Session: 05-04: Concentrating Solar Power I -- Receiver Simulations/Analysis

Paper Number: 142454

142454 - Modeling and Analysis of Multiple Falling-Particle Receivers Csp Systems Within System Advisor Model 

Abstract: 

Based on the Department of Energy’s down selection, the next generation of concentrating solar power (CSP) technology will rely on a particle medium to capture, store, and transfer heat. The particle-based systems could reduce the cost and complexity of solar thermal compared to the previous generation CSP technologies that relied on molten-salts as the storage medium. Additionally, particle based CSP systems could operate at higher temperatures than the previous generation; thereby enabling higher efficiency power cycles and a wider temperature range for industrial heat applications.

One method for capturing the concentrated solar irradiance uses a free-falling particle curtain design where the particles fall in a waterfall configuration within a cavity. In this design, the heliostat field directly irradiates the waterfall “catch-and-release” particle curtain. This receiver design exposes the particle curtain to ambient conditions which results in particle loss out of the receiver aperture. This can be particularly challenging at specific wind directions and speeds. One passive approach to reduce the wind sensitivity is to design the receiver with a “SNOUT” that extends from the aperture towards the heliostat field. This cavity receiver design can only accept solar irradiance from a specific acceptance angle range centered around the direction orthogonal to the receiver aperture (as opposed to a surround field receiver) which limits the scalability of the technology. As receiver thermal power increases, heliostats must be place further away from the receiver which results in lower heliostat efficiencies and higher tower heights.

Preliminary studies conducted by Sandia National Laboratory concluded that multiple free-falling particle receivers on a single tower enable the technology to scale with minimum impact on LCOE. For a constant solar field design power, multiple receiver configurations enable better land utilization and reduced tower heights compared to a single receiver. Lastly, multiple receiver configurations can toggle specific receivers on and off depending on wind direction and wind speed which increases the flexibility of the heat collection system and minimize the impact of a particular poor performing receiver given wind conditions.

In the last year, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been developing a free-falling particle receiver CSP system model within the open-source System Advisor Model (SAM) software. To ensure the scalability of the novel receiver design, we have extended this work to include multiple free-falling particle receivers on a single tower. In this presentation, we present SAM’s new falling-particle receiver CSP system model with multiple receiver capability. Additionally, we will present an optimization study on receiver placement on the tower to maximize system energy output.

Presenting Author: William Hamilton National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. William (Bill) Hamilton is a researcher at NREL where he has worked on system modeling of concentrating solar systems, dispatch optimization of thermal energy storage, and hybrid system modeling and design optimization. His expertise is in thermal system modeling and mixed-integer linear programming for dispatch optimization of energy storage applications.

Authors:

William Hamilton National Renewable Energy Laboratory