ANNUAL PERFORMANCE STUDY OF TOWER-TYPE SUPERCRITICAL CO2 SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEM BASED ON PARTICLE HEAT RECEIVER

Chen Xingyu; Chen Rui; Song Mengxuan

doi:10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2024-1957

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Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (3) : 17-28. DOI: 10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2024-1957

ANNUAL PERFORMANCE STUDY OF TOWER-TYPE SUPERCRITICAL CO₂ SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEM BASED ON PARTICLE HEAT RECEIVER

Chen Xingyu, Chen Rui, Song Mengxuan

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Abstract

Solar thermal power generation based on supercritical CO₂ (S-CO₂） Brayton cycles offers several advantages, including environmental compatibility, operational flexibility, compactness, suitability for air cooling, and high solar-to-electric conversion efficiency. This paper develops a fully coupled dynamic model of an air-cooled solar tower power plant that integrates a cavity upper bubbling fluidized bed (UBFB） particle receiver with S-CO₂ Brayton cycles. The dynamic performance of the integrated system is evaluated under realistic meteorological conditions for two S-CO₂ Brayton cycle configurations： a simple recuperated cycle and a recompression cycle. The results show that the recompression cycle configuration achieves a solar-to-electric efficiency of 30.46% under design conditions, exceeding that of the simple recuperated configuration (25.67%） and meeting the target efficiency of third-generation concentrating solar power systems. Consequently, the recompression-based system requires a smaller heliostat field and reduced capacities for both the particle receiver and thermal energy storage. The system annual performance is strongly influenced by solar radiation and ambient temperature. Higher system efficiencies are obtained under clear skies and low winter temperatures, while elevated summer temperatures and increased precipitation lead to performance degradation. Although the recompression cycle suffers pronounced efficiency losses under off-design conditions at high ambient temperatures, resulting in lower annual electricity production compared to the simple recuperated cycle, it still achieves a higher annual average solar-to-electric efficiency and lower total auxiliary fuel consumption.

Key words

solar power tower / Brayton cycle / solar receivers / supercritical CO₂ / off-design conditions / annual dynamic performance

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Chen Xingyu, Chen Rui, Song Mengxuan. ANNUAL PERFORMANCE STUDY OF TOWER-TYPE SUPERCRITICAL CO₂ SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEM BASED ON PARTICLE HEAT RECEIVER[J]. Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica. 2026, 47(3): 17-28 https://doi.org/10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2024-1957

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