High-temperature (750 – 800°C) Silicon Carbide Receiver Assembly for High Efficiency Gen3 Molten Salt Concentrating Solar Power
- Ceramic Tubular Products
- Sandia National Laboratories
- University of Wisconsin
DE-FOA-0001941 subtopic 12.f requested proposals aimed at improving the affordability, reliability, and performance of solar technologies on the grid. Specifically, the DOE Topic request for proposals stated that “SETO is seeking integrated solutions that can advance solar energy technologies by lowering cost while facilitating the secure integration into the nation’s energy grid.” While subtopic 12.f covered a broad range of technologies, it specifically included concentrating solar thermal technologies to generate high-temperature heat for electricity generation and other end uses. To this end, Ceramic Tubular Products (CTP) proposed a Phase I STTR project to further develop its unique multilayer SiC composite tube technology, and ultimately demonstrate the superior CSP power plant performance and cost when this technology is applied to high-temperature molten salt solar-thermal receivers. Ceramic Tubular Products’ unique multilayer SiC tube technology is ideally suited for applications that require thermal-mechanical stability at high-temperatures and in corrosive environments. In order to meet the SETO objectives, CTP proposed a Phase I STTR project to demonstrate tubes with improved optical properties (i.e., high solar absorptance and reduced IR emittance) and corrosion resistance to molten chloride salt at 800°C. In addition, CTP proposed to develop a conceptual design for a SiC-based receiver assembly and to perform a preliminary cost assessment for the receiver assembly. As described further in this report, CTP fabricated six 24” long receiver tube samples that incorporated several different selective absorbing materials in the SiC/SiC composite layer of the multilayer SiC tubes and evaluated the application of surface coatings using sol-gel dip coating methods. Sandia evaluated the room-temperature optical properties of specimens obtained from these tubes; although these tube specimens exhibited high solar absorptance (> 0.95), their emittance was also relatively high. The most promising specimen types were selected for solar spectrum testing, which was performed at Sandia using their modified High Flux Solar Simulator facility for the four selected specimen types. Measurement of optical properties after multiple exposure cycles to solar fluxes up to 350 suns showed that the solar absorptances for all four sample types, which were in the range of 0.95 to 0.96, were not adversely affected by solar aging. No changes were noted in the visual appearance of the specimens after solar aging. In addition, molten chloride salt corrosion testing was performed at 800°C for the monolithic SiC tube material used for the inner layer of the multilayer SiC tubes. A conceptual design for a prototype SiC receiver assembly having an active (illuminated) area of 1-meter x 1-meter was developed. Thermal-hydraulic analyses performed for the conceptual design were used to define design recommendations for a prototype SiC receiver assembly capable of transferring approximately 1.4 MWth energy to the molten salt heat transfer fluid with a 750°C outlet temperature. A ROM cost estimate was generated for the recommended prototype receiver; an overnight cost of < $95/kWth was calculated for the CSP receiver assembly (not counting piping and tower cost). Based on this ROM estimate, the ability to meet the SunShot target of $120/kWth for the receiver system appears feasible.
- Research Organization:
- Ceramic Tubular Products
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- Contributing Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories, University of Wisconsin, NovaTech
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0019949
- OSTI ID:
- 1660378
- Type / Phase:
- SBIR (Phase I)
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-CTP-19949
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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