An Origami-Inspired Design of a Thermal Mixing Element Within a Concentrated Solar Power System
Name
v05bt08a061-detc2017-68360.pdf
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3.03 MB
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Checksum (MD5)
049bd36433df725e2f26cd8a6ecb0f5e
Author(s)
Calvet, Nicolas
Hamer, Tyler Thomas
Zhou, Lei
Trumper, David L
Slocum Jr., Alexander H
Date Issued
August 2017
Journal
ASME 2017 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference
Publisher
ASME International
Citation
Hamer, Tyler T., Lei Zhou, David L. Trumper, Alexander H. Slocum, and Nicolas Calvet. “An Origami-Inspired Design of a Thermal Mixing Element Within a Concentrated Solar Power System.” ASME 2017 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, 6-9 August, 2017, Cleveland, Ohio, ASME, 2017. © 2017 ASME
Version
Final published version
Abstract
A Concentrated Solar Power on Demand (CSPonD) system heats a tank of molten salt with sunlight, storing the sun's energy thermally and generating electricity when needed using a heat exchanger. To prevent the heated salt from forming thermal gradients (reducing the heat exchanger's efficiency) or overheating (and becoming corrosive), a thermal mixing element mixes the heated salt both axially and radially. Since the mixing element can only move axially within the tank, it contains internal, radial channels to induce radial flow of the salt. These channels are constructed from tabbed wall-components, whose tabs seat into and extend past slots in the top-and bottom-plates of the mixing element. The top-and bottom-plates are constructed from multiple panels with overlapping slots, allowing the panels to form the plates when the tabs are inserted. This interlocking design allows majority of the mixing element to be rapidly manufactured at a low cost from sheet metal and simplifies transportation. In situ, the assembled components fasten together by bending the overextending tabs, minimizing the number of fasteners needed. Topics: Design, Concentrating solar power
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2017-68360
