Patent Application
20120031095
The present invention relates to an absorber pipe for a solar power station according to claim 1 and a method for its manufacture according to claim 12.
Solar thermal power stations have already been producing for some time power on an industrial scale at prices, which—compared with photovoltaic technology—are closer to today's customary commercial prices for power generated in a conventional manner.
In solar thermal power stations the radiation from the sun is reflected by means of collectors with the aid of a concentrator and systematically focused onto a location at which high temperatures arise as a result. The concentrated heat can be led away and used for the operation of thermal power machines such as turbines, which in turn drive the generators that generate the electrical power.
Today there are three basic forms of solar thermal power stations in use: dish-Sterling systems, solar tower power station systems, and parabolic trough systems.
Parabolic trough power stations feature a large number of collectors, which have long concentrators with a small lateral dimension, and thus possess not a focal point, but rather a focal line; this fundamentally differentiates this design from that of the dish-Sterling and solar tower power stations. Today these line concentrators feature lengths from 20 m up to 150 m, while the widths can be as much as 5 m or 10 m, or more. Along the focal line runs an absorber pipe for the concentrated heat (as a rule up to about 400° C.); the pipe transports this heat to the power station. A fluid such as, for example, thermo oil or superheated stream comes into consideration as the transport medium; this circulates in the absorber pipework.
Although a trough collector is preferably designed as a parabolic trough collector, trough collectors with spherical or only approximately parabolic designs of concentrators are often used, since an exact parabolic concentrator with the dimensions cited above can only be manufactured with great effort that is not really justified economically.
The 9 SEGS trough power stations in southern California together produce a power output of approximately 350 MW, and an additional power station in Nevada should be connected to the network at around the present time and deliver more than 60 MW. A further example of a trough power station is the Andasol 1 in Andalusia currently on trial, with a concentrator surface area of 510,000 square metres and a power output of 50 MW, with the temperature in the absorber pipework at approximately 400° C. The pipework system for the circulation of the heat-transporting fluid can in such power stations reach a length of up to 100 km or more if the design concepts for future large facilities are implemented. The costs for Andasol 1 total 300 million.
It can be estimated that roughly 40% or more of the total costs for a solar power station fall upon the collectors and the pipework system for the heat-transporting fluid, and that the efficiency of the power station is decisively determined by the quality of the absorber pipework.
Conventional concentrators permit a concentration ratio in the range from 30 to 80, which leads to the desired high temperatures in the heat-transporting medium. Unfortunately this results in turn in a significant level of heat radiation from the absorber pipework that can reach 100 W/m, which for a pipework length of the order of the 100 km cited above significantly impairs the efficiency of the power station.
Accordingly the absorber pipework is increasingly being built in a more complex manner in order to avoid these energy losses. Thus widely used conventional absorber pipework is designed from glass and a metal pipe, with a vacuum present between glass and metal pipe. The metal pipe guides the heat-transporting medium in its interior, and on its outer surface is provided with a coating that absorbs the inward radiated light in the visible spectrum but features a low outward radiation rate for wavelengths in the infrared range. The encasing glass tube protects the metal pipe from cooling by wind and acts as an additional barrier for the outward radiation of heat. What is disadvantageous here is that the encasing glass wall both partially absorbs but also reflects the incident concentrated solar radiation, with the result that a coating is applied to the glass to reduce the reflection.
In order to reduce the laborious cleaning effort required for such absorber pipework, and also to protect the glass from mechanical damage, the absorber pipework can also be fitted with an encompassing mechanically protective tube, which, while it does have to be provided with an opening for the incident solar radiation, otherwise protects the absorber pipework in a very reliable manner.
Such structures are complex and accordingly expensive both in manufacture and also in maintenance. it is therefore the object of the present invention to provide absorber pipework of the type cited that can be used in a more cost-effective manner and with the highest possible temperatures of the heat-transporting fluid.
US PS 1 644 473 now shows an externally insulated absorber pipe with an absorber cavity extending lengthwise through the pipe internally, into which concentrated radiation enters via a similarly lengthwise running slot on the absorber pipe.
This allows the external face of the absorber pipe to be insulated effectively and at low cost in a simple manner, and thus to hold the heat losses at a low level compared with today's widely-used, complicated and maintenance-intensive designs. Moreover such a design is robust and simple to manufacture.
