Session: 07-02: CSP Systems Analysis for Heat and Electricity Applications

Paper Number: 130155

130155 - Development and Real-Time Deployment of a Gen 3 Concentrating Solar Power Particle Pilot System Operational Model 

Abstract: 

Current commercial concentrated solar power (CSP) plants around the world use molten salts as the heat medium to operate a power cycle to generate electricity. GEN 3 CSP technology has a maximum operating temperature greater than 700 °C, which increases the cycle efficiency. One heat transfer medium used for GEN3 CSP is spherical particles with a diameter on the order of 100 µm. This new heat transfer medium and the associated components (receiver, heat exchanger, etc.) are suitable for GEN 3 temperatures and provide more than 6 hrs. of thermal energy storage. Sandia National Laboratories is building and deploying a fully integrated GEN 3 Particle Pilot Plant (G3P3). The National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) has developed a system model and a set of operational modes to execute different complex testing scenarios of the new GEN3 Particle Pilot Plant. The G3P3 model is developed in MATLAB and SIMULINK and converted to a Functional Mockup Unit (FMU) to run in real time in LabVIEW. All I/O signals included in the G3P3 SCADA system are captured in the model, which provides a platform to simulate real time data acquisition and supervisory control of the plant. This enables model estimations for different components and transient states of G3P3 during commissioning and normal plant operations. Two of the main important goals of the particle pilot system is to demonstrate a ΔT/min of ≤ 10 C/min into the primary heat exchanger and solar receiver efficiency of 80-90%. The integration of the model-based simulator described in this work introduces opportunities to 1) expedite and validate operational procedures for future GEN3 CSP plants 2) reduce risks associated with the adoption of Gen 3 CSP by commercial entities, and 3) provide a verification that the plant will meet requirements through uncertain transient operations.

Presenting Author: Luis Garcia-Maldonado Sandia National Laboratories

Presenting Author Biography: Luis Garcia Maldonado earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science at the School of Engineering at the University of New Mexico. Luis joined the CSP Program at Sandia National Laboratories in November 2018 as a year-round research and development intern. Previously, Luis did a summer internship with the CSP team as a STEP Scholar. Luis now holds an R&D, S&E computer science staff position. He has advanced experience in Data Acquisition Systems, Controls Systems, LabVIEW, Java, C, and MATLAB programing languages.

Authors:

Luis Garcia-Maldonado Sandia National Laboratories
Kaden Plewe Sandia National Laboratories
Jeremy Sment Sandia National Laboratories
Luke Mclaughlin Sandia National Laboratories
Henk Laubscher Sandia National Laboratories