Numerical Analysis and Experimental Study in Design and Operation of Three Solar Parabolic Thermal Power Plants

The basic design is made for a 250 KW solar power plant. The main element of the plant is the collectors. Base on system simulation, a parabolic collector constructed and tested for one year. The model is first validated with experimental measurement and a detail numerical model is also developed to study effects of various optical properties of mirrors and receiver on the thermal performance of the collectors. It is observed that due to poor optical properties of the present collector, it would not be able to produce hot oil with desired temperature. Improving the material of the mirrors and the receiver tube, thermal performances exceed substantially from the design conditions. By considering available optical properties simulation is made to estimate yearly steady and unsteady behavior and the performance of the power plant for three locations: Shiraz, Yazd and Lar in Iran Comparison of the yearly performance of the cycle shows that unsteady behavior reveals different results and simulations approach a reliable technique to study such cycle.