The Unit possesses a 3-MW solar tower, one of the three research solar towers worldwide. Experiments at a megawatt scale can be performed in the tower at four levels, using highly concentrated solar energy.
A new optical system has been introduced, extending the capability of the present tower to achieve novel challenging experiments. This system is known as the beam-down optics and comprises a 70-m2 reflector, shaped as a hyperboloidal section, which can orient the solar radiation arriving from the heliostats field down to an experimental target, placed on a fitting structure on the ground. This new supplement, which started its operation in mid-1999, enables the accomplishment of new megawatt-scale experiments at the Unit. This unique optics is one of its kind.
The current experiments in the tower are of a variegated nature. Among them, the following are to be pointed out: a high-temperature/high-pressure solar/air receiver to be connected directly in a gas turbine for electricity generation; solar reforming of low hydrocarbons to produce synthesis gas; carboreduction of metal oxides to produce the metal element; thermal cracking of hydrocarbons; and hydrogen production.
Some of these experiments are carried out in collaboration with local and foreign industrial and research organizations.
This file was last modified on 08/15/2004 15:13:58
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