Analysis of once-through boiler concepts in parabolic troughs

Concentrated solar power plants or solar thermal electricity plants, respectively, use mirrors to concentrate the sunlight and heat up a fluid to high temperatures. This heat can be used to run a steam turbine and generate electricity. Such plants work similar to conventional steam power plants, with the only difference in replacing the fossil steam generator by a solar one. The steam can directly be generated within the solar field receivers. As in conventional power plants, there exist two main concepts for this direct steam generation process, one with forced circulation during the evaporation phase and one in a once-through configuration. This book covers a wide range of aspects regarding solar once-through boilers in parabolic trough collector fields for the first time, including: • Design criteria for parabolic trough loops • Transient models for detailed simulation and controller design • Robust control strategies for large-scale commercial plants • Experimental validation from the industrial-scale DISS test facility at Plataforma Solar de Almería in Spain • Methodology for component life time estimation • Economic comparison of the once-through configuration with the state-of-the-art recirculation type. The book may thus serve as a handbook of solar once-through steam generators, which are found to be technically feasible and econonomically promising