TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of heliostat field global tracking error distributions by Monte Carlo simulations
AU - Díaz-Félix, L. A.
AU - Escobar-Toledo, M.
AU - Waissman, J.
AU - Pitalúa-Díaz, N.
AU - Arancibia-Bulnes, C. A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work has been funded jointly by CONACYT (Grant Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Several error sources can contribute to the global tracking error of heliostats. These sources can be, for instance, angular offset in the reference position of the tracking mechanisms, imperfect leveling of the heliostat pedestal, lack of perpendicularity between the tracking axes, lack of precise clock synchronization. All these possible errors are characterized by angles that have very specific numerical values for each heliostat in a central receiver installation. However, they are intrinsically random in nature, and the errors in different heliostats are independent from each other. In principle, the overall drift behavior of the heliostats can be characterized by a statistical distribution of tracking errors. This global distribution characterizes the angular deviation of the heliostat normal and is used in ray tracing simulations of heliostat fields. It is usually assumed to be Gaussian, although some authors argue in favor of other types of distributions. In the present work, the dependence of the global tracking error distribution on the above mentioned primary error sources is investigated by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Random values are assumed for the different error parameters, and the resulting global tracking error distributions are evaluated for different times of the year for a heliostat field.
AB - Several error sources can contribute to the global tracking error of heliostats. These sources can be, for instance, angular offset in the reference position of the tracking mechanisms, imperfect leveling of the heliostat pedestal, lack of perpendicularity between the tracking axes, lack of precise clock synchronization. All these possible errors are characterized by angles that have very specific numerical values for each heliostat in a central receiver installation. However, they are intrinsically random in nature, and the errors in different heliostats are independent from each other. In principle, the overall drift behavior of the heliostats can be characterized by a statistical distribution of tracking errors. This global distribution characterizes the angular deviation of the heliostat normal and is used in ray tracing simulations of heliostat fields. It is usually assumed to be Gaussian, although some authors argue in favor of other types of distributions. In the present work, the dependence of the global tracking error distribution on the above mentioned primary error sources is investigated by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Random values are assumed for the different error parameters, and the resulting global tracking error distributions are evaluated for different times of the year for a heliostat field.
KW - Gaussian distribution
KW - Heliostat
KW - Monte Carlo simulations
KW - Solar tower power plants
KW - Tracking errors
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84902295141&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.egypro.2014.03.140
DO - 10.1016/j.egypro.2014.03.140
M3 - Artículo de la conferencia
AN - SCOPUS:84902295141
SN - 1876-6102
VL - 49
SP - 1308
EP - 1317
JO - Energy Procedia
JF - Energy Procedia
T2 - International Conference on Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems, SolarPACES 2013
Y2 - 17 September 2013 through 20 September 2013
ER -