A solar thermal MgO-powder receiver with working temperatures of more than 1600°C: Model investigation by using a laser as an irradiation source

The efficiency of solar thermal power plants increases rapidly with increasing working temperatures. The problem has to be solved by the improvement of the materials and via the construction variation of the continuously heat-exposed structural members. Especially the receiver obtains the whole irradiation reflected from the heliostat field. Resistance to high temperatures, to high-temperature corrosion and oxidation, to thermal shock and thermal fatigue load due to changing working temperatures has to be fulfilled by the receiver materials.Usually, black or coloured materials are preferred because of their higher absorption. In this work, the working temperatures of a gas-heat exchanging receiver reached more than 1600°C because of the employment of a white reflecting material instead of a black absorbing material. The receiver was constructed as a gas-heat conducting exchanger. An irradiation reflecting MgO-powder with argon was used as the heat transport medium. Thermal shock and thermal fatigue conditions could at least be restricted by dynamic controlling.