This heat energy is normally conducted from the absorber by liquid salt as a carrier medium and used to generate steam for the subsequent generation of electricity with conventional steam turbines and generators by means of a heat exchanger.
The very good storage capacity of this hot, liquid salt as a heat-transfer medium offers great benefit compared to other forms of solar energy generation by the fact that the generation of electrical energy can take place continuously.
With Solar Power Tower Check (SPTC) for CSP plants (concentrated solar power) InfraTec offers a high-performance system for fully automatic remote monitoring of the surface temperature for the entire absorber of a solar tower. SPTC works on the basis of infrared thermography technology and provides important measurement data reliably for optimum and safe operation of a key point of the solar power tower.
Position of IR cameras around the solar tower – measuring distance 330 m
1 – Solar Tower; 2 – IR Cameras; 3 – Heliostats
System Features
- Multi camera system for fully 100 % monitoring of absorber surface
- Highly detailed measurement of the panel temperature of the absorber
- Extensive conditioning of live images through automated focus tracking, size rectification and image stabilization
- Redundantly designed hardware and software for the entire system
- Main display with options for parameter setting, monitoring, operation, display, evaluation & playback with SPTC software
- Clear graphics with temperature values of the entire absorber surface, warning or alarm values in a table
- Continuous and fast transfer of all temperature and system data to the central power plant control system
- Customised system alignment and adjustment
Benefits of the SPTC System
- Automatic and complete absorber temperature monitoring on 24 / 7 basis
- HD thermography cameras and optimised tele lenses guarantee long-term precise and reliable temperature measurements via long distance
- Reduction of maintenance costs and downtimes
- Continuous real-time measurement and temperature analysis
- Redundant design of the complete system for safe operation
- Complex compensation of environmental influences
- Reliable alerting with defined limit values
- Specialised temperature measurement algorithm and software with interface to main operator system
- Optimised system for commissioning and regular operation of CSP solar power tower plants
- Optional remote access
System Structure of Hardware and Software Components
- A – Master system
- A1 ... A3 – IR camera (in protective housing with junction box)
- A4 – PC 1
- A5 – Temperature correction software
- A6 – SPTC software
- B – Slave system
- B1 ... B3 – IR camera (in protective housing with junction box)
- B4 – PC 2
- B5 – Temperature correction software
- B6 – SPTC software
- C – Modbus TCP / IP
- D – Central control system
Automated Monitoring of Thermal Solar Power Tower/CPS Plants by Means of Thermography
The absorber tubes of a solar tower power plant are heated up intensely by the concentrated solar radiation of the heliostats during operation. The SPTC measures the resulting temperatures and their local distribution on the absorber panels without any interaction of an operator. The system transfers the measured values to the control system, which calculates the signals for controlling the individual heliostats. In this way, optimum absorption behaviour is set, which ensures the efficient operation of the plant.
Corresponding limit values resulting in automatic warnings if they are exceeded, can be defined for monitoring the temperature development of the entire solar absorber and for preventing overheating.
Highly reliable components and a flexible structure characterise the turnkey SPTC monitoring solution. Thus, it can be easily adapted to the different conditions and system environments in the solar power tower.
Components
- HD thermography cameras with highest resolution of (1,024 × 768) IR pixels
- Rugged 19"-industrial standard main cabinet
- Protective housing designed to withstand extreme environmental conditions
- Decentralised installable components (IR-cameras, PC, alarm unit), fiber optic cable for interference-free data transmission
- TCP / IP based flexible structure
- Highly redundant transmission adjustment based on different measurement methods
- Redundant power supply, data transmission, complete data exchange via master and slave PC
- Easy to use SPTC software allows flexible customisation
Software
Example Projetcs of SPTC Solutions
Infrared Cameras as Life Insurance for a Billion Dollar Project
Solar power plants usually suffer from the disadvantage that they only supply energy when the sun is shining during the day. CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) solar tower power plants are different: they charge a large thermal buffer storage during the day, which allows the continuous generation of electrical energy also at night‐time. One of these solar tower power plants recently went into operation in the middle of the Atacama coastal desert in Chile.
