Aim point management system

Kurzfassung

The main objective of an aim point management system is the safe operation of solar tower power plants at higher efficiencies than with conventional control techniques. To achieve this aim, aim point optimization is indispensable, even though it suffers from highly fluctuating environmental conditions such as cloud courses. Modern plants, equipped with measurement systems, can predict the cloud movements and measure flux density distributions on the receiver’s surface. In this work, the aim point management system is coupled with these measurement systems. Moreover, it comprises a novel closed-loop aim point control technique that includes aim point optimization. Based on the variability of the clouds, the system selects a safe operation mode. Furthermore, the system’s modelling error is reduced by including the measurements. Finally, the feedback of the flux density distribution allows the controller to react on disturbances. In this work, the aim point management system is successfully tested at the solar tower in Jülich. There, the controller reacts on sudden changes in the allowable flux density within two to three control steps, each requiring ten seconds.