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

Zaversky, Fritz; García-Barberena, Javier; Sánchez, Marcelino; Astrain, D.

doi:10.1016/j.solener.2012.04.015

Cited by 30 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The monitored parameter to evaluate and compare the efficacy of each method and the tube performance is the solar transmittance [11,12] of the outer glass tube in each of the test samples. The increase of transmittance achieved by each method is measured in every single application.…”

Section: Test Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Monitoring of mirror reflectance [9,10] is a common task developed daily in commercial plants. However no effort has yet been made to monitor tubes transmittance, which has also impact on the global plant performance [11]. Due to concentrating factor the loss of an effective surface on the tube is more critical than losing an equal surface on the mirrors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Receiver Tube Performance Depending on Cleaning Methods

Hermoso

Sanz

2015

Energy Procedia

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Parabolic trough collectors employ receiver tubes whose optical performance influence in the whole plant efficiency. In the same way of the mirror's reflectance, maintenance of tube's transmittance at high values is a big challenge in the Operation and Maintenance of solar plants. Clean borosilicate glass transmittance is increased from 92% to 96% depositing an antireflective (AR) coating. Until now periodic measurement of transmittance in the solar field has not been possible. The only options for users were to uninstall the tubes or even break them to analyze their properties in a laboratory. In the developed experiment, conservative and aggressive cleaning methods have been applied repeatedly on tubes placed in a solar field, evaluating their effectiveness regarding transmittance maximization, both short term, attending to soiling reduction, and long term, evaluating the receiver tubes damaging along their lifespan. The new portable spectrophotometer, Mini Incus, allows the measuring of the tube´s transmittance in the solar field, and due to this, the soiling factor and cleaning methods influence on the tubes transmittance evolution can be evaluated. The experiment evaluates the effects caused on the tube by cleaning procedures, concluding the most efficient method. Performance maximization and maintenance over tubes working life are considered. In addition, novel transmittance monitoring is relevant to determine the required cleaning cycles to maintain desired transmittance values and optimize the energy production in commercial plants.

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Section: Test Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Receiver Tube Performance Depending on Cleaning Methods

Hermoso

Sanz

2015

Energy Procedia

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“…All the models [5] [6] [7] which allow prediction of power plant performance and carrying out sensitivity analysis [8] consider the receiver´s thermal performance a key parameter with a direct impact on facility performance. Tube thermal performance depends on the maintenance of the vacuum between both tubes [5] [6], that reduces convective and conductive losses and assures the maintenance of the inner tube coatings [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel portable device to measure the temperature of both the inner and the outer tubes of a parabolic receiver in the field

Hermoso¹,

Espinosa-Rueda²,

Martínez³

et al. 2016

AIP Conference Proceedings

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Abstract. The performance of parabolic trough (PT) receiver tubes (RT) has a direct impact on Solar Thermal Energy (STE) plant production. As a result, one major need of operation and maintenance (O&M) in STE plants is to monitor the state of the receiver tube as a key element in the solar field. However the lack of specific devices so far has limited the proper evaluation of operating receiver tube´s thermal performance. As a consequence non-accurate approximations have been accepted until now using infrared thermal images of the glass outer tube. In order to fulfill this need, Abengoa has developed a unique portable device for evaluating the thermal performance and vacuum state of parabolic trough receiver tubes placed in the field. The novel device described in this paper, simultaneously provides the temperature of both the inner steel tube and the outer glass tube enabling a check on manufacturers specifications. The on-field evaluation of any receiver tube at any operating temperature has become possible thanks to this new measuring device.The features and usability of this new measurement system as a workable portable device in operating solar fields provide a very useful tool for all companies in the sector contributing to technology progress. The originality of the device, patent pending P201431969, is not limited to the CSP sector, also having scientific significance in the general measuring instruments field. This paper presents the work carried out to develop and validate the device, also detailing its functioning properties and including the excellent results obtained in the laboratory to determine its accuracy and standard deviation. This information was validated with data collected by O&M teams using this instrument in a commercial CSP plant. The relevance of the device has been evidenced by evaluating a wide sample of RT and the results are discussed in this paper. Finally, all the on field collected data is used to demonstrate the high impact that using this unique portable device will have on a parabolic trough solar power plant.

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“…A detailed knowledge of the solar resource is a critical point to perform an economical feasibility analysis of a CSP plant, since the DNI is the most determining variable in the final energy yield (Ho and Kolb, 2010;Zaversky et al, 2012). Due to the significant short-term and long-term variability in DNI, CSP analysts must obtain DNI data time series, and not just mean annual averages (Meyer et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, there is a paradigm shift that proposes the adoption of probabilistic approaches to model variability and uncertainties in both electricity production and system cost to achieve sound estimates of the economic feasibility of commercial CSP plants (Eck et al, 2012;Ho and Kolb, 2010;Zaversky et al, 2012). Within this new paradigm, the estimation of the economic feasibility of a commercial CSP plant project should address both the variability of the solar resource and of the cost of some key investment and operation and maintenance elements of the plant as well as the uncertainty associated with the energy model estimates and cost data (Fernández-Peruchena et al, 2014a) (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%