On-Sun Testing of a High-Temperature Solar Receiver's Flux Distribution

Concentrated solar power (CSP) is a promising technology in transitioning to renewable energy because of its abundance in nature and thermal energy storage (TES) capability. Among the four types of available CSP technology, including parabolic trough, linear Fresnel, power tower, and parabolic dishes, a power tower using a central receiver has more potential to generate high-temperature heat in a scale supporting power cycles efficiency and achieve low levelized cost of energy (LCOE). Other than the conventional type of receiver design, the high-absorptive receiver concept developed and presented in this paper is novel in its design approach. The novel receiver design originated from National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) consists of an array of solar flux absorb tubes. The solar absorb tubes require uniform flux distribution and in-depth flux penetration through the three different reflective sections of tubes in a hexagonal shape. To evaluate this unique receiver design and thermal performance, the flux distribution, flux uniformity, and intensity were numerically simulated using ansys fluent and SolTrace modeling program. On-sun testing has been done at NREL high flux solar testing facility, based on the computational analysis.