Beschreibung:
<jats:p>Solar thermal energy generation needs receiver technologies which can drive highly efficient turbines and decouple the collection of energy from its use by an economic storage technology. High-temperature solid particle receivers for solar tower systems with particle storage are one option. Important issues regarding high-temperature particle receivers are minimization of convective losses, no particle loss due to susceptibility to wind, and high efficiency also in part-load operation. A design approach facing these challenges is the face-down receiver using recirculation of particles. A screening performance analysis studying different recirculation patterns is presented. Using smart recirculation schemes, high receiver efficiencies can be maintained also at part-load operation (100% load ∼90%; 50% load ∼86%; 20% load ∼67%). Simulations of the face-down geometry yield total annual solar-to-electric efficiencies of 24% using a surround field. From the analyses, it can be concluded that solid particle receivers using smart recirculation patterns are a viable receiver option for storage and high-temperature high-efficiency turbine processes.</jats:p>