Phenylnaphthalene as a Heat Transfer Fluid for Concentrating Solar Power: High-Temperature Static Experiments

Bell, Jason R¹  Joseph III, Robert Anthony¹  McFarlane, Joanna¹  Qualls, A L¹ 

[1]ORNL

关键词: CRITICAL PRESSURE;    ECONOMICS;    EFFICIENCY;    ELECTRICITY;    FOSSIL FUELS;    HEAT TRANSFER FLUIDS;    HEATING;    HYDROCARBONS;    ISOMERIZATION;    ORNL;    STABILITY;    THERMODYNAMICS concentrating solar power;    trough solar collectors;    thermodynamics;    thermal stability;    phenylnaphthalene;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1039630
RP-ID  :  ORNL/TM-2012/118
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1039630
Others  :  Other: EB2103000
Others  :  RAEB006
Others  :  TRN: US201210%%126

学科分类：能源（综合）

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

Concentrating solar power (CSP) may be an alternative to generating electricity from fossil fuels; however, greater thermodynamic efficiency is needed to improve the economics of CSP operation. One way of achieving improved efficiency is to operate the CSP loop at higher temperatures than the current maximum of about 400 C. ORNL has been investigating a synthetic polyaromatic oil for use in a trough type CSP collector, to temperatures up to 500 C. The oil was chosen because of its thermal stability and calculated low vapor and critical pressures. The oil has been synthesized using a Suzuki coupling mechanism and has been tested in static heating experiments. Analysis has been conducted on the oil after heating and suggests that there may be some isomerization taking place at 450 C, but the fluid appears to remain stable above that temperature. Tests were conducted over one week and further tests are planned to investigate stabilities after heating for months and in flow configurations. Thermochemical data and thermophysical predictions indicate that substituted polyaromatic hydrocarbons may be useful for applications that run at higher temperatures than possible with commercial fluids such as Therminol-VP1.