Hyd odynamic, The mal and Op ical E alua ion o
Ce amic Foam Sola Abso be s
Sola PACES
An onio A ila-Ma in1 , J. Fe nandez1 , L. Alonso-Pa do1 , A. Fe nandez-Ga cia1 , I. Cañadas1 , R.
En ique1 , F. Za e sky2 , X. Randez2 , A. Fuessel3 , W. P i zkow4 , J.A. Ca ballo1 , D.
Sanchez-Seño an1
1 CIEMAT – Pla a o ma Sola de Alme ia (PSA), C a. De Senes km 4.5, E-04200 Tabe nas, Alme ia, Spain
2 CENER – Sola Ene gy & S o age, Ciudad de la Inno acion 7, E-31621 Sa igu en, Pamplona, Spain
3 F aunho e Ins i u e o Ce amic Technologies and Sys ems IKTS, Win e be gs . 28, 01277 D esden, Ge many
4 Wal e E.C. P i zkow Spezialke amik, Adam Opel S . 6, 70794, Filde s ad , Ge many
*Co espondence: An onio A ila-Ma in, [email p o ec ed]
1. In oduc ion
The de elopmen o ad anced sola ecei e s is essen ial o enhancing he e iciency o
concen a ed sola he mal (CST) echnologies. This s udy, conduc ed wi hin he Ho izon
Eu ope ASTERIx-CAESa p ojec ( unded unde GA 101122231), e alua es olume ic sola
abso be s made o ce amic oam (120 mm x 120 mm ape u e) h ough an ex ensi e
expe imen al campaign a bo h he cup and abso be le el. The main objec i e is he analysis
o he hyd odynamic, he mal, and op ical beha io o 9 ce amic oam abso be s unde eal
expe imen al condi ions sola u nace SF60 a he Pla a o ma Sola de Alme ia (PSA). Fo
his pu pose, a se o 9 abso be s a ying po osi y and geome y, and 3 cup o i ices we e
designed and es ed a PSA. The es ing p ocedu e was s uc u ed in o 3 expe imen al
campaigns, each ocusing on speci ic aspec s o he sys em’s pe o mance.
2. Me hodology
The s udy ollowed a sequen ial expe imen al me hodology s uc u ed in h ee phases:
1. Cold low es s: E alua ing he impac o cup’s ou le diame e a ia ion on ai low
egula ion.
2. The mal pe o mance assessmen : Measu ing abso be e iciency unde a ying sola
lux condi ions and a ge luid ou le empe a u e.
3. Op ical cha ac e iza ion: Analyzing changes in he abso be s’ op ical p ope ies due o
he mal exposu e.
This sys ema ic app oach p o ides a comp ehensi e assessmen o he ac o s a ec ing
abso be ’s e iciency and du abili y.
3. Resul s
3.1 Cold es s on ai low egula ion
Phase 1 ocused on cold es s o assess he in luence o he cup’s ou le diame e on ai
mass low a e (Fig. 1). To isola e he cup’s e ec , expe imen s we e conduc ed wi hou sola
i adia ion and wi hou olume ic abso be . Ai low egula ion was analyzed sys ema ically
using blowe speeds o 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25%, along wi h 3 ou le diame e s o he cup
(30 mm, 40 mm, and 60 mm). Resul s showed a clea co ela ion: educing he ou le om 60
mm o 40 mm (56% a ea educ ion) dec eased ai low by 10%, while a u he educ ion o 30
mm (75% a ea dec ease) led o a 30% d op. These indings highligh he c i ical ole o he
cup geome y in ai low con ol.
A ila-Ma in e al. | Hydodynamic, he mal and op ical e alua ion o ce amic oam abso be s "Sola PACES 2025”
Fig. 1: Cups o i ices a he ou le opening: (le ) 30 mm, (cen e ) 40 mm, ( igh ) 60 mm.
3.2. The mal pe o mance assessmen
Phase 2 e alua ed he he mal pe o mance o he 9 abso be s using a cup wi h a 60 mm
ou le opening (see Fig.1- igh ). Each abso be was es ed unde 3 shu e ape u es o he
sola u nace (20%, 25%, 30%), co esponding o inciden lux le els o ~550–1100 kW/m²,
and 3 a ge ai ou le empe a u es (600ºC, 700ºC, and 800ºC). The ai mass low a e was
adjus ed while keeping he shu e ape u e cons an . A e each es , sola lux
cha ac e iza ion was pe o med. Each abso be was es ed 4-5 hou s o ensu e s eady-s a e
condi ions. P elimina y esul s iden i ied R1-169 as he mos e icien abso be . Fig. 2
compa es he ela i e e iciency o selec ed abso be s agains R1-169 o he di e en
wo king condi ions.
Fig. 2: Rela i e e iciency o samples R2-2, R2-4, R2-6, and R2-7 in ela ion o abso be R1-169
3.3. Op ical cha ac e iza ion
Phase 3 analyzed he sola abso p ance and he mal emi ance o he 9 abso be s be o e
and a e he mal es ing, as hese p ope ies play a key ole in he mal pe o mance by
a ec ing hea ans e and losses. Gi en he absence o s anda dized me hods o po ous
ma e ials, a p elimina y assessmen was conduc ed o es ablish baseline alues. Sola
abso p ance was measu ed in 9 zones o each abso be o cap u e po en ial a ia ions due o
di e ing exposu e o concen a ed sola adia ion. Ini ial esul s show negligible changes a e
he mal exposu e as p esen ed in Table 1, hough u he alida ion is needed. The ull s udy
will include he mal emi ance measu emen s o be e unde s and hea loss mechanisms.
Table 1. Sola abso p ance be o e and a e he es o R1-169, R2-4, R2-6
Abso be R1-169
0.964
R2-4
0.967
R2-6
0.970
A e age sola abso p ance be o e es ing
A e age sola abso p ance a e es ing 0.965 0.969 0.971
4. Ou look
The expe imen al campaign p o ided aluable insigh s in o he beha io o olume ic sola
abso be s unde ealis ic ope a ing condi ions. A de ailed analysis o he esul s will guide he
conso ium in selec ing he op imal cup ou le diame e , con i ming he mos e icien
abso be , and e ining op ical pe o mance p edic ions o he ull ecei e .
Fu u e he mal es s will be conduc ed using he bes pe o ming sola abso be while
e alua ing di e en ou le o i ice con igu a ions. The esul s and conclusions will be p esen ed
a he con e ence, con ibu ing o he inal design o he ASTERIx-CAESa ecei e .
