactor is studied. Because the microalgae pyrolysis is temperature-sensitive, and the solar radiation is time-varying, a thermocline heat storage tank is applied to stabilize the system. The impact of unsteady solar environments is important, because it is related to the versatility and flexibility of the small-scale solar systems. A theoretical model of the system, which consists of six sub-models: solar radiation, solar collector, heat storage tank, heat exchanger, pyrolysis reactor, and fermentation reactor, is developed to assess the yearly performance. In particular, the solar radiation conditions in Nanjing, China are considered. The research results show that the solar thermal bioreactor with a heat storage tank work with a steady temperature of 517 K under time-varying solar radiation. With a heat storage discharge power at 225 kW, the bioreactor produces methane at a rate around 1.4 L/s, consuming about 370 kg/day of dry microalgae. With heat storage and proper control, the variation of pyrolysis temperature is limited to 50 k, which ensures steady bioreaction. Interrupted by a short pause of solar radiation, the system has good robustness. Overall, the research results presented in this work prove the feasibility of the proposed novel system and provide a reference for the design of a solar thermal plant for clean methane production in the future.
SN 0306-2619
YR 2021
FD 2021-02-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/11556/3721
UL https://hdl.handle.net/11556/3721
LA eng
NO Wang , Y , Li , H , Ortega-Fernández , I , Huang , X , Jiang , B , Bielsa , D & Palomo , E 2021 , ' The time-varying radiation applied in the temperature-sensitive reaction system stabilized with heat storage technology ' , Applied Energy , vol. 283 , 116377 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.116377
NO Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
NO This work is supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 51776181); Sichuan Science and Technology Program of China (No. 2018GZ0466); Horizon 2020 program of European Union (No. 657690);Thanks for Prof. Ao Xia, and Prof. Yun Huang in Chongqing University for providing part of experimental data.
DS TECNALIA Publications
RD 31 jul 2024