Testing of a heat pipe central receiver module at the advanced components test facility

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1981 · Proc. Annu. Meet. - Am. Sect. Int. Sol. Energy Soc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5746106

Wolf, D A ^[1]; Tarter, J O

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1. Dynatherm Corp., Cockeysville, MD

Two feasibility studies have established baseline designs and performance requirements for heat pipe central solar receivers for Brayton cycle power generation systems. In a program sponsored by the Solar Energy Research Institute, an experimental heat pipe module was fabricated and tested at the Department of Energy's Advanced Component Test Facility (ACTF) on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta, Georgia. The experimental module replicates the illuminated surface of the baseline receiver. It consists of seven full-scale sodium heat pipes (diameter = 6 cm, length = 90 cm). The pipes are cooled by water-cooled gas-gap calorimeters which enable accurate measurement of heat pipe power throughput and wide ranges in temperature control. The module was tested in the solar beam for a total of 21 hours. Tests were conducted under steady state insolation conditions, under simulated diurnal start-up conditions, and with natural and induced cloud cover transients. Incident flux levels at the receiver surface reached 90 W/cm/sup 2/. Successful start-up was achieved at rates equivalent to cold receiver start-up to full power in 10 minutes. The module was also successfully operated with one heat pipe purposely failed. The test results demonstrate that heat pipes are capable of meeting the steady state and transient performance requirements of Brayton cycle receivers.

• OSTI ID: 5746106
• Report Number(s): CONF-810509-(Vol.1)
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Proc. Annu. Meet. - Am. Sect. Int. Sol. Energy Soc.; (United States) Journal Volume: 4.1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140702* -- Solar Thermal Power Systems-- Central Receiver
ADVANCED COMPONENTS TEST FACILITY
ALKALI METALS
BRAYTON CYCLE POWER SYSTEMS
CALORIMETERS
CENTRAL RECEIVERS
DESIGN
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
HEAT PIPES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METALS
PERFORMANCE
POWER SYSTEMS
SODIUM
SOLAR RECEIVERS
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS
TEST FACILITIES
TESTING
TRANSIENTS