A Small Concentrating Solar Power Tower System

Abstract:

A small scale prototype of functional R&D solar tower system (about 10 kW) to gather solar energy and store it in a molten salt tank will be designed, developed and built. The prototype tower system will be built at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where direct irradiation is very high. Collectors of large mirrors (called heliostats) will be used to track the incident sunrays. The heliostats focus the energy flow towards solar receivers, where energy is transferred to a working thermal fluid. The proposed system consists of several heliostats directing incident solar rays to a tower of height about 20 meters. A solar receiver will be installed at the top of the tower to collect solar energy reflected from the heliostats. The heat transfer fluid (HTF) re-circulated in the receiver transfers the collected heat in the receiver to a storage tank. The storage tank contains molten salts.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 575)
• Pages: 640-643
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.575.640
• Online since: June 2014
• Authors: Nidal H. Abu-Hamdeh*, Khaled A. Alnefaie
• Keywords: Heliostats, Solar Energy, Solar Tower, Solar Tracking

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