10 MWe Solar Thermal Central Receiver Pilot Plant maintenance experience : January 1982-March 1983

Technical Report · Wed May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1985

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5637306· OSTI ID:5637306

Smith, J W

This report presents a description of the maintenance experience at the 10 MWe Solar Thermal Central Receiver Pilot Plant near Barstow, California, during the period January 1982 through March 1983. The plant systems are briefly described, and statistical data on maintenance orders, labor requirements, and maintenance costs are presented. The data presented have been extracted from Southern California Edison historical maintenance records accumulated at the plant. Pilot plant systems requiring the most maintenance activity are identified so that efforts to reduce plant maintenance costs can be properly identified. The information is analyzed for the purpose of developing a data base for general use during the economic assessment, design, and staff planning of future solar central receiver plants. However, data presented here from the Pilot Plant should not be used for direct scaling of larger power production plants. The number and size of equipment items for larger plants will not scale, the designs will vary, and the Pilot Plant includes special testing and evaluation equipment which would not be necessary in plants built for the sole purpose of power production. Data taken at the Pilot Plant during the early plant startup and operational phase shows an annual maintenance cost of approximately one perent of the recurring plant capital cost. Similar costs for recent technology steam electric generating plants are estimated to range from 1.5 to 3%. The Pilot Plant maintenance cost will not appear as favorable if based on energy produced during power production due to the small plant size and equipment intensive nature of the plant. The solar-unique systems of the plant required 45% of the total plant maintenance labor and 39% of the total maintenance cost, both percentages being lower than anticipated.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Livermore, CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DR00789
• OSTI ID: 5637306
• Report Number(s): SAND85-8211; ON: DE85012587
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140702* -- Solar Thermal Power Systems-- Central Receiver
BARSTOW SOLAR PILOT PLANT
CENTRAL RECEIVERS
COMPUTERIZED CONTROL SYSTEMS
CONTROL SYSTEMS
COST
CSP
Concentrating Solar Power
ELECTRIC GENERATORS
EQUIPMENT
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
HELIOSTATS
LABOR
MAINTENANCE
OPERATING COST
PILOT PLANTS
POWER PLANTS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
SOLAR RECEIVERS
SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS
THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE EQUIPMENT
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
TOWER FOCUS POWER PLANTS
TURBOGENERATORS