Study of heat transfer through a cavity receiver for a solar powered advanced Stirling engine generator

Stirling engine operated by concentrated solar energy can be a great mean to generate power. Highly concentrated solar radiations with minimum heat loss from cavity receiver are required to operate the Stirling engine. Therefore, heat transfer study of the cavity receiver is required for the maximum utilization of solar energy with minimum heat losses for the efficient Stirling engine generator. In this study, experiments were performed to find the most suitable cavity receiver configuration for maximum solar radiation utilizations by an Advanced Stirling Engine Generator (ADSEG). Dimensionless parameter: aperture ration (AR = d/D) and aperture position (AP = H/D) were used to characterize the different configurations of cylindrical cavity receiver. Experimental heat loss analysis (Convection, radiation and total heat loss) as well as air film temperature profiles along the wall height (H) of the receiver for different configurations of the cavity receiver was performed in this experiment for its selection. Based on experimental results, among the four different configurations of cylindrical cavity receiver, Type IV (AR = 0.5 AP = 0.53) was found to be the most suitable receiver for the ADSEG system.