Factors Affecting the Performance of Molten Salt Heat Receiver

The molten salt heat receiver performance of a solar power tower plant is analyzed in this paper. The numerical model of the heterogeneous heat flux boundary of which a half of the single heat receiver is heating and the other half of that is adiabatic heating, and of the heat convection and heat transfer in the molten salt heat receiver on condition of the convective heat loss and the radiation loss boundary conditions is established. In the numerical model, the wall heat conduction and variable property of the molten salt are considered as well as the roughness of the wall. The flow velocity, the temperature distribution and the heat transfer characteristics of the molten salt heat receiver under the conditions of high temperature and high heat flux are presented as important basis for the design and the operation control of the molten salt heat receiver.