Bruce Kelly, Luca Imponenti, Thomas Sambor, Benjamin Bollinger
{"title":"Design Basis Document / Owner’s Technical Specification for Nitrate Salt Systems in CSP Projects","authors":"Bruce Kelly, Luca Imponenti, Thomas Sambor, Benjamin Bollinger","doi":"10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.635","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.635","url":null,"abstract":"Work has begun on a Design Basis Document / Owner’s Technical Specification for parabolic trough and central receiver power plants using nitrate salt as the heat transport fluid and the thermal storage medium. A principal topic of recent interest is the failures of the hot salt tanks in central receiver projects. The paper outlines a hypothesis for the source of the failures, and discusses a range of possible solutions.","PeriodicalId":506238,"journal":{"name":"SolarPACES Conference Proceedings","volume":"96 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139794698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Integrated Light Pipe Receiver and Thermal Energy Storage","authors":"Christi Madsen","doi":"10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.699","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.699","url":null,"abstract":"An integrated light pipe receiver and thermal energy storage (TES) architecture is proposed for solar process heat applications. Simulations demonstrate the benefits of increased heat transfer area to a low conductivity TES medium and reduced surface radiation losses. When compared against a baseline design with a hemispherical absorber, the integrated light pipe receiver enables up to a factor of three higher energy storage for distributed absorption relative to localized absorption at the top of the TES. For a lower thermal conductivity TES medium or baselining to a flat-top absorber, an increase in thermal energy storage up to a factor of five results.","PeriodicalId":506238,"journal":{"name":"SolarPACES Conference Proceedings","volume":"24 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139796903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Design Optimization of a Horizontal Particle Receiver for a Modular Beam Down Receiver CSP","authors":"David Saldivia, Anna Bruce, Robert A. Taylor","doi":"10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.664","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.664","url":null,"abstract":"CSP research is focused on increasing the economic competitiveness of this technology as compared to conventional and emerging energy generators. Higher temperature operation conditions represent a pathway toward cost reductions since they enable a relatively smaller solar field area (typically ~40-50% of the plant cost) for the same electrical output. For example, supercritical CO2 power cycles with solid particles as the HTF could enable >600°C operations and a ~50% power bloc cycle efficiency (considerably higher than steam cycles, <40%). Additionally, small modular systems could increase competitiveness through reduced financial risk, increased system flexibility, and the value of additional services that a modular CSP could offer to the electricity grid (frequency control, peaking supply, etc.). This study investigates the Beam Down Receiver (BDR) configuration as a design that could be well-suited to meet these goals while also overcoming some of issues with particle receivers, such as particle attrition, advective losses, and operation control. In particular, this work introduces a novel horizontal particle receiver (HPR) and analyzes the main design parameters, including tower height, BDR size, radiation flux on the receiver, and receiver nominal power. The analysis shows that tower heights between 35m to 60m are ideal for high temperature receiver capacities of 8-15 MWth, and that this configuration can achieve a minimized LCOH of ~24 USD/MWth. These results suggest that BDRs combined with particle mediums could represent a viable high temperature, high efficiency CSP alternative.","PeriodicalId":506238,"journal":{"name":"SolarPACES Conference Proceedings","volume":"88 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139858186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Maitane Ferreres Eceiza, M. Bitterling, Thomas Schmidt, Tobias Boehret, Denis Wohlfeld, Gregor Bern
{"title":"Terrestrial Laser Scanning for Fast Spatially Resolved Cleanliness Assessment of Heliostat Fields","authors":"Maitane Ferreres Eceiza, M. Bitterling, Thomas Schmidt, Tobias Boehret, Denis Wohlfeld, Gregor Bern","doi":"10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.705","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.705","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents a novel method for the assessment of cleanliness levels (i.e. specular relative reflectance) in the solar field by use of laser scanning. The detected backscattered laser intensity caused by soil and dust, on the otherwise specular mirror surfaces, can be used for determining the cleanliness of mirrors in the solar field with an excellent spatial resolution and acquisition speed. The backscatter behavior of soiled mirrors with distance and incident angle is analyzed and used for transferring the raw measurements values to a reference distance and incident angle. The experimental results of the novel laser scanning measurement technique as well as new insights on soiling behavior are presented. First, the calibration measurements with artificially soiled mirror samples are analyzed, followed by an extensive measurement campaign in a heliostat field. A correlation for the backscatter power and the cleanliness is found, and the first spatially resolved cleanliness measurement for a heliostat field is shown, successfully validating the measurement principle.","PeriodicalId":506238,"journal":{"name":"SolarPACES Conference Proceedings","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139854436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mark Messner, B. Barua, Pawan S. Chaugule, Dileep Singh
