TY - CHAP A1 - Sattler, Johannes Christoph A1 - Atti, Vikrama A1 - Alexopoulos, Spiros A1 - Teixeira Boura, Cristiano José A1 - Herrmann, Ulf A1 - Dutta, Siddharth A1 - Kioutsioukis, Ioannis T1 - DNI forecast tool for the smart operation of a parabolic trough collector system with concrete thermal energy storage: Theory, results and outlook T2 - SolarPACES conference proceedings N2 - This work presents a basic forecast tool for predicting direct normal irradiance (DNI) in hourly resolution, which the Solar-Institut Jülich (SIJ) is developing within a research project. The DNI forecast data shall be used for a parabolic trough collector (PTC) system with a concrete thermal energy storage (C-TES) located at the company KEAN Soft Drinks Ltd in Limassol, Cyprus. On a daily basis, 24-hour DNI prediction data in hourly resolution shall be automatically produced using free or very low-cost weather forecast data as input. The purpose of the DNI forecast tool is to automatically transfer the DNI forecast data on a daily basis to a main control unit (MCU). The MCU automatically makes a smart decision on the operation mode of the PTC system such as steam production mode and/or C-TES charging mode. The DNI forecast tool was evaluated using historical data of measured DNI from an on-site weather station, which was compared to the DNI forecast data. The DNI forecast tool was tested using data from 56 days between January and March 2022, which included days with a strong variation in DNI due to cloud passages. For the evaluation of the DNI forecast reliability, three categories were created and the forecast data was sorted accordingly. The result was that the DNI forecast tool has a reliability of 71.4 % based on the tested days. The result fulfils SIJ’s aim to achieve a reliability of around 70 %, but SIJ aims to still improve the DNI forecast quality. KW - Direct normal irradiance forecast KW - DNI forecast KW - Parabolic trough collector KW - PTC KW - Thermal Energy Storage Y1 - 2024 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.731 SN - 2751-9899 (online) N1 - 28th International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems, 27-30 September, Albuquerque, NM, USA IS - VOL. 1 PB - TIB Open Publishing CY - Hannover ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Schwager, Christian A1 - Angele, Florian A1 - Nouri, Bijan A1 - Schwarzbözl, Peter A1 - Teixeira Boura, Cristiano José A1 - Herrmann, Ulf T1 - Impact of DNI forecast quality on performance prediction for a commercial scale solar tower: Application of nowcasting DNI maps to dynamic solar tower simulation T2 - SolarPACES conference proceedings N2 - Concerning current efforts to improve operational efficiency and to lower overall costs of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants with prediction-based algorithms, this study investigates the quality and uncertainty of nowcasting data regarding the implications for process predictions. DNI (direct normal irradiation) maps from an all-sky imager-based nowcasting system are applied to a dynamic prediction model coupled with ray tracing. The results underline the need for high-resolution DNI maps in order to predict net yield and receiver outlet temperature realistically. Furthermore, based on a statistical uncertainty analysis, a correlation is developed, which allows for predicting the uncertainty of the net power prediction based on the corresponding DNI forecast uncertainty. However, the study reveals significant prediction errors and the demand for further improvement in the accuracy at which local shadings are forecasted. KW - Process prediction KW - DNI forecasting KW - Nowcasting KW - Uncertainty analysis KW - Molten salt receiver system, Y1 - 2024 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.675 SN - 2751-9899 (online) N1 - 28th International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems, 27-30 September, Albuquerque, NM, USA IS - Vol. 1 PB - TIB Open Publishing CY - Hannover ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Niederwestberg, Stefan A1 - Schneider, Falko A1 - Teixeira Boura, Cristiano José A1 - Herrmann, Ulf T1 - Introduction to a direct irradiated transparent tube particle receiver T2 - SOLARPACES 2020 N2 - New materials often lead to innovations and advantages in technical applications. This also applies to the particle receiver proposed in this work that deploys high-temperature and scratch resistant transparent ceramics. With this receiver design, particles are heated through direct-contact concentrated solar irradiance while flowing downwards through tubular transparent ceramics from top to bottom. In this paper, the developed particle receiver as well as advantages and disadvantages are described. Investigations on the particle heat-up characteristics from solar irradiance were carried out with DEM simulations which indicate that particle temperatures can reach up to 1200 K. Additionally, a simulation model was set up for investigating the dynamic behavior. A test receiver at laboratory scale has been designed and is currently being built. In upcoming tests, the receiver test rig will be used to validate the