Publications

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Parabolic dish technology, for concentrating solar power (CSP) applications, has been continuously modified and improved since the pioneering work in the 1970s. Best practice dishes now have features such as lightweight structure, balanced design, high-quality, low-cost mirror panels, and can be deployed rapidly with little in-field labour. This review focuses on the evolution of dish design, by examining features such as mode of tracking, structure and mirror design, for a wide selection of CSP dish examples. The review includes a brief summary of power generation options – both on-dish and central plant – as well as a discussion about options for storage and hybridisation.

Sandia National Laboratories and Heat Pipes Laboratory of National Technical University of Ukraine «KPI» have developed several methods of improving robustness of the high-temperature heat pipe wick for their application to concentrating solar power systems with Stirling engine. In this case the wick structures must retain high heat pipe performance with robustness for long-term operation. Recent modeling indicates that wicks based on various fiber combinations could provide the robustness combined with sufficient performance. Results of the development, characterization, modeling, and testing of advanced felt metal wicks that addresses durability issues while maintaining sufficient performance are showed in the paper. The project resulted in an ongoing durability bench-scale heat pipe that simulates wick load conditions required for 80kWth throughput solar receiver, including periodic non-destructive evaluation of the wick durability. Two mock-ups of high-temperature heat pipes were made for long life and performance tests: the first sample with wick based on 12 μm fibers; and the second with hybrid wick based on 30 μm fibers and 6.5 μm fibers. The second heat pipe operation has continued unattended at 775 °C vapor temperature for nearly 13,600 h, with no observable loss of performance or change in startup characteristics.

The performance of Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ), Y2O3, and Al2O3 plasma sprayed coatings are investigated for their ability to prevent attack of Haynes 230 by a near-eutectic Cu-Mg-Si metallic phase change material (PCM) in a closed environment at 820 °C. Areas where coatings failed were identified with optical and scanning electron microscopy, while chemical interactions were clarified through elemental mapping using electron microprobe analysis. Despite its susceptibility to reduction by Mg, the Al2O3 coating performed well while the YSZ and Y2O3 coating showed clear signs of failure. Due to a lack of reliable melting in the PCM, these results are attributed to the evolution of gaseous Mg leading to the formation of MgO and MgAl2O4.

Novel designs to increase light trapping and thermal efficiency of concentrating solar receivers at multiple length scales have been conceived, designed, and tested. The fractal-like geometries and features are introduced at both macro (meters) and meso (millimeters to centimeters) scales. Advantages include increased solar absorptance, reduced thermal emittance, and increased thermal efficiency. Radial and linear structures at the meso (tube shape and geometry) and macro (total receiver geometry and configuration) scales redirect reflected solar radiation toward the interior of the receiver for increased absorptance. Hotter regions within the interior of the receiver can reduce thermal emittance due to reduced local view factors to the environment, and higher concentration ratios can be employed with similar surface irradiances to reduce the effective optical aperture, footprint, and thermal losses. Coupled optical/fluid/thermal models have been developed to evaluate the performance of these designs relative to conventional designs. Modeling results showed that fractal-like structures and geometries can increase the effective solar absorptance by 5 – 20% and the thermal efficiency by several percentage points at both the meso and macro scales, depending on factors such as intrinsic absorptance. Meso-scale prototypes were fabricated using additive manufacturing techniques, and a macro-scale bladed receiver design was fabricated using Inconel 625 tubes. On-sun tests were performed using the solar furnace and solar tower at the National Solar Thermal Test facility. The test results demonstrated enhanced solar absorptance and thermal efficiency of the fractal-like designs.

