Optical improvement for modulating a high flux solar simulator designed for solar thermal and thermochemical research

Leopoldo Martínez-Manuel; Manuel I. Peña-Cruz; Carlos A. Pineda-Arellano; J. Gonzalo Carrillo-Baeza; Daniel A. May-Arrioja

doi:10.1364/AO.58.002605

Applied Optics
Vol. 58,
Issue 10,
pp. 2605-2615
(2019)
•https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.58.002605

Optical improvement for modulating a high flux solar simulator designed for solar thermal and thermochemical research

Leopoldo Martínez-Manuel, Manuel I. Peña-Cruz, Carlos A. Pineda-Arellano, J. Gonzalo Carrillo-Baeza, and Daniel A. May-Arrioja

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Leopoldo Martínez-Manuel, Manuel I. Peña-Cruz, Carlos A. Pineda-Arellano, J. Gonzalo Carrillo-Baeza, and Daniel A. May-Arrioja, "Optical improvement for modulating a high flux solar simulator designed for solar thermal and thermochemical research," Appl. Opt. 58, 2605-2615 (2019)

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Abstract

This study presents the optical improvement of a high flux solar simulator (HFSS) with controllable flux-spot capabilities developed for researching solar thermal and thermochemical processes. The HFSS is comprised of seven $2.5 {kW}_{el}$ Xenon arc lamps coupled with ellipsoidal reflectors, a servo-controlled attenuator curtain, and three-axes linear test bench. Different attenuators were designed and tested in order to identify the best curtain geometry to improve the HFSS modulation with the lowest possible radiative losses. The optical design improvement was performed with the aid of TracePro, a Monte Carlo ray-tracing software. From simulation results, radiative peak flux from 1700 to $480 {kWm}^{- 2}$ from the focal plane to 300 mm further back was estimated without curtains. By using the attenuators, flux levels from 1570 to $92 {kWm}^{- 2}$ at the focal plane were also estimated. An experimental validation was achieved with a single lamp-reflector unit obtaining peak flux distributions from $200 \pm 20 {kWm}^{- 2}$ to $97 \pm 9.7 {kWm}^{- 2}$ from the focal plane to 300 mm behind. Flux modulation from 170 to $1.5 {kWm}^{- 2}$ was also measured at the focal plane using a servo-controlled curtain from fully-open slats (0°) to partially closed (60°). With this attenuator, introduced as the shutter of the system, the use of several lamps or electronic rectifiers is avoided and the radiative flux is modulated with high resolution in an optomechatronical form.

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HFSS Institute	Light Source	Peak Flux	Radiative Power	Application
Sandia National Laboratories Albuquerque USA	4 metal halide ( $1.8 {kW}_{el}$ per lamp)	$1.15 {MWm}^{- 2}$	n/a	Aging studies of absorber materials [22]
Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland	10 Xenon arc lamps ( $15 {kW}_{el}$ per lamp)	$11 {MWm}^{- 2}$	50 kW	Testing advanced high-temperature materials [23]
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden	12 Xenon arc lamps ( $7 {kW}_{el}$ per lamp)	$7.22 {MWm}^{- 2}$	19.7 kW	Development of solar receivers [31]
DLR, Synlight, Jülich Germany	149 Xenon arc lamp ( $7 {kW}_{el}$ per lamp)	$> 11 {MWm}^{- 2}$ (predicted)	240–300 kW	Combustion processes, irradiate aerospace technology [33]
ETH-Swiss Federal Institute of Technology	1 Argon arc lamp ( $200 {kW}_{el}$ )	$4.25 {MWm}^{- 2}$	75 kW	Solar thermal and thermochemical research [34]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	7 metal halide lights ( $1.5 {kW}_{el}$ per lamp)	$60 {kWm}^{- 2}$	n/a	Molten salt volumetric receiver testing [35]
University of Minnesota	7 Xenon arc lamps ( $6.5 {kW}_{el}$ per lamp)	$7.3 {MWm}^{- 2}$	9.2 kW	Prototype solar receivers and reactors tests [36]
Texas A&M University, Qatar	1 Xenon arc lamp of $7 {kW}_{el}$	$3.5 {MWm}^{- 2}$	1.6 kW	Solar thermal and concentration photovoltaic systems [37]
IMDEA, Madrid Spain	7 Xenon arc lamp ( $6 {kW}_{el}$ per lamp)	$3.6 {MWm}^{- 2}$	14 kW	Receivers and solar fuel process [38]
Swinburne University of Technology	7 metal halide lamps ( $6 {kW}_{el}$ per lamp)	$3.91 {MWm}^{- 2}$	20 kW	Research of high temperature material processes [39]
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, EPFL	18 Xenon arc lamps ( $2.5 {kW}_{el}$ per lamp)	$21.7 \pm 2 {MWm}^{- 2}$	7.5 kW	Solar energy studies [40]
North China Electric Power University	7 Xenon arc lamps ( $10 {kW}_{el}$ per lamp)	$3.91 {MWm}^{- 2}$	20 kW	Solar thermal and thermochemical research [41]
Optics Research Center CIO, México	7 Xenon arc lamps ( $2.5 {kW}_{el}$ per lamp)	$1.7 {MWm}^{- 2}$	4.5 kW	Solar thermal and thermochemical research [42]

Name of Parameter	Value
Focal distance $2 c$	2000 mm
Truncation angle $α$	55°
Internal truncate radius $r_{in}$	275 mm
Half distance between foci $c$	1000 mm
Semi-major axis $a$	1082.25 mm
Semi-minor axis $b$	413 mm
Height of reflector $h_{rf}$	274 mm
Eccentricity $e$	0.918

Attenuator Curtain	Structure (mm)		Slats (mm)
Attenuator Curtain	Height	Width	Height	Width	Thickness
1	2140	1168	1200	80	3
2	2470	1330	1500	105	3
3	2470	1330	1500	80.5	3
4	638	620	550	80	3

Target displacement (mm)	0	50	100	150	200	250	300
Lamp separation (mm)	708.5	726.5	744.5	762.5	780.5	798.5	816.5

	Curtain 1	Curtain 2	Curtain 3	Curtain 4
Radiative losses	47%	9%	14%	7%

	Simulations	Experiments
	Flux Spot Diameter (mm)	Flux ( ${kWm}^{- 2}$ )	Flux Spot Diameter (mm)	Flux ( ${kWm}^{- 2}$ ) $\pm 10 %$
Focal plane (FP)	100	215	118	200
$FP + 50 mm$	110	200	128	190
$FP + 100 mm$	120	165	145	164
$FP + 150 mm$	130	150	168	152
$FP + 200 mm$	145	120	190	134
$FP + 250 mm$	180	100	210	117
$FP + 300 mm$	200	88	225	97

Manuel I. Peña-Cruz	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9184-3155
Daniel A. May-Arrioja	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8290-7591

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Applied Optics