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Experimental performance of an advanced metal volumetric air receiver for Solar Towers

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  • Pabst, Christoph
  • Feckler, Gereon
  • Schmitz, Stefan
  • Smirnova, Olena
  • Capuano, Raffaele
  • Hirth, Peter
  • Fend, Thomas

Abstract

Solar Tower Technology is a promising way to generate sustainable electricity from concentrated solar radiation. In one of the most effective variants of this technology, a so called volumetric air receiver is used to convert concentrated radiation into heat. This component consists of a high temperature resistant cellular material which absorbs radiation and transfers the heat to an air flow which is fed from the ambient and from recirculated air. It is called volumetric, because the radiation may penetrate into the “volume” of the receiver through the open, permeable cells of the material. In this way a larger amount of heat transfer surface supports the solid to gaseous heat transfer in comparison to a tubular closed receiver. Finally the heated air is directed to the steam generator of a conventional steam turbine system. In this study an advanced cellular metal honeycomb structure has been designed, manufactured and tested for use as an open volumetric receiver. It consists of winded pairs of flat and corrugated metal foils. The technology is based on a one which has been primarily developed for the treatment of combustion engine exhaust gases. A number of variations of the pure linear honeycomb structure have been introduced to increase local turbulence and radial flow. Firstly, a set of samples has been tested in laboratory scale experiments to determine effective properties and the solar-to-thermal efficiency. After that, results have been compared with theoretical predictions. Finally, the three most promising materials have been used for a 500 kW test on the research platform of the Solar Tower Jülich. Air outlet temperatures of more than 800 °C have been achieved with efficiencies of about 80%, which is about 5% more than the state-of-the-art technology, which is currently used at the main receiver of the Solar Tower. Next to this, lifetime models will be developed to increase the overall reliability of the technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Pabst, Christoph & Feckler, Gereon & Schmitz, Stefan & Smirnova, Olena & Capuano, Raffaele & Hirth, Peter & Fend, Thomas, 2017. "Experimental performance of an advanced metal volumetric air receiver for Solar Towers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 91-98.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:106:y:2017:i:c:p:91-98
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.01.016
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    4. Wang, P. & Li, J.B. & Xu, R.N. & Jiang, P.X., 2021. "Non-uniform and volumetric effect on the hydrodynamic and thermal characteristic in a unit solar absorber," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    5. Messaoud Hazmoune & Benaoumeur Aour & Xavier Chesneau & Mohammed Debbache & Dana-Alexandra Ciupageanu & Gheorghe Lazaroiu & Mohamed Mondji Hadjiat & Abderrahmane Hamidat, 2020. "Numerical Analysis of a Solar Tower Receiver Novel Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-12, August.
    6. Nakakura, Mitsuho & Matsubara, Koji & Bellan, Selvan & Kodama, Tatsuya, 2020. "Direct simulation of a volumetric solar receiver with different cell sizes at high outlet temperatures (1,000–1,500 °C)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 1143-1152.
    7. Avila-Marin, Antonio L., 2022. "CFD parametric analysis of wire meshes open volumetric receivers with axial-varied porosity and comparison with small-scale solar receiver tests," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 1094-1105.
    8. Zaversky, Fritz & Les, Iñigo & Sorbet, Patxi & Sánchez, Marcelino & Valentin, Benoît & Brau, Jean-Florian & Siros, Frédéric, 2020. "The challenge of solar powered combined cycles – Providing dispatchability and increasing efficiency by integrating the open volumetric air receiver technology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    9. Avila-Marin, Antonio L. & Fernandez-Reche, Jesus & Gianella, Sandro & Ferrari, Luca & Sanchez-Señoran, Daniel, 2022. "Experimental study of innovative periodic cellular structures as air volumetric absorbers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 391-404.
    10. Broeske, Robin Tim & Schwarzbözl, Peter & Birkigt, Lisa & Vasic, Srdan & Dung, Sebastian & Doerbeck, Till & Hoffschmidt, Bernhard, 2023. "Experimentally assessed efficiency improvement of innovative 3D-shaped structures as volumetric absorbers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    11. Rodríguez-Sánchez, M.R. & Sánchez-González, A. & Santana, D., 2019. "Field-receiver model validation against Solar Two tests," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 43-52.
    12. Cheilytko, Andrii & Schwarzbözl, Peter & Wieghardt, Kai, 2023. "Modeling of heat conduction processes in porous absorber of open type of solar tower stations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    13. Zhu, Qibin & Xuan, Yimin, 2019. "Improving the performance of volumetric solar receivers with a spectrally selective gradual structure and swirling characteristics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 467-476.
    14. Li, J.B. & Wang, P. & Liu, D.Y., 2022. "Optimization on the gradually varied pore structure distribution for the irradiated absorber," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    15. Avila-Marin, Antonio L. & Alvarez de Lara, Monica & Fernandez-Reche, Jesus, 2018. "Experimental results of gradual porosity volumetric air receivers with wire meshes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 339-353.
    16. Avila-Marin, Antonio L. & Caliot, Cyril & Alvarez de Lara, Monica & Fernandez-Reche, Jesus & Montes, Maria Jose & Martinez-Tarifa, Adela, 2019. "Homogeneous equivalent model coupled with P1-approximation for dense wire meshes volumetric air receivers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 908-919.
    17. Avila-Marin, A.L. & Fernandez-Reche, J. & Martinez-Tarifa, A., 2019. "Modelling strategies for porous structures as solar receivers in central receiver systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 15-33.
    18. Vishwa Deepak Kumar & Vikas K. Upadhyay & Gurveer Singh & Sudipto Mukhopadhyay & Laltu Chandra, 2022. "Open volumetric air receiver: An innovative application and a major challenge," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), January.
    19. Du, Shen & Li, Ming-Jia & He, Ya-Ling & Shen, Sheng, 2021. "Conceptual design of porous volumetric solar receiver using molten salt as heat transfer fluid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).

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