ReFlexSPT
Aim
The main objective of the project is to propose failure-free designs of the receiver, the steam generator and the injection in the molten salt tank of current and next generation of Solar Power Towers (SPT), which will also allow these systems to operate flexibly with a greater response speed and reliability, thus making the technology of solar power towers more economically viable, encouraging the penetration of variable renewable energies and providing security to the electricity system.
The viability of solar power tower plants is endangered owing to multiple failures in their high temperature systems, principally the receiver, the steam generator and the molten salt thermal storage tanks. These failures produce unscheduled shutdowns with significant economic losses that increase the financing costs of this technology due to its technological risk. If it were not for these failures, solar power towers would have a great future thanks to their thermal storage, allowing them to obtain great benefits due to their dispatchability and capacity. Furthermore, if their flexibility rises, they could participate in the adjustment market of energy, improving their returns.
In this context, concerning the receiver, the project proposes the use of functional materials that lead to a reduction of corrosion and thermal stresses with higher incident peak powers.
Concerning the steam generator, novel designs will be developed in the project for a highly reliable and quick response steam generator with header and coil configuration, and a safe and highly-flexible steam generator with coil-wound once through configuration featuring a single pass for preheating and evaporation and for superheating and reheating.
Finally, the problem of molten salt leaks at the bottom of the hot tank will be addressed through a characterization and improvement of the coupling between the injection of salts through the sparge ring and the salt level, tanking into account factors like the friction between the tank and its foundation.
Work packages
To achieve the project objectives, and given that these thermo-mechanical problems are not scalable, a set of experiments are schedulled in the molten salt loop, available in the research group’s laboratory at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, to determine with digital image correlation (DIC), thermography and inverse analysis the experimental variables needed to validate a set of detailed CFD-FEM simulations. Subsequencly, the validated CFD-FEM model are used in the project for the characterization and design of the aforementioned systems on an industrial scale. All these activities are divided into three work packages (WP). The main activities will be principally carried out in WP-E (experimental) and WP-N (numerical), while the WP C are devoted to coordinate the project activities.
Task E.1 Design of the test rigs for the thermo-mechanical validation of the CFD-FEM simulations of the receiver and heat exchanger collectors.
Task E.2 Construction and experimental adjustment of the FGM Receiver Tube and the Header & Tube test rigs for the thermo-mechanical validation of the CFD-FEM simulations.
Task E.3 Experimental measurements of the thermo-mechanical variables in the FGM Receiver Tube test rig and Header & Tube test rig.
Task E.4 Construction and experimental adjustment of the Coil-wound test rig for the thermo-mechanical validation of the CFD-FEM simulations
Task E.5 Experimental measurements of the thermo-mechanical variables in the Coil-wound test rig without evaporation
Task E.6 Experimental measurements of the thermo-mechanical variables in the Coil-wound test rig with evaporation.
Task N.1 Selection of best CFD-FEM and inverse analysis techniques.
Task N.2 Validation of the CFD-FEM simulations and the inverse analysis techniques with experimental and analytical data.
Task N.3 Inverse analysis estimation of temperatures and thermal-stresses from the collected experimental data.
Task N.4 Detailed CFD-FEM simulations of the coupled operation of the solar receiver tubes and collectors.
Task N.5 Detailed CFD-FEM simulations of the Header & Coil and the Coil-wound steam generators.
Task N.6 Detailed CFD-FEM simulations of several thermal storage configurations in nominal, partial load and transient conditions.
Task N.7 Development of new simplified phenomenological models for the solar receiver and the steam generator.
Task N.8 Open software for the estimation of the damage and lifetime of SPT plants in real operative conditions.
Coordination of the all ReFlexSPT project activities
Research group
The personnel of the project comprise researchers of the Energy Systems Engineering (ISE) research group within the Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M). In particular, the following researchers are working in the ReFlexSPT project:
People
The following researchers are working in the SOSreceiver project:
Antonio Acosta Iborra
Project coordinator in charge of WP the numerical word package
Full Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Antonio Acosta Iborra
Project coordinator in charge of WP the numerical word package
Full Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Biography: PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Organization (2004, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid). and MSc in Industrial Engineering (2000, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid). He has been teaching and researching at the Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering of UC3M for more than 20 years. His research is currently focused on the Solar Energy in general, including the analysis and thermo-structural modelling of tubular receivers of SPT plants in particular, and the numerical simulation of heat and mass transfer processes of industrial interest. Since 2021 he is full professor at Carlos III University of Madrid.
Domingo José Santana Santana
Project coordinator in charge of the Experimental work package
Full Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Domingo José Santana Santana
Project coordinator in charge of the Experimental work package
Full Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Biography: Domingo Santana studied at the Universidad de La Laguna where he obtained a degree in Mathematics in 1994. After finishing his studies, he got a scholarship for the Spanish Government and moved as research assistant to the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria where he obtained his Master in Energy and Environmental and PhD in Chemical Engineering. His thesis concerned the modeling and design of fluidized bed aerosol generators. He received the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria the outstanding PhD dissertation award in the areas of Architecture and Engineering for theses defended in 1999. Since then, he has been a faculty member at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, where in 2017 he was promoted to full professor in the Department of Thermal and Fluid Engineering. His research activities involve the study of the Solid-Gas Systems and Renewable Energies.