{"title":"A Computer Design Tool for Ceramic Receivers","authors":"Mark Messner, B. Barua, Pawan S. Chaugule, Dileep Singh","doi":"10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.679","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.679","url":null,"abstract":"Gen3 solar receivers and other components will experience a combination of high temperatures and high stress caused by thermal stress and internal pressure. Under these conditions metallic components, even those manufactured from nickel-based superalloys, have poor reliability. Engineering ceramics could be a solution, as these materials have excellent high temperature strength. However, accurately assessing the reliability of a ceramic component operating in these conditions requires an entirely different approach compared to metallic materials. This paper describes the implementation of statistical models for evaluating the reliability of high temperature ceramic components in srlife – an open-source software package for estimating the life of high temperature concentrating solar power equipment. This new capability allows users to make fair comparisons between competing metallic and ceramic component designs and to accurately assess the plant efficiency and economics of ceramic solar receivers and other components.","PeriodicalId":506238,"journal":{"name":"SolarPACES Conference Proceedings","volume":"64 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139855961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Maitane Ferreres Eceiza, M. Bitterling, Thomas Schmidt, Tobias Boehret, Denis Wohlfeld, Gregor Bern
{"title":"Terrestrial Laser Scanning for Fast Spatially Resolved Cleanliness Assessment of Heliostat Fields","authors":"Maitane Ferreres Eceiza, M. Bitterling, Thomas Schmidt, Tobias Boehret, Denis Wohlfeld, Gregor Bern","doi":"10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.705","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.705","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents a novel method for the assessment of cleanliness levels (i.e. specular relative reflectance) in the solar field by use of laser scanning. The detected backscattered laser intensity caused by soil and dust, on the otherwise specular mirror surfaces, can be used for determining the cleanliness of mirrors in the solar field with an excellent spatial resolution and acquisition speed. The backscatter behavior of soiled mirrors with distance and incident angle is analyzed and used for transferring the raw measurements values to a reference distance and incident angle. The experimental results of the novel laser scanning measurement technique as well as new insights on soiling behavior are presented. First, the calibration measurements with artificially soiled mirror samples are analyzed, followed by an extensive measurement campaign in a heliostat field. A correlation for the backscatter power and the cleanliness is found, and the first spatially resolved cleanliness measurement for a heliostat field is shown, successfully validating the measurement principle.","PeriodicalId":506238,"journal":{"name":"SolarPACES Conference Proceedings","volume":"25 S61","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139794640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mark Messner, B. Barua, Pawan S. Chaugule, Dileep Singh
{"title":"A Computer Design Tool for Ceramic Receivers","authors":"Mark Messner, B. Barua, Pawan S. Chaugule, Dileep Singh","doi":"10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.679","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.679","url":null,"abstract":"Gen3 solar receivers and other components will experience a combination of high temperatures and high stress caused by thermal stress and internal pressure. Under these conditions metallic components, even those manufactured from nickel-based superalloys, have poor reliability. Engineering ceramics could be a solution, as these materials have excellent high temperature strength. However, accurately assessing the reliability of a ceramic component operating in these conditions requires an entirely different approach compared to metallic materials. This paper describes the implementation of statistical models for evaluating the reliability of high temperature ceramic components in srlife – an open-source software package for estimating the life of high temperature concentrating solar power equipment. This new capability allows users to make fair comparisons between competing metallic and ceramic component designs and to accurately assess the plant efficiency and economics of ceramic solar receivers and other components.","PeriodicalId":506238,"journal":{"name":"SolarPACES Conference Proceedings","volume":"10 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139795990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Johannes Christoph Sattler, Vikrama Atti, Spiros Alexopoulos, Cristiano J. Teixeira Boura, Ulf Herrmann, Siddharth Dutta, Ioannis Kioutsioukis
