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Pye, John

Publications and source records attributed to Pye, John.

9 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Heliostat Consortium Annual Report: 2023

The Heliostat Consortium for Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power (HelioCon) began in 2021, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office to advance U.S. heliostat technologies over the next five years. This report provides detailed information on progress the HelioCon team has made since its founding, including expanding the number of partnerships with industry, research, education, and other institutions; increasing our staff; providing information to a growing audience through our web presence; and participating in national and international conferences with industry leaders.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Roadmap to Advance Heliostat Technologies for Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power

Heliostat-based concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) systems can offer immense potential to provide low-cost, dispatchable renewable thermal and electrical energy to help achieve 100% decarbonized energy infrastructure in the United States. Heliostats are a major capital cost technology and a performance-dominating component of state-of-the-art commercial molten salt towers and Generation 3 CSP systems. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) launched the Heliostat Consortium (HelioCon), a five-year initiative to advance heliostat technologies. The HelioCon mission is threefold: (1) establish strategic core testing and modeling capabilities and infrastructure at national labs; (2) support heliostat technology development in relevant industries; and (3) serve as a central repository to integrate industry, academia, and other stakeholders for heliostat technology research, development, validation, and deployment. In this report, HelioCon presents a roadmapping study on advancing heliostat technologies, intended as a central reference for the whole CSP community.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Molten Salt vs. Liquid Sodium Receiver Selection Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

An international team led by NREL analyzed the favorability of two alternative liquid receiver designs for a 700+ degrees C receiver under the Gen3 CSP Liquid Pathway project. The competing liquid heat transfer fluids were a ternary chloride salt and liquid-metal sodium. The team applied a facilitated analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to arrive at a recommended alternative and set a path forward for the project. The AHP criteria were formulated, weighted, and scored by the project leadership team and technical advisory committee consisting of energy industry and CSP experts. The six- month process culminated with a two-day workshop where the sodium alternative was deemed to have both a significantly higher benefit (19.3%) and a lower LCOE (11.4%), with only a slightly higher risk (~3%) than the salt alternative. Consequently, a sodium-receiver design was selected for the Liquid Pathway project, where it will be used to charge a two- tank chloride salt thermal energy storage system.

analytic hierarchy process↗
DOE OSTI2022

System-Level Comparison of Sodium and Salt Systems in Support of the Gen3 Liquids Pathway

This paper presents the comparison of the annual performance and the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) of two high- temperature solar power tower configurations using a 565MWth chloride salt receiver and a 540 MWth liquid sodium receiver. Each power tower consists of a sodium or salt receiver, a 175 m high concrete tower, and a two-tank chloride salt system for thermal energy storage (TES). The power plants were simulated using SolarTherm to estimate their energy per year, capacity factor, and LCOE. The simulation was verified against the System Advisor Model (SAM), showing that the LCOE calculation differences are within ±1.0%. Results showed that the sodium-receiver system yields 69.60 USD/MWh real LCOE, versus 78.55 USD/MWh for the chloride salt system. Results also showed that sodium wins here due to a smaller and more efficient receiver, enabled by higher flux limits and reduced field size, leading to less mirror reflective area and site improvement cost.

capacity factor↗
DOE OSTI2021

Molten Salt vs. Liquid Sodium Receiver Selection Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

An international team led by NREL analyzed the favorability of two alternative liquid receiver designs for a 700+ degrees C receiver under the Gen3 CSP Liquid Pathway project. The competing liquid heat transfer fluids were a ternary chloride salt and liquid-metal sodium. The team applied a facilitated analytic hierarchy process to arrive at a recommended alternative and set a path forward for the project. The AHP criteria were formulated, weighted, and scored by the project leadership team and technical advisory committee consisting of energy industry and CSP experts. The six-month process culminated with a two-day workshop where the sodium alternative was deemed to have both a significantly higher benefit (19.3%) and a lower LCOE (11.4%), with only a slightly higher risk (~3%) than the salt alternative. Consequently, a sodium-receiver design was selected for the Liquid Pathway project, where it will be used to charge a two-tank chloride salt thermal energy storage system.

central receiver↗
DOE OSTI2021

Gen 3 Particle Pilot Plant (G3P3) -- High-Temperature Particle System for Concentrating Solar Power (Phases 1 and 2)

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office initiated the Generation 3 Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) program to achieve higher operating temperatures (>700 °C) to enable next-generation CSP high-temperature power cycles such as the supercritical CO 2 (sCO2) Brayton Cycle. Three teams were selected to pursue high-temperature gas, liquid, and solid pathways for the heat-transfer media. Phases 1 and 2, which lasted from 2018 – 2020, consisted of design, modeling, and testing activities to further de-risk each of the technologies and develop a design for construction, commissioning, and operation of a pilot-scale facility in Phase 3 (2021 – 2024). This report summarizes the activities in Phases 1 and 2 for the solid-particle pathway led by Sandia National Laboratories. In Phases 1 and 2, Sandia successfully de-risked key elements of the proposed Gen 3 Particle Pilot Plant (G3P3) by improving the design, operation, and performance of key particle component technologies including the receiver, storage bins, particle-to-sCO2 heat exchanger, particle lift, and data acquisition and controls. Modeling and testing of critical components have led to optimized designs that meet desired performance metrics. Detailed drawings, piping and instrumentation diagrams, and process flow diagrams were generated for the integrated system, and structural analyses of the assembled tower structure were performed to demonstrate compliance with relevant codes and standards. Instrumentation and control systems of key subsystems were also demonstrated. Together with Bridgers & Paxton, Bohannan Huston, and Sandia Facilities, we have completed a 100% G3P3 tower design package with stamped engineering drawings suitable for construction bid in Phase 3.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