SOLAR-THERMAL ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION USING A SYSTEM OF DISTRIBUTED PARABOLIC TROUGH COLLECTORS.

The system employs water as the working fluid, and steam at 60 bars pressure and 276 degree C is generated locally within a field of distributed parabolic trough solar collectors. A transfer loop conveys the steam to a central site at which the power plant is situated. The design of the collector and the operating characteristics of three transfer loop configurations are described. Results of experiments performed at a desert test site using a scale model of a solar collector module are presented. The data establish the efficiency of the collector both in the absence of heat losses and under normal operating conditions. The findings of life tests being performed on samples of candidate solar reflector surfaces are reported. A number of the surfaces maintained their original reflectivity without degradation during an exposure period of over a year. A parametric study of the performance of a parabolic trough collector using a Monte Carlo digital simulation of the collector is described. Examples of the effects of collector orientation on performance are given. Predictions of the power absorbed vs. time of day for a typical trough collector are also presented.