{"title":"DNI Forecast Tool for the Smart Operation of a Parabolic Trough Collector System With Concrete Thermal Energy Storage","authors":"Johannes Christoph Sattler, Vikrama Atti, Spiros Alexopoulos, Cristiano J. Teixeira Boura, Ulf Herrmann, Siddharth Dutta, Ioannis Kioutsioukis","doi":"10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.731","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.731","url":null,"abstract":"This work presents a basic forecast tool for predicting direct normal irradiance (DNI) in hourly resolution, which the Solar-Institut Jülich (SIJ) is developing within a research project. The DNI forecast data shall be used for a parabolic trough collector (PTC) system with a concrete thermal energy storage (C-TES) located at the company KEAN Soft Drinks Ltd in Limassol, Cyprus. On a daily basis, 24-hour DNI prediction data in hourly resolution shall be automatically produced using free or very low-cost weather forecast data as input. The purpose of the DNI forecast tool is to automatically transfer the DNI forecast data on a daily basis to a main control unit (MCU). The MCU automatically makes a smart decision on the operation mode of the PTC system such as steam production mode and/or C-TES charging mode. The DNI forecast tool was evaluated using historical data of measured DNI from an on-site weather station, which was compared to the DNI forecast data. The DNI forecast tool was tested using data from 56 days between January and March 2022, which included days with a strong variation in DNI due to cloud passages. For the evaluation of the DNI forecast reliability, three categories were created and the forecast data was sorted accordingly. The result was that the DNI forecast tool has a reliability of 71.4 % based on the tested days. The result fulfils SIJ’s aim to achieve a reliability of around 70 %, but SIJ aims to still improve the DNI forecast quality.","PeriodicalId":506238,"journal":{"name":"SolarPACES Conference Proceedings","volume":"8 48","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139683473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brian T. White, Ben Lindley, Toby Raza, Michael J. Wagner
{"title":"Thermodynamic Modeling of a Supercritical Steam Rankine Cycle for an Integrated CSP-Nuclear System","authors":"Brian T. White, Ben Lindley, Toby Raza, Michael J. Wagner","doi":"10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.660","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.660","url":null,"abstract":"Renewable technologies using solar input have varied electrical power production during periods of low solar irradiance caused by cloud coverage, seasonal changes, and time of day. Nuclear power plants can load follow, but due to low operating costs and high fixed costs, this capability is often not financially appealing. Implementing thermal energy storage (TES) within a synergistic solar and nuclear power cycle allows for storage during low demand periods and increased power production during high demand periods, effectively increasing dispatchability. In this paper, we examine the thermodynamic performance of an integrated system that includes concentrating solar power (CSP) and a lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR). These technologies are selected due to their similar operating temperatures, allowing for utilization of established TES technologies. Both the CSP and LFR system produce thermal power that is sent to a supercritical steam-Rankine cycle (SSRC). The SSRC model is designed to be implemented into a larger integrated energy system (IES) which contains multiple communicating models. The IES generates CSP and LFR heat profiles then utilizes the SSRC to output calculated metrics including power generation, heat rejection, and cycle efficiency.","PeriodicalId":506238,"journal":{"name":"SolarPACES Conference Proceedings","volume":"58 22","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139683684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hydrogen Production via Off-Sun Solar-Thermal Supercritical Water Gasification and Membrane Reforming of Piggery Waste","authors":"Louise Bardwell, Alireza Rahbari, John Pye","doi":"10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.748","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.748","url":null,"abstract":"Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) represents an emerging technology for liquid fuel synthesis, offering large potential in significantly improving the efficiency and environmental impact of clean fuel production. Compared to conventional gasification, SCWG proceeds at much lower temperatures, allowing char and tar-free gasification of biomass and for low-quality and high-moisture content biomass to be used. As the thermochemical processes involved in SCWG and steam methane reforming (SMR) are highly endothermic, combining them with concentrated solar power (CSP) and thermal energy storage (TES) could allow the process to be driven solely by renewable energy. As such, this work models an off-sun SCWG/SMR system using novel molten salt, proposed to reach up to 600°C [1], which overcomes the previously limiting molten salt temperature of 550°C. Using an off-sun configuration, it deals with the on-sun configuration’s issues of degraded lifetime and creep-fatigue, allowing for uniform heating and a reduced load on the reactors. The novel technology of an integrated Pd-based membrane reactor, highly selective to H₂, was chosen given its ability to carry out SMR at temperatures in the viable range of new molten salts. The system uses a waste feedstock, piggery waste, to provide the dual benefit of reducing the environmental cost associated with piggery waste’s release of CH4. From the model created in Aspen Plus, a plant output of 7.2 kmolH₂/h (1,135 Nm³/h of H₂), was obtained with a flow rate of 150 kg/h of dry piggery waste, a membrane area of 131.8 m², and a 73% CH4 conversion from the feed.","PeriodicalId":506238,"journal":{"name":"SolarPACES Conference Proceedings","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139871703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}