A two-layered solution for automatic heliostat aiming

Cruz, Nicolás C.; Álvarez, José Domingo; Redondo, Juana López; Berenguel, Manuel; Ortigosa, Pilar M.

doi:10.1016/j.engappai.2018.04.014

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The method iteratively considers the effect of groups on each other. Finally, in [17], the authors of this paper design a general method that works in a continuous search space like the previous one, but it aims to replicate any desired flux distribution on the receiver. Therefore, it allows avoiding peaks or achieving any other feature by adjusting the flux map reference.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this context, a closed-loop controller based on heuristic rules is designed and tested. It aims to make it possible to translate and polish the instantaneous result of the method in [17]. The open-source ray-tracer Tonatiuh [34] is taken as the reality.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The flux distribution achieved on the receiver depends on the active heliostats and their aim points [17][18][19]. Besides, it is affected by the apparent solar movement, the evolution of direct normal irradiance (DNI) throughout the day (including its sudden variations caused by clouds [15]), heliostat errors, the wind and other atmospheric phenomena [14,15,17]. Consequently, there are far too many variables to delegate the aiming control tasks to human operators [17], especially considering the development of current multi-aiming strategies [18,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Besides, it is affected by the apparent solar movement, the evolution of direct normal irradiance (DNI) throughout the day (including its sudden variations caused by clouds [15]), heliostat errors, the wind and other atmospheric phenomena [14,15,17]. Consequently, there are far too many variables to delegate the aiming control tasks to human operators [17], especially considering the development of current multi-aiming strategies [18,20]. Many proposals have been made to control heliostat fields with different objectives and scopes [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

A Simple and Effective Heuristic Control System for the Heliostat Field of Solar Power Tower Plants

Cruz¹,

Álvarez²,

Redondo³

et al. 2020

ACTA POLYTECH HUNG

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Solar power tower plants use large arrays of mirrors, known as heliostats, to concentrate solar radiation on their receiver and heat the working fluid inside them. However, receivers must not be under thermal stress. Otherwise, their life expectancy is reduced, which affects the cost and viability of production plant. Controlling the flux distributions on receivers requires selecting the active heliostats and their target points. It is a challenging task that should not be under the responsibility and expertise of human operators only. This work defines a closed-loop controller to keep the setpoint or desired flux map under certain conditions. It combines real measurements and an ad-hoc analytical model of the target field with a set of heuristic rules that covers how to activate, deactivate, and re-aim heliostats. The proposed system has been applied to a model of the CESA-I field at the Solar Platform of Almería. The open-source ray-tracer Tonatiuh represents the reality. The initial operation point has been determined with a theoretical flux distribution optimizer. According to the experimentation, the controller improves the initial and modelbased flux distribution by raising its power from 708.4 to 736.4 kW (with a setpoint of 739.6 kW).

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%