Modelling and simulation of a novel Electrical Energy Storage (EES) Receiver for Solar Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) power plants

In this paper, the mathematical modelling of a novel Electrical Energy Storage (EES) Receiver for Solar Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) is presented. The EES receiver is essentially a Heat Collecting Element (HCE) with built in storage in the form of thermal batteries such as the Sodium Sulphur (NaS) battery. The conceptual design and mathematical models describing the operation of the receiver are presented along with important results of model validation. When held under adiabatic conditions (a primary indicator of model validity), results were highly consistent with established PTC, models and with National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, USA) experimental data for existing SCHOTT PTR-70 and Solel UVAC3 receiver tubes, currently being used in existing PTC power plants.