Sodium as a heat transfer fluid (HTF) can achieve temperatures above 700°C to improve power cycle performance for reducing large infrastructure costs of high-temperature systems. Current concentrating solar power (CSP) sensible HTF’s (e.g. air, salts) have poor thermal conductivity, and thus low heat transfer capabilities, requiring a large receiver. The high thermal conductivity of sodium has demonstrated high heat transfer rates on dish and towers systems, which allow a reduction in receiver area by a factor of two to four, reducing re-radiation and convection losses and cost by a similar factor. Sodium produces saturated vapor at pressures suitable for transport starting at 600°C and reaches one atmosphere at 870°C, providing a wide range of suitable latent operating conditions that match proposed high temperature, isothermal input power cycles. This advantage could increase the receiver and system efficiency while lowering the cost of CSP tower systems. Although there are a number of desirable thermal performance advantages associated with sodium, its propensity to rapidly oxidize presents safety challenges. This investigation presents a literature review that captures historical operations/handling lessons for advanced sodium systems, and the current state-of-knowledge related to sodium combustion behavior. Technical and operational solutions addressing sodium safety and applications in CSP will be discussed, including unique safety hazards and advantages using latent sodium. Operation and maintenance experience from the nuclear industry with sensible and latent systems will also be discussed in the context of safety challenges and risk mitigation solutions.

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Dish Stirling energy systems have been developed for distributed and large-scale utility deployment. This report summarizes the state of the technology in a joint project between Stirling Energy Systems, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Department of Energy in 2011. It then lays out a feasible path to large scale deployment, including development needs and anticipated cost reduction paths that will make a viable deployment product.

The systematic development of microstructure, solidification characteristics, and heat of solidification with composition in copper-silicon-magnesium alloys for thermal energy storage is presented. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to relate the thermal characteristics to microstructural development in the investigated alloys and clarifies the location of one of the terminal three-phase eutectics. Repeated thermal cycling highlights the thermal storage stability of the transformation through multiple melting events. In conclusion, two near-terminal eutectic alloys display high enthalpies of solidification, relatively narrow melting ranges, and stable transformation hysteresis behaviors suited to thermal energy storage.

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Novel designs to increase light trapping and thermal efficiency of concentrating solar receivers at multiple length scales have been conceived and tested. The fractal-like geometries and features are introduced at both macro (meters) and meso (millimeters to centimeters) scales. Advantages include increased solar absorptance, reduced thermal emittance, and increased thermal efficiency. Radial and linear structures at the meso (tube shape and geometry) and macro (total receiver geometry and configuration) scales redirect reflected solar radiation toward the interior of the receiver for increased absorptance. Hotter regions within the interior of the receiver can reduce thermal emittance due to reduced local view factors to the environment, and higher concentration ratios can be employed with similar surface irradiances to reduce the effective optical aperture, footprint, and thermal losses. Coupled optical/fluid/thermal models have been developed to evaluate the performance of these designs relative to conventional designs, and meso-scale tests have been performed. Results show that fractal-like structures and geometries can increase the thermal efficiency by several percentage points at both the meso and macro scales, depending on factors such as intrinsic absorptance. The impact was more pronounced for materials with lower intrinsic solar absorptances (<0.9). The goal of this work is to increase the effective solar absorptance of oxidized substrate materials from ∼0.9 to 0.95 or greater using these fractal-like geometries without the need for coatings.

Sodium heat pipes have been identified as a potentially effective heat transport approach for CSP systems that require near-isothermal input to power cycles or storage, such as dish Stirling and highly recuperated reheat-cycle supercritical CO2 turbines. Heat pipes offer high heat flux capabilities, leading to small receivers, as well as low exergetic losses through isothermal coupling with the engine. Sandia developed a felt metal wick approach in the 1990's, and demonstrated very high performance1. However, multiple durability issues arose, primarily the structural collapse of the wick at temperature over short time periods. NTUU developed several methods of improving robustness of the wick2, but the resulting wick had limited performance capabilities. For application to CSP systems, the wick structures must retain high heat pipe performance with robustness for long term operation. In this paper we present our findings in developing an optimal balance between performance and ruggedness, including operation of a laboratory-scale heat pipe for over 5500 hours so far. Application of heat pipes to dish-Stirling systems has been shown to increase performance as much as 20%3, and application to supercritical CO2 systems has been proposed.