simulation results. The design and the measurement equipment is described in this work. KW - Solar irradiance KW - Ceramics Y1 - 2022 SN - 978-0-7354-4195-8 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0086735 SN - 1551-7616 (online) SN - 0094-243X (print) N1 - 26th International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems 28 September–2 October 2020 Freiburg, Germany IS - 2445 / 1 PB - AIP conference proceedings / American Institute of Physics CY - Melville, NY ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Zahra, Mahdi A1 - Phani Srujan, Merige A1 - Caminos, Ricardo Alexander Chico A1 - Schmitz, Pascal A1 - Herrmann, Ulf A1 - Teixeira Boura, Cristiano José A1 - Schmitz, Mark A1 - Gielen, Hans A1 - Gedle, Yibekal A1 - Dersch, Jürgen T1 - Modeling the thermal behavior of solar salt in electrical resistance heaters for the application in PV-CSP hybrid power plants T2 - SOLARPACES 2020 N2 - Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) systems are able to store energy cost-effectively in their integrated thermal energy storage (TES). By intelligently combining Photovoltaics (PV) systems with CSP, a further cost reduction of solar power plants is expected, as well as an increase in dispatchability and flexibility of power generation. PV-powered Resistance Heaters (RH) can be deployed to raise the temperature of the molten salt hot storage from 385 °C up to 565 °C in a Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) plant. To avoid freezing and decomposition of molten salt, the temperature distribution in the electrical resistance heater is investigated in the present study. For this purpose, a RH has been modeled and CFD simulations have been performed. The simulation results show that the hottest regions occur on the electric rod surface behind the last baffle. A technical optimization was performed by adjusting three parameters: Shell-baffle clearance, electric rod-baffle clearance and number of baffles. After the technical optimization was carried out, the temperature difference between the maximum temperature and the average outlet temperature of the salt is within the acceptable limits, thus critical salt decomposition has been avoided. Additionally, the CFD simulations results were analyzed and compared with results obtained with a one-dimensional model in Modelica. KW - Solar thermal technologies KW - Hybrid energy system KW - Concentrated solar power KW - Energy storage KW - Photovoltaics Y1 - 2022 SN - 978-0-7354-4195-8 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0086268 SN - 1551-7616 (online) SN - 0094-243X (print) N1 - 26th International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems 28 September–2 October 2020 Freiburg, Germany IS - 2445 / 1 PB - AIP conference proceedings / American Institute of Physics CY - Melville, NY ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Mahdi, Zahra A1 - Dersch, Jürgen A1 - Schmitz, Pascal A1 - Dieckmann, Simon A1 - Caminos, Ricardo Alexander Chico A1 - Teixeira Boura, Cristiano José A1 - Herrmann, Ulf A1 - Schwager, Christian A1 - Schmitz, Mark A1 - Gielen, Hans A1 - Gedle, Yibekal A1 - Büscher, Rauno T1 - Technical assessment of Brayton cycle heat pumps for the integration in hybrid PV-CSP power plants T2 - SOLARPACES 2020 N2 - The hybridization of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Photovoltaics (PV) systems is a promising approach to reduce costs of solar power plants, while increasing dispatchability and flexibility of power generation. High temperature heat pumps (HT HP) can be utilized to boost the salt temperature in the thermal energy storage (TES) of a Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) system from 385 °C up to 565 °C. A PV field can supply the power for the HT HP, thus effectively storing the PV power as thermal energy. Besides cost-efficiently storing energy from the PV field, the power block efficiency of the overall system is improved due to the higher steam parameters. This paper presents a technical assessment of Brayton cycle heat pumps to be integrated in hybrid PV-CSP power plants. As a first step, a theoretical analysis was carried out to find the most suitable working fluid. The analysis included the fluids Air, Argon (Ar), Nitrogen (N2) and Carbon dioxide (CO2). N2 has been chosen as the optimal working fluid for the system. After the selection of the ideal working medium, different concepts for the arrangement of a HT HP in a PV-CSP hybrid power plant were developed and simulated in EBSILON®Professional. The concepts were evaluated technically by comparing the number of components required, pressure losses and coefficient of performance (COP). KW - Solar thermal technologies KW - Hybrid energy system KW - Concentrated solar power KW - Power plants KW - Energy storage Y1 - 2022 SN - 978-0-7354-4195-8 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0086269 SN - 1551-7616 (online) SN - 0094-243X (print) N1 - 26th International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems 28 September–2 October 2020 Freiburg, Germany IS - 2445 / 1 PB - AIP conference proceedings / American Institute of Physics CY - Melville, NY ER -