Microstructure of Surface Pollutants and Brush-Based Dry Cleaning of a Trough Concentrating Solar Power Station

Abstract

The accumulation of pollutants on the surface of a Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) station reduces the power generation efficiency of the whole power plant, affects electricity output, and decreases sales income; therefore, it is particularly important to develop a reasonable and effective cleaning process. Surface pollutants which have a strong interaction with the cleaning process of power stations can determine the quality of cleaning to a certain extent. In this paper, the pollutants on the surface of a trough CSP station with different usage times were collected and characterized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), a particle size analyzer (PSA), and a transmission electron microscope (TEM). It was found that most of the surface pollutants were of a fine size and included amorphous particles which mainly resulted from the sedimentation of particles suspended for a short time or particles in the process of atmospheric circulation for a long time. Considering the service life of the mirror and the scarcity of water resources in the area where the trough CSP power station is located, a brush-based dry cleaning process with different cleaning times was developed. By comparing the changes in the reflectivity and micro-morphology of the mirror surface before and after cleaning, the feasibility and superiority of the brush-based dry cleaning process were fully confirmed.