Abstract
High-temperature particle receivers are being developed to achieve temperatures in excess of 700 °C for advanced power cycles and solar thermochemical processes. This paper describes designs and features of a falling particle receiver system that has been evaluated and tested at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility at Sandia National Laboratories. These advanced designs are intended to reduce heat losses and increase the thermal efficiency. Novel features include aperture covers, active air flow, particle flow obstructions, and optimized receiver shapes that minimize advective heat losses, increase particle curtain opacity and uniformity, and reduce cavity wall temperatures. Control systems are implemented in recent on-sun tests to maintain a desired particle outlet temperature using an automated closed-loop proportional–integral–derivative controller. These tests demonstrate the ability to achieve and maintain particle outlet temperatures approaching 800 °C with efficiencies between 60 and 90%, depending on incident power, mass flow, and environmental conditions. Lessons learned regarding the testing of design features and overall receiver operation are also presented.
Highlights
Concentrating solar power (CSP) systems utilizing particle technology is a burgeon‐ing field with the capability to achieve levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) targets pro‐posed by the Department of Energy Solar Energy Technology Office of 5¢/kWhe [1]
In particle‐based CSP systems, solid particles are used as a heat transfer medium to enable temperatures in excess of 700 °C necessary to couple with high‐efficiency power cycles (e.g., supercritical‐CO2 cycles)
CSP plants with turbine inlet temperatures limited to
Summary
Concentrating solar power (CSP) systems utilizing particle technology is a burgeon‐. In particle‐based CSP systems, solid particles are used as a heat transfer medium to enable temperatures in excess of 700 °C necessary to couple with high‐efficiency power cycles (e.g., supercritical‐CO2 (sCO2) cycles). Particles present a number of other advantages over traditional working fluids for CSP including efficient sensible energy storage, low parasitics in gravity driven systems, low costs for a heat transfer medium, capability for direct irradiation eliminating the flux limitations of tubular receivers, the experimentally demonstrated ability to reach temper‐. Research in particle‐based CSP systems at Sandia National Labora‐
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