A pressurized air receiver for solar-driven gas turbines

Abstract

A pressurized air-based solar receiver is considered for power generation via gas turbines using concentrated solar energy. The modular solar receiver is designed for heating compressed air to the entrance conditions of a gas turbine in the pressure range 4 – 30 bar and temperature range 800 – 1200 °C. The development work involved the design, fabrication, testing, and modelling of a 3 kWth and a 35 kWth solar receiver prototypes. System integration of an array of modular solar receivers with fossil-fuel hybridization was analysed.