Performance Evaluation of a High-Temperature Falling Particle Receiver

Ho, Clifford K.; Christian, Joshua Mark; Yellowhair, Julius E.; Armijo, Kenneth Miguel; Kolb, William J.; Jeter, Sheldon; Golob, Matthew; Nguyen, Clayton

doi:10.1115/es2016-59238

Cited by 18 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…The simulated system is a simplified subdomain of a complete FPR and the surrounding air space. The system is modeled after an existing, north-facing 1 MW th FPR at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) at Sandia National Laboratories [30]. The analyzed system includes a hood over the aperture that is not present in the existing receiver.…”

Section: Computational Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Quartz Aperture Covers on the Fluid Dynamics and Thermal Efficiency of Falling Particle Receivers

Yue

Mills

Christian

et al. 2022

Journal of Solar Energy Engineering

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Falling particle receivers are an emerging technology for use in concentrating solar power systems. In this work, quartz half-shells are investigated for use as full or partial aperture covers to reduce receiver thermal losses. A receiver subdomain and surrounding air are modeled using ANSYS® Fluent®. The model is used to simulate fluid dynamics and heat transfer for the following cases: (1) open aperture, (2), aperture fully covered by quartz half-shells, and (3) aperture partially covered by quartz half-shells. We compare the percentage of total incident solar power lost due to conduction through the receiver walls, advective losses through the aperture, and radiation exiting the aperture. Contrary to expected outcomes, results show that quartz aperture covers can increase radiative losses and result in modest to nonexistent reductions in advective losses. The increased radiative losses are driven by elevated quartz half-shell temperatures and have the potential to be mitigated by active cooling and/or material selection. Quartz half-shell total transmissivity was measured experimentally using a radiometer and the National Solar Thermal Test Facility heliostat field. Average measured total transmissivities are 0.97±0.01 and 0.94±0.02 for concave and convex side toward the heliostat field, respectively. Quartz half-shell aperture covers did not yield expected efficiency gains in numerical results due to increased radiative losses, but efficiency improvement in some numerical results and the performance of quartz half-shells subject to concentrated solar radiation suggest quartz half-shell aperture covers should be investigated further.

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Section: Computational Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Quartz Aperture Covers on the Fluid Dynamics and Thermal Efficiency of Falling Particle Receivers

Yue

Mills

Christian

et al. 2022

Journal of Solar Energy Engineering

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“…In recent years, many research institutions have developed solar receiver models and carried out experiments [2]. Researchers from the Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) working on direct radiation solid particle solar receivers (SPSR) conducted two series of tests related with the area of exposure to solar radiation, in free-falling SPSR systems in 2008 and 2016 [3]. Reducing the designed opening area from 4.5 m 2 to 1 m 2 greatly reduced the convective heat loss and increased the thermal efficiency from 33-53% to 50-80%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance improvement methods for quartz tube solid particle fluidized bed solar receiver

BÖLÜK

Lüle

2022

Journal of Thermal Engineering

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The conditions to improve performance of quartz tube silicon carbide (SiC) solid particle fluidized bed solar receiver was investigated with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The difficulty of experimenting all possible operating conditions was overcome by preparing CFD base input with appropriate models and parameters. The amount of SiC in the bed, the size of particles, and the air inlet velocity were considered as variables. After model verification, in order to evaluate the effect of particle addition, bed without solid particles were simulated first. Outlet temperature of single-phase receiver was calculated as 421 K. Outlet temperatures of 913 K, 895 K, and 881 K were obtained for 400 μm diameter particles in 0.3 m bed height for air inlet velocities of 0.25, 0.3, and 0.35 m/s. Air outlet temperature decreases as air inlet velocity increases. On the other hand, too much reduction at inlet velocity retards the system performance since it affects fluidization. For 400 μm particle diameter and bed height of 0.2 m, outlet temperatures of 994 K, 974 K, and 955 K were found for the same air inlet velocities above. As bed height decreases, air outlet temperature increases. For particle diameters of 300 and 500 μm for bed height of 0.3 m, outlet temperatures of 980 K and 878 K were calculated for appropriate minimum fluidization velocities. Outlet temperature increased with decreasing particle size.

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“…The falling particle receiver appears well-suited for scalability ranging from 10 -100 MW e power-tower systems. Previous studies have considered alternative particle receiver designs including freefalling [18], obstructed flow [24,25], centrifugal [20,21,26,27], flow in tubes with or without fluidization [15,22,23,[28][29][30][31], multi-pass recirculation [9,17] north-or south-facing [6,11], and face-down configurations [32]. In general, these particle receivers can be categorized as either direct or indirect particle heating receivers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those tests achieved 1.2 m ~50% thermal efficiency, and the maximum particle temperature increase was ~250°C. More recently, Ho et al have performed on-sun tests of a 1 MW th continuously recirculating particle receiver with bulk particle outlet temperatures reaching over 700 °C, and thermal efficiencies from ~50% -80% [24,25] (Figure 3). Results showed that the particle temperature rise and thermal efficiency were dependent on particle mass flow rate and irradiance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of high-temperature particle receivers for concentrating solar power

2016

Applied Thermal Engineering

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322

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High-temperature particle receivers can increase the operating temperature of concentrating solar power (CSP) systems, improving solar-to-electric efficiency and lowering costs. Unlike conventional receivers that employ fluid flowing through tubular receivers, falling particle receivers use solid particles that are heated directly as they fall through a beam of concentrated sunlight, with particle temperatures capable of reaching 1000 °C and higher. Once heated, the hot particles may be stored and used to generate electricity in a power cycle or to create process heat. Because the solar energy is directly absorbed by the particles, the flux and temperature limitations associated with tubular central receivers are mitigated, allowing for greater concentration ratios and thermal efficiencies. Alternative particle receiver designs include free-falling, obstructed flow, centrifugal, flow in tubes with or without fluidization, multi-pass recirculation, north-or south-facing, and face-down configurations. This paper provides a review of these alternative designs, along with benefits, technical challenges, and costs.

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Performance Evaluation of a High-Temperature Falling Particle Receiver

Cited by 18 publications

References 0 publications

Effect of Quartz Aperture Covers on the Fluid Dynamics and Thermal Efficiency of Falling Particle Receivers

Effect of Quartz Aperture Covers on the Fluid Dynamics and Thermal Efficiency of Falling Particle Receivers

Performance improvement methods for quartz tube solid particle fluidized bed solar receiver

A review of high-temperature particle receivers for concentrating solar power

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