Prototype dish testing and analysis at Sandia National Laboratories
During the past year, Sandia National Laboratories performed on-sun testing of several dish concentrator concepts. These tests were undertaken at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF). Two of the tests were performed in support of the DOE Concentrator Receiver Development Program. The first was on-sun testing of the single-element stretched-membrane dish; this 7-meter diameter dish uses a single preformed metal membrane with an aluminized polyester optical surface and shows potential for future dish-Stirling systems. The next involved two prototype facets from the Faceted Stretched-Membrane Dish Program. These facets, representing competitive design concepts, are closest to commercialization. Five 1-meter triangular facets were tested on-sun as part of the development program for a solar dynamic system on Space Station Freedom. While unique in character, all the tests utilized the Beam Characterization System (BCS) as the main measurement tool and all were analyzed using the Sandia-developed CIRCE2 computer code. The BCS is used to capture and digitize an image of the reflected concentrator beam that is incident on a target surface. The CIRCE2 program provides a computational tool, which when given the geometry of the concentrator and target as well as other design parameters will predict the flux distribution of the reflected beam. One of these parameters, slope error, is the variable that has a major effect in determining the quality of the reflected beam. The methodology used to combine these two tools to predict uniform slope errors for the dishes is discussed in this document. As the Concentrator Development Programs continue, Sandia will test and evaluate two prototype dish systems. The first, the faceted stretched-membrane dish, is expected to be tested in 1992, followed by the full-scale single-element stretched-membrane dish in 1993. These tests will use the tools and methodology discussed in this document. 14 refs., 10 figs., 5 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA); USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 5857799
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-91-1263C; CONF-920436-5; ON: DE92001621
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1992 ASME-JSES-KSES international solar energy conference, Maui, HI (United States), 4-8 Apr 1992
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
PARABOLIC DISH COLLECTORS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
TESTING
SOLAR RECEIVERS
C CODES
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS
IMAGE PROCESSING
MEMBRANES
REFLECTIVITY
STIRLING CYCLE
COMPUTER CODES
CONCENTRATING COLLECTORS
EQUIPMENT
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PARABOLIC COLLECTORS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROCESSING
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SURFACE PROPERTIES
THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES
141000* - Solar Collectors & Concentrators
140700 - Solar Thermal Power Systems