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Optimize Flue Gas Settings to Promote Microalgae Growth in Photobioreactors via Computer Simulations
Published on: October 1, 2013
Monte-Carlo ray tracing simulation of view factors for diffuse solar radiation determination in cylindrical
Yihan Zheng1, Lifeng Li1, Shengkai Dai1
1School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China.
Abstract:
In this study, a Monte Carlo ray tracing (MCRT) model was developed to calculate view factors between cylindrical photobioreactor (PBR) sidewalls and sky/ground surfaces in outdoor array configurations. The effects of PBR dimension, inter-PBR spacing and array layout, namely square, staggered and biomimetic layouts, were analyzed. Results showed that view factors are mainly governed by mutual shading effects. In staggered arrays, centrally positioned PBRs exhibited significantly lower view factors compared to peripheral units, with reductions reaching up to 97%. Reducing inter-PBR spacing from 1.26m to 0.56m in staggered configurations resulted in a 46% decrease in mean view factor (from 0.301 to 0.163). Comparative analysis revealed average view factors of 0.2410, 0.2416 and 0.2259 for square, staggered, and biomimetic layouts, respectively. This work establishes a methodology for quantifying diffuse radiation received by PBR arrays which is indispensable for PBR multiphysics simulations.
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