SCHOTT PTR®70 Receiver

The Next Generation

new absorber coating – innovative glass-to-metal seal
patented bellow design – unique quality assurance system
Energy in abundance.
How Parabolic Trough Power Plants work.
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants use steam to produce energy, in
a similar manner to conventional steam power plants. The key difference
Solarfield is that CSP plants use emission-free, clean solar radiation to produce
Receivers heat instead of fossil or nuclear fuels. And unlike other CSP technologies,
Parabolic mirrors
parabolic trough power plants are proven and ready for use today. In
Heat Transfer Fluid
order to achieve the necessary temperatures, solar radiation is concentrat-
Generator
Steam
ed in parabolic trough arrays. These troughs are more than 400 meters
Turbine (1,300 feet) in length and are made of parabolical shaped mirror seg-
ments. The troughs track the sun over the course of the day and focus
the solar radiation along the focal point of the mirrors onto specially coat-
Storage
ed, evacuated receiver tubes that convert solar radiation into heat. A heat
Condenser
transfer fluid, which is circulating through the receiver, is heated up to
Cooling tower
400 °C (750 °F) and then used to generate steam.

SCHOTT Solar – Technology and Market Leader in Solar Receivers.

The receiver, being the key component of a CSP plant, has a decisive
influence on the overall efficiency of the plant. It must show high solar
absorptance as well as low thermal emittance. In both respects, the
SCHOTT PTR®70 Receiver delivers outstanding results.

Introducing the next generation of the

SCHOTT PTR®70 Receiver with new absorber coating.
New absorber coating with emittance 10% and absorptance 95%
Crucial for the performance of the collector field are the optical properties
of the absorber coating. SCHOTT Solar has developed and patented a new
absorber coating with remarkable optical values and long-term thermal
stability. Heat loss measurements by NREL (US National Renewable Energy
Laboratory) have confirmed emittance values of 10% at working temper-
ature (400 °C/750 °F), thus corresponding to a heat loss of only ~ 250 W/m,
in comparison to 350–450 W/m for other receivers. This contributes signif-
icantly to lower levelized costs of electricity and maximized output.

Innovative glass-to-metal seal

To minimize heat conduction losses, the absorber is usually insulated with
vacuum enclosed by a glass tube. The durability of the vacuum depends
Quality without compromise. on the mechanical strength and temperature resistance of the glass-to-
The certified state-of-the-art production metal seal. Due to the combination of materials with matching coefficients
facilities for SCHOTT Solar ® receivers
of thermal expansion, the glass-to-metal seal of the SCHOTT PTR ®70
in Germany, Spain and the USA have
a globally installed capacity of 1 GW Receiver can handle dramatic temperature changes and ensures vacuum
per year. Due to a unique quality assur- stability. For maximum quality assurance, every single glass-to-metal seal
ance system with specially developed at SCHOTT Solar undergoes a thermal shock test.
and complex measuring technology,
SCHOTT Solar can provide products
of consistently high quality across all
production facilities.

2
 Durable glass-to-metal seal AR-coated glass tube
material combination with matching ensures high transmittance
coefficients of thermal expansion and high abrasion resistance

New absorber coating

achieves emittance <_10%
and absorptance >_ 95%

Vacuum insulation
minimized heat conduction losses

Improved bellow design

increases the aperture length
to more than 96%

High-quality glass with anti-reflective coatings

The glass tubes of the receivers are usually coated with anti-reflective
(AR) films for improved solar transmittance. However, the weak point of
most AR-coatings is their low adhesion to the borosilicate glass. Due to a
patented production process, SCHOTT Solar has been able to introduce
a composition of the AR-layer with maximum adhesion and long-term
abrasion resistance, achieving transmittance values of more than 96%.

Improved bellow design

The patented bellow design by SCHOTT Solar increases the active aperture
area of the receiver to more than 96% of the total area, which is at least
2% more compared to other designs. Furthermore, by integrating the
getter material in the bellow and thus the coolest position of the receiver,
the full getter capacity can be utilized. This increases the lifetime of the
receiver up to 30% in comparison to other designs where the getter is
positioned on the absorber tube.

Technical specification – SCHOTT PTR®70 with new absorber

coating
A well-established & quality-
Components Specification oriented partner.
Dimension •฀฀length:฀4,060฀mm฀at฀20฀°C฀ambient฀temperature฀(159.8฀in.฀at฀68฀°F) As a fully owned subsidiary of the global
•฀฀aperture฀length:฀96% of the bulk length SCHOTT group, SCHOTT Solar builds on
at working temperature (300 °C/572 °F) solid know-how and a strong financial
backing, giving all customers the security
Absorber •฀outer฀diameter:฀70฀mm/2.75฀in. to deal with a well-established, quality-
•฀฀s teel฀type:฀DIN฀1.4541฀or฀similar oriented company.
•฀฀solar฀absorptance:฀ ISO 95%;  ASTM 95.3%
Whatever the future holds™.
•฀thermal฀emittance฀(at฀approx.฀400฀°C/approx.฀752฀°F):฀ 10%

Glass envelope •฀borosilicate฀glass

•฀฀outer฀diameter:฀125฀mm/4.9฀in.
•฀฀antireflective฀coating
•฀฀solar฀transmittance:฀ 0.96

Vacuum •฀gas฀pressure฀10 –3 mbar

Operating pressure •฀40 bar (absolute)

3
 D 2009 SCHOTT Solar CSP GmbH

SCHOTT Solar CSP GmbH

Erich-Schott-Str. 14
95666 Mitterteich, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 9633 80-291
Fax: +49 (0) 3641 2888-9231
csp@schottsolar.com
www.schottsolar.com