Kontas-CP - Flow Through Calorimeter for Online Heat Capactiy Measurement of Thermal Oils in CSP Application

Abstract

Thermal efficicency analyses of cocnetrating solar collectors are common assessments to evaluate the overall collctor performance. such energy balance studies require accurate measruements of the measruands as well as the knowledge of the specific heatcapcity of theused heat transfer fluid (HTF) Insufficient data quality regarding sepcific heat capacity of thermal oils in parabolic trough applications contribute significantely to the overall measureament uncertainty in the thermal collector assessments, expecially at operation temperatures int he range of 200 to 400°C. This paper describes the technical design and validation measurement of a flow through calorimeter that is capable of measurming the speicifc heat capacity of commonly used HTF at temperatures up to 340°C. Technical key components are explained and a validation measurement using water at ambient temperature is presented. Validation measurements show reuslts within the caluclated relative uncertainty of 1,2%.