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Design of a 100 MWh(th) packed-bed thermal energy storage
(2014)Energy Procedia ~ Proceedings of the SolarPACES 2013 International ConferenceA thermal energy storage (TES) system was designed based on a packed bed of rocks as storing material and air as heat transfer fluid. A pilot-scale 6.5 MWhth TES unit was built and tested. A dynamic numerical heat transfer and fluid flow model was developed and experimentally validated with measurements obtained from the pilot-scale TES unit. The simulation model is applied to design an industrial-scale 100 MWhth TES unit for a solar power ...Conference Paper -
Surpassing the 2D Limit: A 600x High-concentration PV Collector Based on a Parabolic trough with Tracking Secondary Optics
(2014)Energy Procedia ~ 2013 ISES Solar World CongressWe report on the design and performance of a novel 600x high-concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) collector. The design is unique in that it diverges from the predominant HCPV approach of a 3D concentrator mounted on a 2-axis tracker. We consider minimization of the cost per m2 of collecting aperture to be the most important aspect in achieving cost-competitiveness. Accordingly, we borrow from the knowledge of the more mature CSP industry ...Conference Paper -
A pressurized air receiver for solar-driven gas turbines
(2014)Energy Procedia ~ Proceedings of the SolarPACES 2013 International ConferenceA 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 ...Conference Paper -
High temperature rock-bed TES system suitable for industrial-scale CSP plant - CFD analysis under charge/discharge cyclic conditions
(2014)Energy Procedia ~ 8th International Renewable Energy Storage Conference and Exhibition (IRES 2013)The present study aims at dimensioning and modeling, by means of accurate time-dependent 3D computational fluid dynamics simulations, the behavior of a high temperature rock-bed TES system. The latter is exploited to fulfill the round-the-clock energy requirements of a reference 80 MWe industrial-scale CSP plant, based upon the Airlight Energy technology, which uses air as heat transfer fluid. The TES system behavior was analyzed through ...Conference Paper -
Towards a Commercial Parabolic Trough CSP System Using Air as Heat Transfer Fluid
(2014)Energy Procedia ~ Proceedings of the SolarPACES 2013 International ConferenceWe report on major design innovations related to the trough concentrator, solar receiver, and thermal storage of a parabolic trough CSP system. A 9.7 m aperture parabolic trough mirror is formed by inflated, metallized, polymeric films mounted on a rigid and durable concrete support structure. The novel receiver design, which uses air as the heat transfer fluid at ambient pressure, is based on an array of absorber cavities coupled to ...Conference Paper