An Integrated Light Pipe Receiver and Thermal Energy Storage

An integrated light pipe receiver and thermal energy storage (TES) architecture is proposed for solar process heat applications. Simulations demonstrate the benefits of increased heat transfer area to a low conductivity TES medium and reduced surface radiation losses. When compared against a baseline design with a hemispherical absorber, the integrated light pipe receiver enables up to a factor of three higher energy storage for distributed absorption relative to localized absorption at the top of the TES. For a lower thermal conductivity TES medium or baselining to a flat-top absorber, an increase in thermal energy storage up to a factor of five results.