Short-Duration Performance Acceptance Test of Parabolic Trough Solar Field: A Case Study

Extensive solar field performance testing is often required as part of the plant commissioning process in order to ensure that actual solar field performance satisfies both technical specifications and performance guarantees between the involved parties. In this study, short duration (15 min) steady state performance acceptance test for Kuraymat integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) solar field was carried out in agreement with the general guidelines of the earlier National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) report on parabolic trough (PT) collector fields (Kearney, 2011, “Utility-Scale Parabolic Trough Solar Systems—Performance Acceptance Test Guidelines,” National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, NREL Report No. SR-5500-48895 and Kearney, 2010, “Development of Performance Acceptance Test Guidelines for Large Commercial Parabolic Trough Solar Fields,” National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, NREL Report No. SR-5500-49367) which is in full agreement with the plant documentations provided by FLAGSOL (2010, “Specification: Performance Test Procedure. Plant Documentations,” Customer Doc-ID: KU1-FLG-000-QP-M-001). This work includes measurement of the thermal power output of PT system under clear sky conditions over a short period during which thermal steady state conditions exist. The methodology of the solar field testing is presented while a special consideration is provided for the model formulation and uncertainty associated with the measured data. The measured results together with the associated uncertainties were compared with model predictions. All tests for both northern and a southern collector subfields that satisfy the test conditions are accepted based on acceptance test evaluation criteria.