Optical simulation of a central receiver system: Comparison of different software tools

RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS

卷:94

Review

Jafrancesco, David¹  Cardoso, Joao P.²  Mutuberria, Amaia³  Leonardi, Erminia⁴  Les, Inigo³  Sansoni, Paola¹  Francini, Franco¹  Fontani, Daniela¹ 

[1] CNR, INO Natl Inst Opt, Largo E Fermi 6, I-50125 Florence, Italy

[2] Lab Nacl Energia & Geol IP, Estr Paco Lumiar 22, P-1649038 Lisbon, Portugal

[3] Ctr Nacl Energias Renovables, Ciudad Innovac 7, Navarra 31621, Spain

[4] PST Polaris, CRS4, Edificio 1, I-09010 Pula, CA, Italy

关键词: Central receiver system;    Optical modeling;    Heliostat field;    Concentrating Solar Power;    Simulation;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.rser.2018.06.028

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Heliostat field layout design is a critical task in solar tower power plant construction due to its impact in the final plant efficiency and cost. The complexity of these systems and the high number of parameters to define during the field design stage demand the use of suitable simulation tools to compare different design options and evaluate the final performance of the heliostat field. This work concerns a comparison of some of the most common tools used for the heliostat field layout design and analysis, aiming to help Concentrating Solar Power researchers and industry by providing more information regarding the tools comparative results and features. A brief review of available tools is presented, including an extended description of some of them - Tonatiuh, SolTrace, TracePro and CRS4-2. A qualitative comparison of these four tools is performed focusing on functionality and usability. A quantitative comparison is done providing simulation results for a test-case, the SPSS-CRS facility located at Plataforma Solar de Almeria in Spain. In general, the results for total power and maximum irradiance are in good agreement across most tools. The total power values are very close for Tonatiuh, SolTrace and CRS4-2. Apart from the designer preferences, the choice of the most suitable tool depends on the specific application and requirements.

【 授权许可】

Free