Dish-Stirling systems are a strong candidate to meet cost production goals for solar thermal power production. Thermal energy storage improves the capacity factor of thermal power systems; copper-silicon-magnesium eutectic alloys have been investigated as potential latent heat storage materials. This work examines the ability of commercially available plasma spray coatings to serve as protective barriers with these alloys, while highlighting mechanistic insights into materials for latent heat storage systems. Computed tomography was leveraged as a rapid screening tool to assess the presence of localized attack in tested coatings.

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Direct solar power receivers consist of tubular arrays, or panels, which are typically tubes arranged side by side and connected to an inlet and outlet manifold. The tubes absorb the heat incident on the surface and transfer it to the fluid contained inside them. To increase the solar absorptance, high temperature black paint or a solar selective coating is applied to the surface of the tubes. However, current solar selective coatings degrade over the lifetime of the receiver and must be reapplied, which reduces the receiver thermal efficiency and increases the maintenance costs. This work presents an evaluation of several novel receiver shapes which have been denominated as fractal like geometries (FLGs). The FLGs are geometries that create a light-trapping effect, thus, increasing the effective solar absorptance and potentially increasing the thermal efficiency of the receiver. Five FLG prototypes were fabricated out of Inconel 718 and tested in Sandia's solar furnace at two irradiance levels of ∼15 and 30 W/cm2 and two fluid flow rates. Photographic methods were used to capture the irradiance distribution on the receiver surfaces and compared to results from ray-tracing models. This methods provided the irradiance distribution and the thermal input on the FLGs. Air at nearly atmospheric pressure was used as heat transfer fluid. The air inlet and outlet temperatures were recorded, using a data acquisition system, until steady state was achieved. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models, using the Discrete Ordinates (DO) radiation and the k-? Shear Stress Transport (SST) equations, were developed and calibrated, using the test data, to predict the performance of the five FLGs at different air flow rates and irradiance levels. The results showed that relative to a flat plate (base case), the new FLGs exhibited an increase in the effective solar absorptance from 0.86 to 0.92 for an intrinsic material absorptance of 0.86. Peak surface temperatures of ∼1000°C and maximum air temperature increases of ∼200°C were observed. Compared to the base case, the new FLGs showed a clear air outlet temperature increase. Thermal efficiency increases of ∼15%, with respect to the base case, were observed. Several tests, in different days, were performed to assess the repeatability of the results. The results obtained, so far, are very encouraging and display a very strong potential for incorporation in future solar power receivers.

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This is a summary of the performance objectives and outcomes for fiscal year 2015, quarter 4.

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Concentrating solar power receivers are comprised of panels of tubes arranged in a cylindrical or cubical shape on top of a tower. The tubes contain heat-transfer fluid that absorbs energy from the concentrated sunlight incident on the tubes. To increase the solar absorptance, black paint or a solar selective coating is applied to the surface of the tubes. However, these coatings degrade over time and must be reapplied, which reduces the system performance and increases costs. This paper presents an evaluation of novel receiver shapes and geometries that create a light-trapping effect, thereby increasing the effective solar absorptance and efficiency of the solar receiver. Several prototype shapes were fabricated from Inconel 718 and tested in Sandiaas solar furnace at an irradiance of ∼30 W/cm2. Photographic methods were used to capture the irradiance distribution on the receiver surfaces. The irradiance profiles were compared to results from raytracing models. The effective solar absorptance was also evaluated using the ray-tracing models. Results showed that relative to a flat plate, the new geometries could increase the effective solar absorptance from 86% to 92% for an intrinsic material absorptance of 86%, and from 60% to 73% for an intrinsic material absorptance of 60%.