Furthermore in the document cited means are disclosed whereby the radiation that has entered through the slot into the absorber cavity is distributed by means of reflection over as much as possible of the total wall region of the absorber cavity, and thereby accordingly increases the absorbing wall surface at the expense of the slot opening. These means consist in the first instance of two deflecting mirrors positioned opposite to the slot opening, a collecting lens then preferably being arranged in the slot, which lens directs the collected incident radiation onto the deflecting mirrors. The radiation is then distributed by the mirrors over the wall surface. In another form of embodiment the absorbing wall of the absorber cavity is fitted with alternating peaks and troughs, on which the incident radiation is scattered by means of reflection and is thus similarly distributed over the whole wall surface.
A heat-transporting fluid flows around the absorbing wall of the absorber cavity and carries the heat away.
Absorber pipework of the type cited is now also to be improved beyond the object as set.
This object as set is achieved by means of an absorber pipe with the features of claim 1. A preferred form of embodiment of an externally insulated absorber pipe has the features of claim 3.
As a result of the means for reduction of the radiation emitted from the absorbing surface reducing the radiation emitted with increasing temperature of the absorbing surface to an increasing extent, or vice versa, reducing the radiation emitted less at a location of comparatively low temperature, the effort required to manufacture an absorber pipe can be reduced. The technical effort required to reduce the emitted radiation also climbs steeply with the operating temperature of the absorbing surface; this is of particular consequence if the temperature of the heat-transporting fluid increases above today's usual 400° C. to increase the efficiency of the power station and is to be provided for use on an industrial scale. According to the invention complex means for the reduction of the emitted radiation are concentrated at the exit side of the absorber pipe, i.e. in the region with high operating temperatures of the absorbing surface, and simple (or no) measures are provided for reduction of the emitted radiation at the entry side.
In the case of a conventional absorber pipe these can be assembled in the form of a kit of various modules, which are shielded in various ways against the emission of radiation. It is conceivable to have an entry side first section without any shielding, a middle section with some first, beneficial shielding, and a third exit side section with more complex, accordingly more effective, but also expensive and maintenance-intensive shielding. Such an arrangement noticeably reduces the costs of a collector field for a solar power station on an industrial scale.
For a preferred form of embodiment of an externally insulated absorber pipe designed according to the invention, there ensues:
As a result of the emergence of the radiation emitted from the wall of the absorber cavity being impeded, the efficiency of the absorber pipe increases; in that this takes place only in zones with a high operating temperature, the structure of the absorber pipe is simplified; despite the increased efficiency the pipe can still be manufactured comparatively cost effectively. The temperature of the wall of the absorber cavity basically increases linearly from the entry point for the heat-transporting fluid up to the exit, while the emission of the radiation increases exponentially with increasing temperature. In the entry region of the absorber pipe the radiation emission is therefore of little significance, but in its exit region it is of great significance.
Beyond the object as set the preferred form of embodiment of the present invention is particularly suitable for trough collectors with a spherically curved concentrator. Such concentrators do not generate a focal line, but rather a focal line region, which as such presupposes a comparatively wide thermal opening. Particularly in the case in which high temperatures are to be achieved in the wall of the absorber cavity for improved efficiency, a wide thermal opening is critical for a high efficiency on account of the radiation losses. According to the invention the radiation losses are now reduced where they occur, while where the radiation losses are low, the simple cost-effective structure with a wide thermal opening can be retained unmodified.
Thus there results in turn a relevant reduction of the manufacture, installation and maintenance costs of a solar power station with use of the absorber pipe according to the invention.
The features of preferred forms of embodiment are described in the dependent claims.
Further advantages of the absorber pipe according to the invention are described in more detail in conjunction with a preferred form of embodiment, as represented with the aid of the figures.
a to 5d show the flux in the four different sections of the absorber pipe of
The absorber pipe 5 is suspended on suitable supports 6 at the location of the focal line or focal line region. Depending on the design the mirror is supported on the struts 3 such that it can pivot so that the mirror can track the seasonal (or even the daily) position of the sun.
In the absorber pipe 5 supplied fluid collects the heat introduced into the pipe by the concentrated solar radiation and transports this via a suitable, conventional pipework system (not represented in any further detail so as to simplify the figure) to the thermal machinery of the power station where the electrical power is generated.
Such trough collectors 1 are of known art in all details of the design to the person skilled in the art in a wide variety of forms of embodiment. Likewise the person skilled in the art is familiar with the suitable pipework runs that guide the heat-transporting fluid to and from the trough collector in question of a solar power station. As a rule, but not necessarily, the heat-transporting fluid is located in a circuit.
