Fluidized particle-in-tube solar receiver and reactor: A versatile concept for particulate calcination and high efficiency thermodynamic cycles

This paper focuses on the concept of tubular Dense Particle Suspension solar receiver that consists in using solid particles transported by an air flow as heat transfer fluid. It was first developed for solar tower power plants but can also be applied for particulate thermal treatment. Experiments are being conducted on-sun at the CNRS 1 MW solar furnace in Odeillo. A first analysis of a stable experimental case is presented. A simplified model of the receiver is described and compared to the experimental case. The results show that the solar flux modeling is appropriate. The model needs to take into account the specific particle suspension flow pattern present in the absorber tube to be able to predict the temperatures of both particles and tube wall. A qualitative exploitation of the model predicts that the technology is appropriate for particulate decarbonation occurring at temperatures of 700 °C or below, but that it will be insufficient to achieve the complete decarbonation of particles reacting at 800 °C or above.