DETECTIVE – Development of a Novel Tube-Bundle-Cavity Linear Receiver for CSP Applications
DETECTIVE aims at enhancing the efficiency of Parabolic Trough Collectors (PTCs) acting on their current optical behavior with an innovative approach, introducing a novel tubular receiver to increase solar absorption as well as reduce the reflection and radiation losses, by promoting tube-bundle and cavity concepts. Such improvement would ensure a cascade effect enabling lower costs and reduce area footprint for linear concentrated solar power (CSP) and thermal (CST) plants, and leading to reduced capital investment and impact, facilitating the installation also in industrial sites.
Background
Concentrated solar thermal plants as one of the solar technologies is playing an important role in the development of renewable power generation and process heat for the clean energy transition. In the framework of linear systems, the thermal efficiencies of PTCs can be improved by using various techniques, where most thermal augmentations are devoted to using turbulator inserts and nanofluids, as well as geometry modifications. However, the enhancement of the optical efficiency is another point to be considered in performance augmentation.
DETECTIVE introduces an innovative concept to maximize the optical efficiency of PTCs. The concept starts from a TRL2 and will be explored and validated during the project. DETECTIVE solutions aim to ease the future generation of solar thermal plants contributing to the decarbonization of the power and industrial heat production.
Aim and Objectives
The main goals and objective of DETECTIVE is to contribute to the deployment of concentrating solar power and thermal systems by maximizing the efficiency of their linear thermal collectors. To achieve that the project will:
- Introduce and develop a novel tubular receiver to increase solar absorption as well as reduce the reflection and radiation losses, by promoting tube-bundle and cavity concepts.
- Develop, model, prototype and experimentally validate the innovative tube-bundle cavity-like PTC receiver via on-sun testing.
- Develop comprehensive techno-economic and LCA models and analyses and identify go-to-market strategies.
Project partners
Listed one in a row.
- Politecnico di Torino
- KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLAN
- Absolicon Solar Collector AB
- CIEMAT
Funding is provided by CETPartnership, the European Partnership under Joint Call 2022 - Grant Agreement No 101069750. KTH funding are provided by Energimyndigheten under the project number P2023-00873.
Timeframe: December 2023 – November 2026
Researchers
