Redirector design methodology for horizontal target plane applications at the Central Receiver Test Facility

ABSTRACT:
The equations necessary for designing a multifaceted redirector that directs energy from a heliostat onto a secondary, sometimes horizontal, target have been derived. Although the equations are quite general, the approach has been formulated with specific applications of the Central

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Receiver Test Facility (CRTF) and the Sandia Solar Furnace in mind. A computer code, ORC, has been developed that applies the derived set of equations to the CRTF heliostat field. The output of ORC is a preliminary design for the redirector. This output is subsequently used as an input to the CRTF facility code, HELIOS, to obtain a complete flux density distribution on both the redirector and receiver surfaces. Upon examination of these results, the redirector design can be modified and the above procedures repeated until a satisfactory design is obtained. The proposed design methodology is illustrated with a preliminary design example. The new capabilities that a redirector can provide to the CRTF or the Solar Furnace represent a powerful new resource for activities and experiments where radiation direction is an important variable.

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