As part of a three-year research project by the Federal Ministry for Research and Education, Wallstein Ingenieur GmbH contributed to the development of a side module for solar power towers with open volumetric receivers. In a solar power tower, the Sun's rays are focussed directly on a "receiver" by a heliostatic array. The receiver is at the top of the solar tower. The heliostatic array consists of several thousand mirrors that can be moved on two axes to follow the suns rays...
...The open volumetric receiver (Experimental Solar Tower Jülich) is made of a porous ceramic through which ambient air is sucked with a blower. This porous ceramic is heated up by the concentrated solar radiation and transfers the heat to the air. Using a heat exchanger, the heated air, which is approximately 700°C hot, is coupled to conventional steam power generation, which turns the thermal energy into electricity.
A part of the radiation reflected onto the solar tower by the heliostatic array misses the receiver, hitting the surrounding radiation shield, and therefore cannot be used. During the research project, a component was developed that could be mounted around the edges of the receiver, overtopping the original receiver surface. In this way, some of the radiation that is currently being wasted can be made use of. Wallstein Ingenieur GmbH co-operated in the construction of these side modules, which are made of heat-resistant steel, and produced the first prototypes. According to laboratory tests performed at the Jülich Solar Institute (SIJ), a significant gain in yield is to be expected. Alongside Wallstein Ingenieur GmbH, plant constructor Kraftanlagen München and the research institutes SIJ and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) were involved in this project.
Links:
www.fh-aachen.de/forschung/solar-institut-juelich
www.ka-muenchen.de/arbeitsgebiete/erneuerbare-energien/solarthermische-kraftwerke.html
www.dlr.de/sf/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-7160/11955_read-33199