The goals of this project are to demonstrate the feasibility of significant thermal storage for dish stirling systems to leverage their existing high performance to greater capacity; demonstrate key components of a latent storage and transport system enabling on-dish storage with low energy losses; and provide a technology path to a 25kW_e system with 6 hours of storage.

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The project goals are: demonstrate the feasibility of significant thermal storage for dish Stirling systems to leverage their existing high performance to greater capacity; demonstrate key components of a latent storage and transport system enabling on-dish storage with low exergy losses; and provide technology path to a 25kW_e system with 6 hours of storage.

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Solar thermal receivers absorb concentrated sunlight and can operate at high temperatures exceeding 600°C for production of heat and electricity. New fractal-like designs employing light-trapping structures and geometries at multiple length scales are proposed to increase the effective solar absorptance and efficiency of these receivers. Radial and linear structures at the micro (surface coatings and depositions), meso (tube shape and geometry), and macro (total receiver geometry and configuration) scales redirect reflected solar radiation toward the interior of the receiver for increased absorptance. Hotter regions within the interior of the receiver also reduce thermal emittance due to reduced local view factors in the interior regions, and higher concentration ratios can be employed with similar surface irradiances to reduce the effective optical aperture and thermal losses. Coupled optical/fluid/thermal models have been developed to evaluate the performance of these designs relative to conventional designs. Results show that fractal-like structures and geometries can reduce total radiative losses by up to 50% and increase the thermal efficiency by up to 10%. The impact was more pronounced for materials with lower inherent solar absorptances (< 0.9). Meso-scale tests were conducted and confirmed model results that showed increased light-trapping from corrugated surfaces relative to flat surfaces.

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Reflective mirror facets for concentrating solar power (CSP) systems have stringent requirements on the surface slope accuracy in order to provide adequate system performance. This paper presents a tool that can fully characterize facets quickly enough for 100% inspection on a production line. A facet for a CSP system, specifically a dish concentrator has a parabolic design shape. This shape will concentrate near-parallel rays from the sun to a point (or a line for trough systems). Deviations of surface slope from the design shape impact the performance of the system, either losing power that misses the target or increasing peak fluxes to undesirable levels. During development or production, accurate knowledge of facet defects can lead to improvements to lower cost or improve performance. The reported characterization system, SOFAST (Sandia Optical Fringe Analysis Slope Tool), has a computer-connected camera that images the reflective surface, which is positioned so that it reflects an active target, such as an LCD screen, to the camera. A series of fringe patterns are displayed on the screen while images are captured. Using the captured information, the reflected target location of each pixel of mirror viewed can be determined, and thus through a mathematical transformation, a surface normal map can be developed. This is then fitted to the selected model equation, and the errors from design are characterized. While similar approaches have been explored, several key developments are presented here. The combination of the display, capture, and data reduction in one system allows rapid characterization. An “electronic boresight” approach is utilized to accommodate physical equipment positioning deviations, making the system insensitive to setup errors. Up to 1.5×10⁶ points are characterized on each facet. Finally, while prior automotive industry commercial systems resolve the data to shape determination, SOFAST concentrates on slope characterization and reporting, which is tailored to solar applications. SOFAST can be used for facet analysis during development. However, the real payoff is in production, where complete analysis is performed in about 10s. With optimized coding, this could be further reduced.

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The Concentrating Solar Technologies Organization at Sandia National Laboratories has a long history of performing important research, development, and testing that has enabled the Concentrating Solar Power Industry to deploy full-scale power plants. Sandia continues to pursue innovative CSP concepts with the goal of reducing the cost of CSP while improving efficiency and performance. In this pursuit, Sandia has developed many tools for the analysis of CSP performance. The following capabilities document highlights Sandias extensive experience in the design, construction, and utilization of large-scale testing facilities for CSP and the tools that Sandia has created for the full characterization of heliostats. Sandia has extensive experience in using these tools to evaluate the performance of novel heliostat designs.