A wide variety of fluids are used for the heat transport; in particular fluids such as oil that possess a high thermal capacity are preferred. Hardly used at all—and definitely not for solar power generation on an industrial scale—are water or air, the latter because as a result of its comparatively low thermal capacity relative to its volume large volumes must be moved through the pipework system of the power station, which creates its own problems.
However, the use of oil or water, for example, is also not without its problems. In order to use the thermal capacity of the oil in an optimal manner, and to maintain the efficiency of the power station as high as possible, the oil is heated to a high temperature. A suitable circuit then runs, for example, at 390° C. and a pressure of 10 bar. In addition to the high costs of such an oil a further disadvantage is that the oil breaks down as soon as the temperature increases to 400° C., and thus complex temperature regulation is required. A water circuit can, for example, be operated at 300° C. and a pressure of 200 bar. While it is true that no denaturation of the water is to be feared at temperature peaks, the high pressures create design problems in the construction of the absorber pipework, while the thermal capacity is not as good as that of oil. Also the corrosive effect of the water, not least with the phase change from water to steam, is not to be underestimated.
An absorber cavity 12 runs lengthwise in the interior of the absorber pipe 10 up to the absorbing wall 13, preferably designed as a thin-walled hollow profile with an essentially constant wall thickness.
A jacket 18 encases the absorber cavity 12 essentially concentrically, and such that a cavity 19 annular in cross-section is formed between the jacket and the absorbing wall 13; the cavity runs lengthwise through the absorber pipe 10.
The heat-transporting fluid (in the present case, for example, a gas) circulates through this annular cavity 19, which lies in an outer region of the absorber pipe 10, as is indicated by the double arrow 20 showing the possible directions of circulation.
In the form of embodiment shown in the figure the absorbing wall 13 is designed as a waveform profile in cross-section. As a result an incident concentrated solar ray 4, insofar as it is not absorbed by the absorbing wall 13, is multiply reflected (and in the process is each time partially absorbed) and thus the incident radiation is scattered, as represented in the example by its reflected components 4′ to 4′″. In this manner the energy introduced by the ray 4 is distributed over the whole region of the absorbing wall 13, with the result that the latter is distributed by the concentrated radiation 4 over its periphery and is thereby heated very evenly.
Under operational conditions the heat-transporting fluid flows continuously from the entry side of the absorber pipe to its exit side, the absorbing wall 13 being cooled most strongly at entry; correspondingly the operating temperature of the absorbing wall 13 is a minimum at entry, and then increases evenly up to the exit side, where it is a maximum.
The heat-transporting fluid enters the absorber pipe 10, for example, with a temperature of e.g. 60° C., is heated up while passing through the latter and leaves with an exit temperature, which in the application of the present invention, e.g. in the case of air (or also other media), can lie at 650° C. The absorbing wall 13 is therefore most strongly cooled at entry and most weakly cooled at exit; in the present example its temperature TAW at entry is 150° C., then increases linearly over its length and at exit is ultimately 650° C. (
The jacket 18 features an insulating layer that impedes the transfer of heat from the absorber pipe 10 to its surroundings. Since this insulation does not have to be transparent for incident radiation, as is the case in a widely-used design in accordance with the prior art, it can simply (and thus also cost-effectively) and at the same time effectively, be executed e.g. in rock wool.
Overall the result is a robust and cost-effective design that can even be manufactured on-site during the construction of a solar power station, for example, in the desert with limited access. Simple transport and simple on-site installation, combined with a robust design, are features that are not to be underestimated in a technology, which in the nature of things also has to be used in sparsely populated regions that have little or no infrastructure.
As mentioned with reference to
Under operational conditions, i.e. at the operating temperature, the absorbing wall 13 now for its part radiates thermal radiation outwards, as is described below. This radiation is emitted outwards over the surface area of the thermal opening 14, thereby reducing the efficiency of the absorber pipe 10.
According to the Stefan/Boltzmann Law thermal radiation, essentially infrared radiation 24, is fundamentally emitted from any body, with the emission increasing with the fourth power of the temperature of the body. The emitted radiation W is given by W=σT4 W/m2 and in the present case, with a temperature of the absorbing wall 13 of 650° C., corresponds to 40,000 W/m2. Starting from the premise that the energy radiated from the sun onto the earth's surface corresponds to a flux of 1,000 W/m2, it follows that this loss is equivalent to 40 suns. If ultimately the collector now achieves an 80 times concentration, this means an average flux of 80,000 W/m2 (80 suns) of concentrated radiation 4 through the thermal opening 14 into the absorber cavity 12. At an absorbing wall 13 temperature level of 650° C. there now necessarily ensues at the same time a loss of 40 suns out of the opening 14, which corresponds to 50% of the concentrated radiation.
