Page 211 - Industrial Process Plant Construction Estimating and Man Hour Analysis

Chapter 9

Solar thermal power plant

9.1 Solar thermal power plant
Solar thermal power systems use concentrated energy. Solar thermal power
(electricity) generation systems collect and concentrate sunlight to produce high
temperatures needed to generate electricity. All solar thermal power systems
have solar energy collectors with two main components: reflectors (mirrors)
that capture and focus sunlight onto a receiver and a heat transfer fluid heated
and circulated in the receiver and used to produce steam. The steam is converted
into energy in a turbine, which powers a generator to produce electricity.

Types of solar power plants
Linear concentrating systems, which include parabolic roughs and linear
Fresnel reflectors
Solar power towers

Linear concentrating systems
Linear concentrating systems collect the sun’s energy using long, rectangular,
curved (U-shaped) mirrors. The mirrors focus sunlight onto receivers (tubes)
that run the length of the mirrors. The concentrated sunlight heats a fluid flow-
ing through the tubes. The fluid is sent to heat exchanger to boil water in a
steam-turbine generator to produce electricity. A linear concentrating collector
power plant has a large number or field of collectors in parallel rows that are
aligned in a north-south orientation to maximize solar energy collection. This
configuration enables the mirrors to track the sun from east to west during the
day and concentrate sunlight continuously onto the receiver tubes.

Solar power towers
A solar power system uses a large field of flat, sun-tracking mirrors called helio-
stats to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a receiver on the top of a tower.
Some power towers use water as the heat transfer fluid. Advanced designs
use molten nitrate salt because of its superior heat transfer and energy storage
capabilities.

Industrial Process Plant Construction Estimating and Man-Hour Analysis.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818648-0.00009-0
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