A novel high-temperature (>700 °C), volumetric receiver with a packed bed of transparent and absorbing spheres

Mohammadreza Sedighi, Ricardo Vasquez Padilla, Pedram Alamdari, Maree Lake, Andrew Rose, Iman Izadgoshasb and Robert A. Taylor

Applied Energy, 2020, vol. 264, issue C, No S0306261920302178

Abstract: The concentrated solar power industry requires high-temperature receivers to push towards advanced power cycles. However, as the outlet temperature of a receiver increases, radiation losses (which are ∝T4) become dominant. In addition, at high temperatures, not many liquid working fluids are suitable. To address these issues, this research proposes an innovative, robust design of a gas-phase cavity receiver which utilises semi-transparent spheres as a volumetric absorption medium. The motivation behind this design is to break the long-standing outlet temperature versus efficiency trade-off by maximising the “volumetric effect” (i.e. obtaining a higher outlet fluid temperature than the receiver’s surface temperature). A range of designs were compared (i.e. packed beds of semi-transparent and high-transparency quartz spheres against an opaque bed of ceramic spheres). This study is important because it determines how the volumetric effect modifies the overall receiver efficiency via a holistic metric (proposed herein) which accounts for the optical, thermal, and pumping power efficiencies. Through a detailed ray-tracing analysis and a comprehensive thermal circuit model, this study reveals that a semi-transparent quartz packed bed receiver can have an overall receiver efficiency of around 80% at outlet temperatures above 700 °C. Most significantly, the best proposed design achieved a high value for the elusive volumetric effect (e.g. a maximum index value of 1.45). Based upon these results, the authors can conclude that these packed bed designs represent a promising new pathway towards reliable and cost-effective high-temperature and high-efficiency receivers which can be implemented into advanced, high-temperature power cycles.

Keywords: High-temperature receiver; Volumetric effect; Concentrated solar power; Volumetric receiver; Ray-tracing analysis; Packed bed (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.114705

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