Pedro Ángel González Gómez
Associate Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Pedro Ángel González Gómez
Associate Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
María de los Reyes Rodríguez Sánchez
Associate Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
María de los Reyes Rodríguez Sánchez
Associate Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Celia Sobrino Fernández
Associate Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Celia Sobrino Fernández
Associate Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Biography: Celia Sobrino is an associate professor in the Thermal and Fluids Engineering Department at UC3M. She received a doctorate in engineering in 2008 and held a postdoc position at TU Delft. Her PhD thesis focused on the hydrodynamics of fluidized beds. After the PhD she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at TU Delft in an EU project led by the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands related to biomass combustion. Her current research lines are concentrating solar energy, thermal energy storage, and heat transfer. She has supervised two PhD thesis and is currently supervising an industrial doctorate focused on 3D printed heat pipes, a PhD thesis on novel materials to be used under high temperature and extreme conditions and a PhD on molten salt receivers in the framework of the TOPCSP project (HORIZON MSCA Doctoral Network).
María Fernández Torrijos
Visiting Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
María Fernández Torrijos
Visiting Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Biography: María Fernández Torrijos has a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Organization from Carlos III University of Madrid (2019). She is currently a visiting professor in the department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering of said university. He has published 16 research articles in the field of solar energy and heat transfer in prestigious international journals, and has 15 contributions to international conferences related to solar energy and heat transfer. In addition, he has carried out two international research stays, one of 3 months at Sandia National Laboratories (USA), and another of 6 months at DLR (Germany).
Marta Laporte Azcue
Assistant Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Marta Laporte Azcue
Assistant Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Biography: Marta studied at the Universidad de Cantabria, where she obtained a BSc in Industrial Engineering in 2015 with the best student record. She then obtained a MSc in Industrial Engineering at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in 2017. She got a FPU grant from the Spanish Government to develop a PhD thesis in Mechanical Engineering from 2017 to 2021. Her thesis, titled “Thermo-mechanical modelling to evaluate solar receiver damage”, obtained the outstanding PhD dissertation award in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Organization for theses defended at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in 2021. In 2022 she was promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. She carried out an international research stay at Boise State University (Idaho, USA) in 2022. Her research interests include heat transfer, thermal stress, and creep-fatigue analyses of components in solar power tower plants.
Rafael Pérez Álvarez
Assistant Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Rafael Pérez Álvarez
Assistant Professor
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Biography: Degree in Mechanical Engieneering and Master in Industrial Engieneering in Carlos III University of Madrid. Master in Numerical Simulation in Engineering with ANSYS in Polytechnic University of Madrid. PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Organization in Carlos III University of Madrid. His current research topics are the Design and optimization of receivers of Solar Tower Power plants. He is currently finishing his Ph.D thesis on these topics through CFD and structural simulations. He was awarded with a PhD fellowship of Predoctoral Investigator (FPI) by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad in the framework of solar research project at Carlos III University of Madrid from April 2017 to September 2021.
Darío Pardillos Pobo
FPU Predoctoral Fellowship
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Darío Pardillos Pobo
FPU Predoctoral Fellowship
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Biography: Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering with the Best Student Record (Carlos III University of Madrid, 2016-2020). Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering with a Scholarship from the Department of Mechanical Engineering (Carlos III University of Madrid, 2020-2022). Doctoral Candidate in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Organization program with a grant from the Spanish Government (Carlos III University of Madrid, 2022-Present). His current research focuses on the thermal design of a novel once-through coil-wound steam generator system to improve the reliability and flexibility of solar power tower plants. Other research interests include improving the competitiveness of concentrating power plants through an electric heater for storing renewable curtailment.
José Martín Martínez
PhD student
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
José Martín Martínez
PhD student
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering
Carlos III University of Madrid
Biography: Jose Martín holds a Degree in Industrial Mechanical Engineering and a master’s in industrial Mechanics from the University Carlos III of Madrid (2008 & 2018). Currently pursuing a part-time Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Organization at the University Carlos III of Madrid, focusing on new developments in high-temperature solar receivers for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants. With over 17 years of engineering experience, Jose serves as Project Manager at EU-Solaris ERIC, a European Research Infrastructure Consortium specializing in CSP.
Publications
M. Laporte-Azcué, A. Acosta-Iborra, D. Santana, 2024, Estimation of solar receiver corrosion conditions during operation to aid in the design of receiver-corrosion lab tests. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 266, 112701.
M. Laporte-Azcué, M.R. Rodríguez-Sánchez, 2024, Thermal efficiency and endurance enhancement of tubular solar receivers using functionally graded materials. Applied Energy, 360, 122842.
D. Pardillos-Pobo, P.A. González-Gómez, M. Laporte-Azcué, D. Santana, 2023. Thermo-economic design of an electric heater to store renewable curtailment in solar power tower plants. Energy Conversion and Management 297, 117710.
C. Marugán-Cruz, M. Fernández-Torrijos, C. Sobrino, D. Santana, Assessment of Climate Change Impacts and Water Restrictions on Solar Tower Plants, International Journal of Energy Research, 2023, 4830467.
Pérez-Álvarez, R., Marugán-Cruz, C., Santana, D., Acosta-Iborra, A. Influence of eccentricity on the thermomechanical performance of a bayonet tube of a central solar receiver, Applied Thermal Engineering, 2023, 223, 119988.
M. Laporte-Azcué, A. Acosta-Iborra, T.P. Otanicar, D. Santana, 2023, Real-time estimation of the transient thermomechanical behaviour of solar central receivers. Thermal Science and Engineering Progress 41, 101834.
R. Pérez-Álvarez, A. Montoya, J. López-Puente, D. Santana, 2023, Solar power tower plants with Bimetallic receiver tubes: A thermomechanical study of two- and three-layer composite tubes configurations. energy 12917.
R. Pérez-Álvarez, E. Cano-Pleite, F. Hernández-Jiménez, A. Acosta-Iborra, 2024, Thermomechanical behavior of mechanical attachments in solar power tower receivers under preheating conditions: A numerical study. Applied Thermal Engineering 236, 121444.
Funding Entities
Grant PID2021-122895OB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”.
