An accurate estimate of fixed operating costs is essential to determine the financial viability of any proposed project. Although other researchers have reported maintenance costs for large-scale concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in the United States [1 - 2], there is currently little information available specifically for small-scale CSP or solar Industrial Process Heat (IPH) plants. This paper discusses the maintenance of an operating small-scale CSP plant in Louisiana over a four year period. The results are also applicable to a small-scale IPH plant. Maintenance activities and costs are discussed for the collector field, the power block, and the cooling tower. For the collector field, a study of the degradation of mirror reflectance between washings was performed for three different types of reflective polymer thin films (3M 1100, 3M 2020, and Konica Minolta). Overall, the 3M 2020 film provided better reflectivity between washings than the other films. An optimized mirror washing schedule was determined. Optimal mirror washing schedules are very site-dependent, but for this humid subtropical location, the most economical washing schedule was found to be every 114 days, or approximately three times per year. A recommended maintenance plan for small-scale CSP and IPH plants is presented and actual maintenance costs over a four year period are provided. It was found that maintenance costs for small-scale plants are substantially larger than for large-scale plants, and that maintenance costs for small-scale IPH plants are much lower than for small-scale CSP plants, making IPH applications significantly more attractive. The average annual maintenance cost for a small-scale CSP plant was found to be approximately $457/kWe, or $0.27/kWhe. For a small-scale IPH plant the costs were $3.72/m2, $7.81/kWt, and $0.005/kWht.
| Published in | International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy (Volume 6, Issue 6) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijrse.20170606.12 |
| Page(s) | 104-111 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Solar Energy, Concentrating Solar Power, CSP, Maintenance Costs, O&M, Soiling
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APA Style
Kenneth August Ritter III, Matthew Joseph Prilliman, Terrence Lynn Chambers, Jonathan Richard Raush. (2018). Maintenance of a Small-Scale Parabolic Trough Concentrating Solar Power Plant in Louisiana. International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy, 6(6), 104-111. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijrse.20170606.12
ACS Style
Kenneth August Ritter III; Matthew Joseph Prilliman; Terrence Lynn Chambers; Jonathan Richard Raush. Maintenance of a Small-Scale Parabolic Trough Concentrating Solar Power Plant in Louisiana. Int. J. Sustain. Green Energy 2018, 6(6), 104-111. doi: 10.11648/j.ijrse.20170606.12
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijrse.20170606.12,
author = {Kenneth August Ritter III and Matthew Joseph Prilliman and Terrence Lynn Chambers and Jonathan Richard Raush},
title = {Maintenance of a Small-Scale Parabolic Trough Concentrating Solar Power Plant in Louisiana},
journal = {International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy},
volume = {6},
number = {6},
pages = {104-111},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijrse.20170606.12},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijrse.20170606.12},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijrse.20170606.12},
abstract = {An accurate estimate of fixed operating costs is essential to determine the financial viability of any proposed project. Although other researchers have reported maintenance costs for large-scale concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in the United States [1 - 2], there is currently little information available specifically for small-scale CSP or solar Industrial Process Heat (IPH) plants. This paper discusses the maintenance of an operating small-scale CSP plant in Louisiana over a four year period. The results are also applicable to a small-scale IPH plant. Maintenance activities and costs are discussed for the collector field, the power block, and the cooling tower. For the collector field, a study of the degradation of mirror reflectance between washings was performed for three different types of reflective polymer thin films (3M 1100, 3M 2020, and Konica Minolta). Overall, the 3M 2020 film provided better reflectivity between washings than the other films. An optimized mirror washing schedule was determined. Optimal mirror washing schedules are very site-dependent, but for this humid subtropical location, the most economical washing schedule was found to be every 114 days, or approximately three times per year. A recommended maintenance plan for small-scale CSP and IPH plants is presented and actual maintenance costs over a four year period are provided. It was found that maintenance costs for small-scale plants are substantially larger than for large-scale plants, and that maintenance costs for small-scale IPH plants are much lower than for small-scale CSP plants, making IPH applications significantly more attractive. The average annual maintenance cost for a small-scale CSP plant was found to be approximately $457/kWe, or $0.27/kWhe. For a small-scale IPH plant the costs were $3.72/m2, $7.81/kWt, and $0.005/kWht.},
year = {2018}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Maintenance of a Small-Scale Parabolic Trough Concentrating Solar Power Plant in Louisiana AU - Kenneth August Ritter III AU - Matthew Joseph Prilliman AU - Terrence Lynn Chambers AU - Jonathan Richard Raush Y1 - 2018/01/16 PY - 2018 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijrse.20170606.12 DO - 10.11648/j.ijrse.20170606.12 T2 - International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy JF - International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy JO - International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy SP - 104 EP - 111 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-1549 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijrse.20170606.12 AB - An accurate estimate of fixed operating costs is essential to determine the financial viability of any proposed project. Although other researchers have reported maintenance costs for large-scale concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in the United States [1 - 2], there is currently little information available specifically for small-scale CSP or solar Industrial Process Heat (IPH) plants. This paper discusses the maintenance of an operating small-scale CSP plant in Louisiana over a four year period. The results are also applicable to a small-scale IPH plant. Maintenance activities and costs are discussed for the collector field, the power block, and the cooling tower. For the collector field, a study of the degradation of mirror reflectance between washings was performed for three different types of reflective polymer thin films (3M 1100, 3M 2020, and Konica Minolta). Overall, the 3M 2020 film provided better reflectivity between washings than the other films. An optimized mirror washing schedule was determined. Optimal mirror washing schedules are very site-dependent, but for this humid subtropical location, the most economical washing schedule was found to be every 114 days, or approximately three times per year. A recommended maintenance plan for small-scale CSP and IPH plants is presented and actual maintenance costs over a four year period are provided. It was found that maintenance costs for small-scale plants are substantially larger than for large-scale plants, and that maintenance costs for small-scale IPH plants are much lower than for small-scale CSP plants, making IPH applications significantly more attractive. The average annual maintenance cost for a small-scale CSP plant was found to be approximately $457/kWe, or $0.27/kWhe. For a small-scale IPH plant the costs were $3.72/m2, $7.81/kWt, and $0.005/kWht. VL - 6 IS - 6 ER -
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