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Dish concentrators can produce highly concentrated flux for the operation of an engine, a chemical process, or other energy converter. The high concentration allows a small aperture to control thermal losses, and permits high temperature processes at the focal point. A variety of optical errors can influence the flux pattern both at the aperture and at the absorber surface. Impacts of these errors can be lost energy (intercept losses), aperture compromise (increased size to accommodate flux), high peak fluxes (leading to part failure or life reduction), and improperly positioned flux also leading to component failure. Optical errors can include small scale facet errors ("waviness"), facet shape errors, alignment (facet pointing) errors, structural deflections, and tracking errors. The errors may be random in nature, or may be systematic. The various sources of errors are often combined in a "root-mean-squared" process to present a single number as an "error budget". However, this approach ignores the fact that various errors can influence the performance in different ways, and can mislead the designer, leading to component damage in a system or poor system performance. In this paper, we model a hypothetical radial gore dish system using Sandia's CIRCE2 optical code. We evaluate the peak flux and incident power through the aperture and onto various parts of the receiver cavity. We explore the impact of different error sources on the character of the flux pattern, and demonstrate the limitations of lumping all of the errors into a single error budget. © 2010 by ASME.

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Charles Andraka from Sandia Labs was given the Hoyt Clarke Hottel Award for his lifelong work in the concentrating solar power industry.

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Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) dish systems use a parabolic dish to concentrate sunlight, providing heat for a thermodynamic cycle to generate shaft power and ultimately, electricity. Currently, leading contenders use a Stirling cycle engine with a heat absorber surface at about 800°C. The concentrated light passes through an aperture, which controls the thermal losses of the receiver system. Similar systems may use the concentrated light to heat a thermochemical process. The concentrator system, typically steel and glass, provides a source of fuel over the service life of the system, but this source of fuel manifests as a capital cost up front. Therefore, it is imperative that the cost of the reflector assembly is minimized. However, dish systems typically concentrate light to a peak of as much as 13,000 suns, with an average geometric concentration ratio of over 3000 suns. Several recent dish-Stirling systems have incorporated reflector facets with a normally-distributed surface slope error (local distributed waviness) of 0.8 mrad RMS (1-sigma error). As systems move toward commercialization, the cost of these highly accurate facets must be assessed. However, when considering lower-cost options, any decrease in the performance of the facets must be considered in the evaluation of such facets. In this paper, I investigate the impact of randomly-distributed slope errors on the performance, and therefore the value, of a typical dish-Stirling system. There are many potential sources of error in a concentrating system. When considering facet options, the surface waviness, characterized as a normally-distributed slope error, has the greatest impact on the aperture size and therefore the thermal losses. I develop an optical model and a thermal model for the performance of a baseline system. I then analyze the impact on system performance for a range of mirror quality, and evaluate the impact of such performance changes on the economic value of the system. This approach can be used to guide the evaluation of low-cost facets that differ in performance and cost. The methodology and results are applicable to other point- and line-focus thermal systems including dish-Brayton, dish-Thermochemical, tower systems, and troughs. Copyright © 2008 by ASME.

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The development of liquid metal heat-pipes for use in solar powered Stirling engines has led to an in-depth analysis of heat-pipe wick properties. To model the flow of liquid sodium through the wick its two-phase permeability measurement is of interest. The permeability will be measured by constructing a test cell made up of a wick sample sintered to a manifold. Measuring the volumetric flow rate through the wick will allow for a determination of the wick's permeability as a function of pressure. Currently, simple estimates of permeability as a function of vapor fraction of a porous media are being used as a model to calculate the two-phase permeability. The above mentioned experiment will be used to test the existing formulas validity. The plan is to make use of a known procedure for testing permeability and apply those techniques to a felt-metal wick. The results will be used to verify and/or modify the two-phase permeability estimates. With the increasing desire to replace directly illuminated engines with the much more efficient heat-pipe apparatus it is inherently clear that the usefulness of known wick properties will make wick permeability design a simpler process.