Probabilistic modeling of a parabolic trough collector power plant – An uncertainty and sensitivity analysis

In this work, an uncertainty and sensitivity analysis for the annual performance of a parabolic trough collector plant based on a probabilistic modeling approach of the solar-to-thermal energy conversion process has been accomplished. Realistic probability functions have been assigned to the most relevant solar field performance parameters. The Latin Hypercube sampling method has been used to create equal probable parameter combinations. The so obtained sample matrix has been used to run multiple annual electricity yield simulations in SimulCET, a validated parabolic trough collector plant simulation software, developed by the National Renewable Energy Center (CENER) in Spain García-Barberena et al., 2012. This procedure has led to a representative distribution for the annual plant performance, given the uncertainty in the input data. For this study the parabolic trough power plant model has been run in solar driven operation mode, without the use of thermal storage or fossil fuel back up. While being aware of the great influence of the solar irradiation on the power plant performance, only one single reference meteorological year has been used as solar input data. This has been done in order to emphasize the influence of technical design- as well as solar field maintenance parameters, factors that can be controlled or affected by mankind. In order to assess and rank the impact of each varied model parameter a multiple linear regression has been performed. The standardized regression coefficients, the Pearson correlation coefficients as well as the coefficient of multiple determination R² are discussed. Varied parameters are the collector mirror reflectance, the collector mirror cleanliness factor, the collector glass tube transmittance, the collector receiver tube absorptance, and the collector receiver tube heat loss characteristic. Based on existing and published bibliography, a set of parameter distributions and ranges have been chosen for this work and the simulation results show that the cleanliness factor has the strongest influence on the model output. The cleanliness is followed (in this sequence) by the mirror reflectance, the glass tube transmittance, the receiver tube absorptance and, finally, by the receiver tube heat loss characteristic.     

The parabolic trough plants using black body receivers: Experimental and theoretical analyses

A 50-m² experimental prototype of a solar parabolic trough plant has been realized and is at present functioning to produce industrial process heat in an Italian brewery. The prototype, which is of the long focus with a black body receiver, is used to carry out both static and dynamic experimental analyses of the cavity receiver itself and to determine a series of experimental parameters to be used in setting up mathematical models. These models simulate the plant performances under any working conditions with particular attention to the fluid-dynamic, hydraulic and heat transfer aspects. In the present paper the experimental results are presented and the theoretical results forecast by the computer model are outlined.The experimental performances of the cavity receiver, although working in not-optimum conditions, appear very promising being comparable to those obtainable from more expensive receivers. The elaboration of the experimental results suggests the way for technological improvements in the receiver construction. For example an annulus inside the blackbody receiver appears useful. Finally the computer outputs constitute useful design tools both to foresee the net power furnished by the plant and to optimize its physical parameters, for example the mass flow rate of the thermal vector fluid.     

Control scheme for direct steam generation in parabolic troughs under recirculation operation mode

Electricity production using solar thermal energy is one of the main research areas at present in the field of renewable energies, these systems being characterised by the need of reliable control systems aimed at maintaining desired operating conditions in the face of changes in solar radiation, which is the main source of energy. A new prototype of solar system with parabolic trough collectors was implemented at the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA, South-East Spain) to investigate the direct steam generation process under real solar conditions in the parabolic solar collector field of a thermal power plant prototype. This paper presents details and some results of the application of a control scheme designed and tested for the recirculation operation mode, for which the main objective is to obtain steam at constant temperature and pressure at the outlet of the solar field, so that changes produced in the inlet water conditions and/or solar radiation will only affect the amount of steam produced by the solar field. The steam quality and consequently the nominal efficiency of the plant are thus maintained.     