According to the invention means are now provided on the absorber pipe 10, which as a function of the operating temperature of the absorbing wall 13, rising over the length of the thermal opening, reduce the emergence of radiation 24 emitted outwards through the thermal opening. In
In the first section 26 no such means are yet provided, thanks to the still low temperature of the absorbing wall 13; the thermal opening 14 has its full width bv, not a reduced width. In the second section 27 these means have a thermal opening with a reduced width bred 27, in the third section 28 the thermal opening 14 is provided with a covering 30, which is transparent for radiation in the visible spectrum and is non-transparent, or of reduced transparency, for radiation essentially in the infrared range. Finally in the fourth region 29 an optical element 31 is arranged on the thermal opening 14 of reduced width bred 29; this is designed to guide also such concentrated radiation 4 that is incident outside the thermal opening 14 of reduced width bred 29 by diffraction of the radiation path through the thermal opening 14 (
A covering of the thermal opening 14 in sections 26 and 27 can be dispensed with if the opening is directed downwards, since the hot air in the absorber cavity 12 does not flow out by means of convection, so that no heat loss takes place.
At this point it should be noted that the solar radiation incident onto the concentrator 2 (
a to 5d now show four diagrams 26* to 29*, corresponding in each case to the diagram of
If the direction of the concentrated radiation 4 is taken to be positive (into the pipe 10), the direction of the emitted radiation 24 is negative (out of the pipe 10). Accordingly the flux W should be indicated in the negative region of the vertical axis of the diagrams. To simplify the presentation, however, (and to show the intersection points of the distribution K with the flux W), W is plotted as a positive value.
Assuming a flux W=40,000 W/m2 at 650° C., the following data apply:
In section 26 the flux W26 is insignificant. The width b of the thermal opening 14 is therefore not reduced, and is determined as the full width bv of the distribution K of the concentrated radiation 4. The conditions of
In section 27 the flux W27 is already significant. Accordingly the width of the thermal opening is here reduced according to the invention to the width bred 27, such that within the width bred 27 the sum of the fluxes K+W (concentrated radiation 4 and emitted radiation 24) is at least zero at each point (which outside bred 27 would no longer be the case). Over each point of the width bred 27 more radiation enters in total than exits. Thus over the total width bred 27 a solely positive introduction of energy into the absorber chamber 12 ensues, in spite of the thermal emission W caused by the radiation 24. The average flux D27 (see once again the hatched regions) amounts to more than 80,000 W/m2 or 80 suns, so that in spite of the reduced width bred 27 the introduction of energy through the opening 14 is optimal.
In section 28 the flux W28 is considerable. Here the additional effort of providing a covering 30 for the thermal opening 14 is worthwhile; this covering is transparent for radiation 4 essentially in the visible spectrum, and for radiation 24 essentially in the infrared range it is non-transparent or of reduced transparency. Accordingly the flux emitted from the absorbing wall 13 W28 is reduced to the flux W28′ that actually exits through the opening 14; here the latter is crucial for the dimensioning of the width bred 28, which in turn is dimensioned such that the sum of the flux F and the emitted radiation W is always at least zero???. Thus an optimised introduction of energy into the absorber chamber 12 also ensues in section 28.
In section 29 the flux W29 is of critical importance. Here the additional effort of providing an optical element 31 on the thermal opening 14 is worthwhile; by diffraction of the radiation path the optical element guides the incident concentrated radiation 4 through the thermal opening 14. This has the result that the distribution of the concentrated radiation 4, after passing through the optical element 31, is modified compared with those in
To a first approximation the width bred 29 can basically be reduced to approximately 70 of the full width bv. By the use of such an optical element 31 the advantage moreover ensues that an increased quantity of concentrated radiation 4 enters through the opening 14; this comes from the non-parallel solar radiation (cone angle of the solar radiation of approx. 0.5°, see above), and from solar radiation scattered at the concentrator 2 (
The example represented in
As a result it is possible to design an absorber pipe for higher and maximum temperatures of the heat-transporting fluid, without the effort required for this becoming prohibitive, since the means appropriate in each case are only provided at the efficiency-sensitive sections.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20/09 | Jan 2009 | CH | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CH10/00003 | 1/7/2010 | WO | 00 | 8/30/2011 |
