Page 17 - Design of Solar Thermal Power Plants

10 1. INTRODUCTION

FIGURE 1.1 Schematic diagram of water/steam tower power generation system.

FIGURE 1.2 Schematic diagram of molten-salt tower power generation system.

that of a conventional thermal power plant, the biggest difference lies in
the unstable source of thermal energy. As solar irradiation itself features
time discontinuity, it may be greatly influenced by weather conditions.
Thus the thermal process demonstrates an unstable state, frequent vari-
ations, and complexity that lead to nonlinearity, time variation, and un-
certainty of multivariable coupling and result in a variety and complexity
of operational modes and control means. Along with the development of
large-scale thermal storage technology, it is possible to realize large-scale
stable operation. For a tower power plant, a thermal collection system that
consists of concentrators and receivers does not exist in conventional
power plants; in contrast to a boiler, the collection system is quite complex
with multiple variables, loops, and operational modes.
A major characteristic of CSP generation technology is thermal collec-
tion. The concentration ratio is one of the most important parameters for