Solar Field and Receiver Model Validation of the Next-CSP MW-Scale Prototype

Abstract

This study presents a comparison of both modelling and experimental results obtained on the solar field and the receiver of the MW-scale particle driven CSP unit implemented at the Themis solar tower (France) in the framework of the Next-CSP H2020 European project. At partial load, ~900 kW, the simulated data concerning the incident power at the receiver aperture are consistent with the measured values with less than 5% difference from the experimental results. The difference is higher for the particle temperature and the thermal efficiency as a function of particle mass flow rate. It ranges between 12 and 98°C for measured particle temperature of 430 and 300°C respectively. For the thermal efficiency, the difference varies strongly with the experiments from approximately 12% to 50% (relative). The main cause of discrepancy between the experimental and the calculated results is attributed to the heterogeneity of the solar flux distribution on the receiver tubes.

Keywords

• Solar Field
• Central Receiver
• Modelling
• Measurements
• Particle-driven CSP