Thermo-economic and comparative analyses of two recently proposed optimization approaches for circular heliostat fields: Campo radial-staggered and biomimetic spiral. (15th October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gadalla, Mohamed; Saghafifar, Mohammad
• Is Part Of: Solar energy. Volume 136(2016)
• Page Start: 197
• Page End: 209
• Publication Date: 2016-10-15
• Subjects: Concentrated solar power -- Heliostat field collector -- Thermo-economic optimization -- Campo radial-staggered layout -- Biomimetic spiral layout; Solar energy -- Periodicals; Solar engines -- Periodicals; 621.47
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2016.07.006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0038-092X

Abstract

Highlights: A comparative analysis between two heliostat field optimization methods is given. Three optimization objectives are considered to optimize the heliostat field layouts. Detailed thermo-economic analyses of the optimized field layouts are presented. Effects of different heliostat fields, tower and receiver design variables are given. Abstract: In this paper, comparative analyses between two newly proposed circular heliostat field layout designs, i.e. Campo radial-staggered and biomimetic spiral layouts are carried out. Moreover, different optimization objectives including annual weighted efficiency, annual unweighted efficiency, and levelized cost of energy are considered for field layout optimization. In addition, the effects of different design variables, such as the central tower height, number of heliostats in the field, receiver's dimensions and size of the mirrors on the field thermal and economical capabilities are investigated. Finally, the analysis' results indicate that optimum weighted efficiency for Campo radial-staggered and biomimetic spiral layouts are 61.6% and 61.5%, whereas the optimum levelized cost of energy for both methods are 32.4 US$/MWh.