Characterization of particle and heat losses of a lab-scale solid particle receiver

The solid particle receiver (SPR) developed at Sandia National Labs has been observed to experience mass and heat losses due to particle being ejected through the frontal aperture of the system. To further understand the impact on the receiver efficiency, particle image velocimetry (PIV), particle tracking velocimetry (PTV), and thermal imaging tools must be incorporated into the SPR for in-situ measurements. A lab-scale SPR has been developed to allow the design of controlled experiments to test the imaging equipment and tools. The lab-scale model operates with a 10 cm wide curtain with variable thickness (i.e. 0.1-1 cm), which drives discharge rate, and a controlled hot air supply which disrupts the curtain. The matrix of tests considers variables such as particle size, curtain thickness, particle and air temperature, air flow rate and direction. A 960-fps high-speed camera is used to capture the particles ejected from the system at high resolution and the advection corrected correlation image velocimetry (ACCIV) processing toolbox is being used to extract the particle velocity field as they leave the domain. For the thermal imaging measurements, an ImageIR8300 thermal camera with a 100 mm lens is used to estimate the temperature of the particle plumes.