Abstract

A comprehensive control strategy is necessary to safely and effectively operate particle based concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. Particle based CSP with thermal energy storage (TES) is an emerging technology with potential to decarbonize power and process heat applications. The high-temperature nature of particle based CSP technologies and daily solar transients present challenges for system control to prevent equipment damage and ensure operator safety. An operational controls strategy for a tower based particle CSP system during steady state and transient conditions with safety interlocks is described in this paper. Control of a solar heated particle recirculation loop, TES, and a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) cooling loop designed to reject 1 MW of thermal power are considered and associated operational limitations and their influence on control strategy are discussed.

Volume Subject Area:
Concentrating Solar Power
Keywords:
supercritical carbon dioxide, concentrating solar power, CSP, renewable energy, generation 3 CSP
Topics:
Concentrating solar power, Particulate matter, Supercritical carbon dioxide, Safety, Solar energy, Transients (Dynamics), Cooling, Damage, Heat, High temperature, Renewable energy, Steady state, Thermal energy, Thermal energy storage
This content is only available via PDF.
Copyright © 2023 by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). This material is declared a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to Copyright protection in the United States.
You do not currently have access to this content.