CIEMATRI-003
CESA-1
Central receiver · 1983
5 MWNominal power on Target [kW]
3000Peak flux on target [kW/m2]
About this facility
The CESA-1 plant is a very flexible facility operated for testing subsystems and components such as heliostats, solar receivers, thermal storage, solarized gas turbines, control systems and concentrated high flux solar radiation measurement instrumentation. It is also used for other applications that require high photon concentrations on relatively large surfaces, such as in chemical or high-temperature processes, surface treatment of materials or astrophysics experiments. The tower is provided with a 5-ton-capacity crane at the top and a freight elevator that can handle up to 1000-kg loads.
Technical specifications
18 parameters| Facility type | Central receiver |
|---|---|
| Year of construction | 1983 |
| Land area occupied [m²] | 80000 |
| Tower height [m] | 83 |
| Number of testing platforms in the tower | 4 |
| Testing platforms – description | There are three testing platforms located at 45, 60, and 75 meters along the tower, all of which are fully equipped and versatile enough to accommodate any of the following experimental configurations: Solar furnace cavities for materials testing, successfully used to replicate the thermal ramp experienced by space shuttles during atmospheric reentry on ceramic heat shield samples, as well as for the surface treatment of steels and other metallic compounds. Calorimetry test setups, designed for experiments involving pressurized volumetric solar receivers. Multipurpose facilities for testing and evaluating new solar receiver concepts. Each of the three platforms is adaptable, allowing these types of experiments to be conducted interchangeably at any of the designated heights. A volumetric air receiver test facility at the top of the tower at 80 m. |
| Number of heliostats and field arrangement | 300 heliostats arranged in a North field configuratiom |
| Maximum distance between heliostats and tower [m] | 500 m |
| Heliostats size [m2] | 40 |
| Heliostat type | 12 facets, installed in a rectangular "two petals" configuration |
| Nominal power on Target [kW] | 5 MW |
| Total reflective Area [m2] | 12000 |
| Reflectivity of Reflective Area (when Clean) [%] | 0.92 |
| Peak flux on target [kW/m2] | 3000 |
| Maximum Sun concentration | 2700 |
| Heliostat qualification system | 12 × 12 m² Lambertian target north of the tower, for optical-quality testing of heliostat prototypes |
| Flux measurement systems | Two Lambertian-bar measurement systems equipped with radiometers |
| Tower Lambertian targets | 12 × 12 m² target at 35 m and 4 × 4 m² target at 68 m height |
Available services
- Heliostat(s) Performance Qualification
- Optical Properties/Characterization of Absorbers & Receivers and their coating
- Heliostat control algorithms
- Thermal and Thermodynamic characterization of prototype Receivers for Central Receiver on Tower Technologies under Real Operating Conditions
- Testing of Solarized gas turbine in Real Conditions
- Testing of materials at high temperature
- Testing of materials at high flux
Contact & links
Raul Enrique (raul.enrique@psa.es)