An optimal design analysis of a novel parabolic trough lighting and thermal system

In order to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of daylighting, an innovative parabolic trough solar lighting and thermal (PTL/T) system is designed and analyzed in this paper. Parabolic trough solar lighting and thermal system uses parabolic trough collector (PTC) controlled by two‐axis solar tracking system as solar collector. The collected sunlight is split by a cold mirror into visible light and infrared. The visible light is reflected by cold mirror, re‐concentrated by a second‐stage Fresnel lens, and then delivered by plastic optical fiber to the buildings for daylighting. The infrared goes through cold mirror, reaches thermal system, and is used for heating generation. The basic structure of PTL/T was outlined and described. The dimension of fiber bundle and parabolic trough was chosen after an optimal analysis. The cost of illuminating unit area was expressed as a function of illumination space dimensions and critical components efficiency. A case study was conducted to get a specific optimized illumination area and PTC area for the first time. The optimized result is to use 8‐m² PTC as collector to illuminate 500‐m² office space. The total solar energy utilization efficiency is 39.4%, with the lighting efficiency of 16.3% and thermal efficiency of 23.1%. The maximum energy savings and simple payback period were calculated for 10 typical cities when applied in residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. The amounts of greenhouse gas‐emission reductions were also calculated. The payback period in Sunbelt region is as low as less than 10 years like in Los Angeles. The results show the proposed PTL/T system is competitive compared with traditional solar energy systems. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of the optics of non-tracking and novel types of tracking solar thermal collectors for process heat applications up to 300 °C

Evacuated CPC (compound parabolic concentrator) collectors with non-tracking reflectors are compared with two novel tracking collectors: a parabolic trough and an evacuated tube collector with integrated tracking reflector. Non-tracking low concentrating CPC collectors are mostly mounted in east–west direction with a latitude dependent slope angle. They are suitable at most for working temperatures up to 200–250 °C. We present a tracking evacuated tube-collector with a trough-like concentrating mirror. Single-axis tracking of the mirror is realized with a magnetic mechanism. The mirror is mounted inside the evacuated tube and hence protected from environmental influences. One axis tracking in combination with a small acceptance angle allows for higher concentration as compared to non-tracking concentrating collectors. Ray-tracing analysis shows a half acceptance angle of about 5.7° at geometrical concentration ratio of 3.2. Losses of well constructed evacuated tube collectors (heat conductivity through the manifolds inside the thermally insulated terminating housing are low) are dominated by radiation losses of the absorber. Hence, reducing the absorber size can lead to higher efficiencies at high operating temperature levels. With the presented collector we aim for operating temperatures up to 350 °C. At temperatures of 300 °C we expect with anti-reflective coating of the glass tube and a selective absorber coating efficiencies of 0.65. This allows for application in industrial process heat generation, high efficient solar cooling and power generation. A first prototype, equipped with a standard glass tube and a black paint absorber coating, was tested at ZAE Bayern. The optical efficiency was measured to be 0.71. This tube-collector is compared by ray-tracing with non-tracking market available tube-collectors with geometrical concentration ratios up to 1.1 and with a low cost parabolic trough collector of Industrial Solar Technology (IST) with an acceptance half angle about 1.5°, a geometrical concentration ratio of 14.4 and a measured optical efficiency of 0.69.     

Report of the first prototype of non-imaging focusing heliostat and its application in high temperature solar furnace

Following the publication on the principle and theory of a newly proposed non-imaging focusing heliostat, this paper presents a report on the design, optical alignment and application of the first prototype heliostat. In the architecture of the first prototype, 25 mirrors, each with a dimension of 40×40 cm, are arranged into five rows and five columns to form a total reflective area of 4 m². The design of the essential part of the first prototype heliostat will be discussed in this paper, which consists of two primary elements; a rotation–elevation system for tracking a mirror support frame which carries 25 mirror facets, and a separate two-axis tracking system for compensating (each second) off-axis aberrations of 24 slave facets relative to the central mirror, which is fixed in the mirror frame. The rotation–elevation system consists of a pedestal supporting a rotational tracking mechanism carrying a U-shaped arm and a second tracking system for tracking a moving frame in elevation. The moving frame carries a central stationary (relative to the frame) mirror, called a master mirror. Slave mirrors are arrayed in five rows and five columns, and eight stepper motors drive the outer four rows and columns relative to the master mirror via a computer programme implementing newly proposed formulas to eliminate the first-order aberration. With a second stage concentrator comprising a small aperture size parabolic mirror (diameter of 60 cm), a cost-effective high temperature solar furnace was constructed. In our experiment, the highest furnace temperature of 3400°C has been recorded through the melting of pure tungsten wires.     

