Redirector design methodology for horizontal target plane applications at the Central Receiver Test Facility

Abstract

The equations necessary for designing a multifaceted redirector that directs energy from a heliostat onto a secondary, sometimes horizontal, target have been derived. Although the equations are quite general, the approach has been formulated with specific applications of the Central Receiver Test Facility (CRTF) and the Sandia Solar Furnace in mind. A computer code, ORC, has been developed that applies the derived set of equations to the CRTF heliostat field. The output of ORC is a preliminary design for the redirector. This output is subsequently used as an input to the CRTF facility code, HELIOS, to obtain a complete flux density distribution on both the redirector and receiver surfaces. Upon examination of these results, the redirector design can be modified and the above procedures repeated until a satisfactory design is obtained. The proposed design methodology is illustrated with a preliminary design example. The new capabilities that a redirector can provide to the CRTF or the Solar Furnace represent a powerful new resource for activities and experiments where radiation direction is an important variable.