Experimental Evaluation of Particle Consumption in a Particle Seeded Solar Receiver

Abstract

This experimental study shows the behavior of a directly irradiated, high temperature, solar receiver seeded with a low concentration of carbon black particles as the radiation absorbing media in the presence of air or nitrogen as the working fluid. Experiments were conducted in the presence of highly concentrated solar energy with an energy flux of up to 3MW∕m2 at the aperture of the receiver. 99.9% of the particles had an equivalent diameter of <5μm, but the remaining larger agglomerates accounted for 51% of the overall projected surface area. The molar ratio of carbon to gas in the fluid entering the receiver was 0.004–0.008. The heat transfer from the solar radiation to the working gas was accomplished almost exclusively via the particles. The receiver behavior during steady-state operation was evaluated. The receiver gas exit temperatures achieved during the experiments were between 1000 and 1550°C. When nitrogen was used as working gas, its exit temperature exceeded the average wall temperature, whereas when air was used, its exit temperature was lower than the average wall temperature. The air flow may have been heated to some extent by the receiver walls, whereas in the case of nitrogen, the particle-to-gas heat transfer was dominant throughout the receiver. When the gas exit temperature was above 1200°C, the particle seeded nitrogen flow absorbed 12–20% more energy than particle seeded air flow under the same operating conditions (insolation, particle load, flow rate, close proximity in time). The air tests reached high exit temperatures despite the reduction of particle concentration due to combustion. This indicates that heat transfer mainly occurs over a relatively short time period after the particle seeded flow enters the cavity close to the receiver aperture, before significant particle burning takes place. The energy due to carbon combustion was 3–5% of total energy absorbed in the high temperature air experiments. The carbon particles’ oxidation rate in the presence of molecular oxygen was found to be significantly lower than values documented in the literature for high temperature carbon black combustion in air. The high solar flux, which promotes very high radiation→particle→gas heat transfer rate, might account for this retardation.