A cooler for dense-array CPV receivers based on metal foam

Abstract Open-cell metal foams were experimentally evaluated as heat transfer enhancers in a cold plate suitable for concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) receivers. Aluminum based foams with 20, 30 and 40 pores per inch (PPI) were tested in a compact heat exchanger with forced convection of water over a range of flow rates and heating rates. Heat transfer rate and pressure drop were characterized as a function of water flow rate through the heat exchanger. The results were compared to a commercially available cooling plate solution and to previous studies with different configurations of water-cooled metal foams. The results show a better combination of heat transfer and pressure drop performance with the metal foam solution compared to the commercial cooler. Estimate of the impact on the CPV receiver performance in an example case shows that using the metal foam cooler may increase the electricity production by about 1.5%.

[1]  B. Kang,et al.  Forced convection from aluminum foam materials in an asymmetrically heated channel , 2001 .

[3]  C. Balaji,et al.  Experimental investigation of flow assisted mixed convection in high porosity foams in vertical channels , 2011 .

[4]  K. Vafai,et al.  A synthesis of fluid and thermal transport models for metal foam heat exchangers , 2008 .

[5]  James S. Foresi,et al.  EMCORE receivers for CPV system development , 2010, 2010 35th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference.

[6]  Aliakbar Akbarzadeh,et al.  Heat pipe-based cooling systems for photovoltaic cells under concentrated solar radiation , 1996 .

[7]  J. P. Du Plessis,et al.  Pressure drop modelling in cellular metallic foams , 2002 .

[8]  K. Thole,et al.  Heat transfer from multiple row arrays of low aspect ratio pin fins , 2011 .

[9]  A. Jacobi,et al.  A Review of Metal Foam and Metal Matrix Composites for Heat Exchangers and Heat Sinks , 2012 .

[10]  Burhan Ozmat,et al.  Thermal Applications of Open-Cell Metal Foams , 2004 .

[11]  Abraham Kribus,et al.  Equivalent circuit models for triple-junction concentrator solar cells , 2012 .

[12]  Abraham Kribus,et al.  A miniature concentrating photovoltaic and thermal system , 2006 .

[13]  Dimos Poulikakos,et al.  Metal foams as compact high performance heat exchangers , 2003 .

[14]  Nihad Dukhan,et al.  Experimental flow in various porous media and reconciliation of Forchheimer and Ergun relations , 2014 .

[15]  C. Dey,et al.  Cooling of photovoltaic cells under concentrated illumination: a critical review , 2005 .

[16]  K. Exel,et al.  Water cooled DBC direct bonded copper substrates , 1998, IECON '98. Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (Cat. No.98CH36200).

[17]  H.Y. Zhang,et al.  Fluid flow and heat transfer in liquid cooled foam heat sinks for electronic packages , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Components and Packaging Technologies.

[18]  R. Mahajan,et al.  Forced Convection in High Porosity Metal Foams , 2000 .

[19]  Sanjeev Jakhar,et al.  Historical and recent development of concentrating photovoltaic cooling technologies , 2016 .

[20]  Frank Dimroth,et al.  Development, characterisation and 1000 Suns outdoor tests of GaAs monolithic interconnected module (MIM) receivers , 2008 .

[21]  D. Poulikakos,et al.  The Effects of Compression and Pore Size Variations on the Liquid Flow Characteristics in Metal Foams , 2002 .

[22]  C. Tien,et al.  Effects of thermal dispersion on forced convection in fibrous media , 1988 .

[23]  T. Lu,et al.  Heat transfer in open-cell metal foams , 1998 .

[24]  Satish G. Kandlikar,et al.  Liquid Cooled Cold Plates for Industrial High-Power Electronic Devices—Thermal Design and Manufacturing Considerations , 2009 .

[25]  J. I. Rosell,et al.  Outdoor test of a hybrid jet impingement/micro-channel cooling device for densely packed concentrated photovoltaic cells , 2014 .

[26]  F. García‐Moreno.  Commercial Applications of Metal Foams: Their Properties and Production , 2016, Materials.

[27]  Christopher Dey,et al.  Design of a jet impingement cooling device for densely packed PV cells under high concentration , 2007 .

[28]  Gerald Siefer,et al.  FLATCON® CPV module with 36.7% efficiency equipped with four‐junction solar cells , 2015 .

[29]  N. Dukhan,et al.  Heat transfer measurements in metal foam subjected to constant heat flux , 2007 .