抛物面槽式聚光器的风致响应分析与优化

该文首先通过在湖南大学HD-3大气边界层风洞中对聚光器模型进行测压试验,获得聚光器各测点在不同工况下的风压时程;然后通过有限元软件对聚光器的风致响应进行分析,获得反射镜的峰值位移响应和风振系数,并给出最不利工况下的位移响应分布云图;最后对聚光器构件截面尺寸进行优化。分析结果表明:在各工况下峰值位移响应最大值均出现在反射镜长边中点附近的边缘部位;优化后的单个聚光器的总体重量比原结构降低约6%。     

浮泥床面桥墩绕流冲刷的数值模拟

基于Mike 21软件建立了浮泥输移的平面二维数学模型,计算分析了浮泥河床建桥前后的水流流动形态和床面变形状况。结果表明,建桥前后主槽内河床变形均呈单向冲刷变形,岸滩上则以淤积为主;建桥后主槽冲刷能力增强,但增加幅度不大,且冲刷幅度和水深较均匀,与常见沙质河床的冲刷区别较大;桥墩尾流区内水流流速较小,冲刷幅度较小;桥墩纵横向的阻流范围约在2倍椭圆桥墩的长、短轴位置内。     

Concentrating sunlight with an immobile primary mirror and immobile receiver: Ray-tracing results

Using a combination of custom computer code and commercially available ray-tracing software, we explore variations of concentrator geometries where sunlight is first incident onto a stationary primary mirror of circular cross section. The reflected radiation is incident onto a smaller, secondary moveable mirror, which focuses the radiation onto a stationary target. Simulations for this trough geometry show peak concentrations of 38 solar equivalents.     

Geometrical optical performance studies of a composite parabolic trough with a fin receiver

The geometrical optical performance characteristics of a composite parabolic trough (CPT) with a fin receiver have been studied. The variation of geometrical concentration ratio with mirror element size and the rim angle of the parent parabola has been studied and the results are presented graphically. The distribution of local concentration ratio over the receiver plane has also been determined for some typical concentrator designs.     

Nontracking solar concentrators with louvered heliostats: A calculation algorithm

An algorithm for calculating the solar radiation flux on the receiving surface of a nontracking parabolic trough concentrator with a louvered heliostat is presented. Cylindrical geometry of the concentrator and shape and arrangement of mirror lamellae of the heliostat make it possible to consider sunlight passage across the mirror system of the module as a whole band, which significantly increases the computational efficiency of the algorithm proposed.     

槽式太阳能热发电站中集热管摆动支撑的结构分析

在槽式太阳能热发电站中,集热管作为镜场的核心部件,其热性能及其支撑装置的结构可靠性直接决定了整个槽式太阳能热发电站的热效率和经济成本。通过对槽式太阳能热发电站中集热管支撑装置中几种摆动支撑结构的优劣进行对比,选出了最优结构形式,并计算分析了集热管运行过程中摆动支撑的受力情况,以期为集热管摆动支撑的进一步创新设计提供借鉴。     

中温太阳集热器系统热状态特性数值模拟的三维动态热网络实验验证

以中温太阳集热器系统单元段分节点热阻、热容网络概念,建立腔体式吸收器－槽形抛物镜中温太阳集热器系统的热性能动态模型。利用所建立的集热器单元测试系统对模型进行实验验证。     

