On-sun operation of a 150 kWth pilot solar receiver using dense particle suspension as heat transfer fluid

H. BENOIT; E. GUILLOT; D. GAUTHIER; G. D. MAZZA; I. PÉREZ LÓPEZ; J-L SANS; G. FLAMANT

SOLAR ENERGY

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2016 vol. 137 p. 463 - 476

0038-092X

Previous studies proved the Dense Particle Suspension(DPS) could be used as Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) in a single-tube solarreceiver. This article describes the experiments conducted on a 16-tube, 150 kWth solar receiverusing a dense gas-particle suspension flowing upward as HTF. The receiver waspart of a whole pilot setup that allowed the continuous closed-loop circulationof the SiC particles used as HTF. One hundred hours of on-sun tests were performedat the CNRS 1 MW solar furnace in Odeillo. The pilot was tested under various rangesof operating parameters: solid mass flow rate (660-1760 kg/h), input solarpower (60-142 kW), and particle temperature before entering the solar receiver(40-180 °C). Steady states were reached during the experiments, with continuouscirculation and constant particle temperatures. The mean particle temperaturereached 430 °C in the collector fluidized bed, at the receiver outlet, and itwent up to 700 °C at the outlet of the hottest tube, during steady operation.The temperature difference between tubes is due to the incident solar flux distributionheterogeneity. The thermal efficiency of the receiver, defined as the ratio of powertransmitted to the DPS in the form of heat over solar power entering thereceiver cavity, was calculated in the range 50-90%. The system transientresponses to variations of the solar irradiation and of the solid mass flowrate are also reported.