Analysis of the behavior of a parabolic trough collectors’ plant for weather conditions of Cartagena - Bolívar

Abstract

Solar energy and concentration technologies, have gained importance in recent years due to their versatility and positive impact on the environment. Varios son las tecnologías que se pueden utilizar para generar electricidad, a partir de la irradiación solar, sin embargo, la tecnología de Colectores Cilíndrico Parabólico, recibe el reconocimiento por tener mayor desarrollo comercial. Before this panorama, this work analyzes the solar radiation potential of the city of Cartagena is located in Colombia with Elevation of 32 m, Latitude (10.57°), Longitude (-75.46), DNI 40.84KWh/m 2/day, DHI 2.26 KWh/m 2/day, Average wind speed 4.5 m/s for the use of parabolic trough collector to generate electricity. To achieve the purpose of this work, a methodology is implemented for the characterization of this type of plants. In the initial stage, the requirements of the solar field are considered and configured. Followed by the stage of characterization of the thermal storage system, and configuration of the system. To later characterize the power cycle, an operating parameter to respond to the energy demand defined in this research. In the final part of this work, an analysis of operating parameters is proposed, in order to obtain improvements in the configuration of the proposed system. The results obtained allowed us to determine that for the evaluated conditions and the configuration of the determined plant, it can operate with the Therminol PV-1 fluid, a solar multiple of 1.7 and solar salt, as the storage system fluid.