A solar fryer

The design and operation of a large-area frying pan heated by solar radiation is described. A mirror below the pan directs the radiation to the pan bottom, which is coated with a low-emissivity black absorber. The mirror uses flat, hexagonal panels of aluminized-Mylar to provide uniform illumination across most of the pan bottom. The mirror mount allows 8 h/day operation with a single mirror-angle adjustment, plus a seasonal mounting adjustment for full-year use. A 0.46 m (18″) diameter pan and ∼1.2 m (48″) diameter mirror are used in the prototype, which is designed for cooking 0.42 m diameter slices of injera bread in East Africa. The prototype provides ∼640 W of heating power (60% efficiency compared to the full mirror area), and loses ∼100 W while cooking the bread. This allows for cooking ∼4 kg of bread per hour. The pan preheats to the 180 °C cooking temperature in 15-20 min. Materials and design are chosen for low-cost, and the prototype US-retail materials cost is ∼100 US$. The design is scalable to any desired pan size, with cost proportional to pan area. Most of the construction requires only hand tools, encouraging production in the country of use.     

平屋顶槽式聚光器风压分布的概率特性研究

通过风洞实验对平屋顶槽式聚光器的镜面风压进行测量,通过高阶矩与风压时程曲线和概率密度直方图对镜面风压分布的概率特性进行了分析;得到镜面风压分布的高斯判别标准,并给出典型工况下的镜面高斯区域划分。然后通过Sadek-Simiu（SAD）法计算出聚光器的极值风压系数,给出典型工况下的极值风压系数等值线图,并对极值风压系数分布规律和特征进行分析,镜面风压极值最大值出现的主要区域为镜面边缘角落区域,极值风压系数最大值出现的工况为仰角30°风向角45°,其值为6.136。     

Economic analysis of power generation from parabolic trough solar thermal plants for the Mediterranean region—A case study for the island of Cyprus

In this work a feasibility study is carried out in order to investigate whether the installation of a parabolic trough solar thermal technology for power generation in the Mediterranean region is economically feasible. The case study takes into account the available solar potential for Cyprus, as well as all available data concerning current renewable energy sources policy of the Cyprus Government, including the relevant feed-in tariff. In order to identify the least cost feasible option for the installation of the parabolic trough solar thermal plant a parametric cost–benefit analysis is carried out by varying parameters, such as, parabolic trough solar thermal plant capacity, parabolic trough solar thermal capital investment, operating hours, carbon dioxide emission trading system price, etc. For all above cases the electricity unit cost or benefit before tax, as well as after tax cash flow, net present value, internal rate of return and payback period are calculated. The results indicate that under certain conditions such projects can be profitable.     

以效率优化太阳能集热器工作温度

依据槽形抛物镜－管簇结构腔体式吸收器太阳能集热器的热阻网络和建立的集热器效率优化模型，在单一改变太阳直射辐照度及同时改变腔体窗光学性能情况下，分别计算了工作介质温度Ｔｆｍ，ｍ的最优运行取值。     

利用四维热网络仿真模型计算反射镜和腔体窗光学性能对太阳能集热器系统热性能的影响

首次提出太阳能集热器系统单元（微元）段分节点热阻、热容网络——四维热网络概念，并以此建立腔体式吸收器－槽形抛物镜太阳能集热器系统的集热过程动态仿真模型。利用该模型计算了抛物镜反射率ｐ、腔体窗透过率ｔｇ及腔体窗发射率ｅｇ对太阳能集热器系统热性能的影响     

Characterisation of a 300× photovoltaic concentrator system with one-axis tracking

A solar concentrator with one-axis tracking is being developed at our institute. This concentrator system achieves a high geometrical concentration ratio of 300 using a parabolic trough mirror and a three-dimensional second stage consisting of compound parabolic concentrators. The design of the system as well as the characterisation of the second stage is described in this paper.     

Optimal geometries of plane mirror solar collectors

This paper presents an analytical study of a stationary plane mirror solar concentrator. It is composed of an array of East-West oriented trapezoidal channels with two sided reflecting walls and a tubular absorber as a receiver at the base. We have analysed and identified the most practical design parameters for a trough like concentrator. The one- and two-faceted plane side wall configurations with tubular receiver at the base of the trough have been studied in detail. It has been concluded that large savings in reflecting surfaces are possible while sacrificing some reduction in concentration. A theoretical prediction for the dependance of absorber efficiency on temperature has been obtained.