Modeling and parametric study of molten salt receiver of concentrating solar power tower plant

Abstract

Central receiver is a key part of concentrating solar power tower plants, as it is not only responsible for the highly effective absorption of incident energy from the heliostat field, but also for efficient energy conversion from light to heat. Its performance will directly affect the system efficiency and generating capacity of the whole plant. In this paper, a comprehensive model of molten salt receiver, which uses the mult-section lumped parameter method, is clearly developed based on a molten salt solar power tower plant. In order to improve the reliability as well as the prediction accuracy of the developed model, the dynamic characteristics of the molten salt receiver are fully investigated by a step disturbance of external parameters. Besides, in order to improve the design level of molten salt receiver, the influence of key parameters on the performance of receiver system is also extensively studied. The results show that the incident solar flux, wind speed and absorptivity of heat-absorbing tube can greatly affect the performance of molten salt receiver system. In order to verify the validity of proposed model, the simulation results are compared with the published experimental data, and the results show the model has a high accuracy. Conclusions of this paper are good references for the design, control and commissioning of molten salt receiver systems.