Thermoelastic stress in concentrating solar receiver tubes: A retrospect on stress analysis methodology, and comparison of salt and sodium

Temperature distribution in nonaxisymmetrically concentrating solar thermal receivers tubes is calculated for the steady-state solution with a Gauss-Seidel iteration in cylindrical coordinates. The classical plane-biharmonic thermoelastic approach to nonaxisymmetrically heated tube stress is applied. Calculation of the dominant axial thermal stress component is included. Validation is obtained with the linear-elastic thermal stress OpenFOAM® solver. Thermoelastic stress in stainless steel 316 Schedule 5S DN25 (1″) tubes containing liquid sodium is found to be 35% lower than in tubes containing molten salt. The difference is due to the higher conductivity of liquid sodium which maintains a smaller temperature difference between the front and back tube sides. A simplified thermal stress formula is shown to be erroneous if not implemented as originally documented. The sensitivity of tube thermoelastic stress to tube material and flow properties is illustrated with parameter variation, and the impact of solar concentrated heat flux is explored with some typical and ideal tube circumference flux profiles.