Research Topics >

Research topics

The entire spectrum of current CST research themes (in line with the EERA Joint Programme on CSP).

The overarching tasks to be carried out specifically under the EU-SOLARIS’ umbrella are summarized as follows:

Development of common standards and testing protocols
Development of new measurement tools and techniques and improvement of existing ones
Development of solutions to improve flexibility and efficiency of existing test facilities
Development of tools and techniques related to materials for CSP/STE technologies
Development of new capacities and possibilities for access to European CSP/STE infrastructures

Testing services

Country	ES	FR	DE	FR	CY	DE
Beneficiary	CIEMAT	CNRS	DLR	CEA	CYI	Franunhofer
1.- SOLAR RESOURCE (DNI) AND METEOROLOGICAL PARAMETERS ASSESSMENT
Solar Radiation Measurement and Weather Station	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Advising on Solar Radiation Measurement & Data Processing	No	No	No	No	No	No
DNI Measurement and Analysis	No	No	No	No	No	No
2.- SERVICES ON REFLECTORS AND CONCENTRATORS
2.1 Experimental Services on Reflectors
Characterization of Optical Properties of Solar Reflectors	No	–	No	Yes	No	Yes
Durability of Solar Reflectors under Accelerated Aging	No	–	No	Yes	No	Yes
Outdoor exposure of Solar Reflectors	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Optical Properties of Mirrors. Reflectance measurement. Facets characterization	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Corrosion and material protection studies under artificial aging tests	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Corrosion and material protection studies under outdoor exposure	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Measurements on material properties	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Heliostat control algorithms	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
2.2- Available Services on Concentrator’s Experimental Characterization
Photogrammetry Measurement of Concentrator’s shape	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Geometrical assessment of Solar Concentrators (Single Facets, Point and Line Focus Collectors)	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Deflectometry Measurement of Concentrator’s shape	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Optical and thermal characterization of solar concentrators	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Heliostat(s) Performance Qualification	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Parabolic Trough Collector’s Characterization	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
3.- EXPERIMENTAL SERVICES ON ABSORBERS AND RECEIVERS
3.1- Experimental Services on Absorbers
Accelerated Aging of absorbers & absorbing coatings	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Optical Properties/Characterization of Absorbers & Receivers and their coating	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Surface Properties of Absorbers & Receivers and their coating	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
3.2- Experimental Services on Linear Focus Receivers
Outdoor optical and thermal performance of PTC linear receivers	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Outdoor optical and thermal performance of Linear Fresnel receivers	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Indoor qualification of linear receivers for PTC	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Indoor qualification of linear receivers for LFC	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Testing of components for parabolic troughs solar fields with direct steam	No	No	No	No	No	No
Generation under real operating conditions	No	No	No	No	No	No
Testing of components for parabolic troughs solar fields with oil under real operating conditions	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Linear Fresnel control algorithms	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
3.3- Experimental Services on Anti-Reflective Materials
Surface Properties of Anti-Reflective coatings for solar receivers	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Optical properties of solar glass envelopes with and without anti-reflective coatings	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Durability tests of Anti-Reflective Coatings on glass envelopes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Static Contact Angle measurements on the surface of Anti-Reflective Coatings	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
3.4- Experimental Services on Point Focus Receivers
Thermal and Thermodynamic characterization of prototype Receivers for Central Receiver on Tower Technologies under Real Operating Conditions	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Lab-scale test bed used for the evaluation of open volumetric receivers	No	No	No	No	No	No
Characterization of thermal performance of prototype Receivers for solar dish technology coupled with MGT engine	No	No	No	No	No	No
4.- SERVICES ON HEAT TRANSFER FLUIDS
Qualification HTF based on particles	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Characterization of HTF thermal properties	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Characterization of HTF/HSM chemical stability	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Qualification HSM/HTF	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
5.- SERVICES ON AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT
Testing of Rotating Connections for PT receivers (Flexible hoses, ball-joints, etc.)	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Flexible or ball-joints connections testing for molten salt loop	No	No	No	No	No	No
Testing in molten salt loop of auxiliary components (valves, heat tracing, instrumentation)	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Sensor development and testing	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Heat Exchangers Characterization	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Molten salt pool to steam heat exchangers	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
6. – SERVICES ON THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE (MEDIA&SYSTEM)
Study on molten salts in Parablic Trough Collectors and pipe section	No	No	No	No	No	No
Characterization of Materials and Components for ETS	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Feasibility of Materials for Sensible and Latent Thermal Storage Systems	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
Qualification of Heat Storage using Packed beds under Real Oparating Conditions	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Thermal & thermochemical properties evaluation for thermal storage materials	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Development and characterization of Materials and Components for TES	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Advanced solid concepts for thermal energy storage	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Characterization of Materials and COmponents for TES systems with molten salts	Yes	TBD	Yes	No	No	Yes
Qualification of Heat Storage using concrete under experimental conditions	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Qualification of Heat Storage using PCM under experimental conditions	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Simulation and modelling of thermal storage systems. Integration in STE plants or industrial heat processes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Atmosferic air packed bed test bench for simulation models validation	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Testing TES prototypes using oil as HTF	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Two-tank molten salt storage system for simulation models validation	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
7. SERVICES ON ENGINES AND POWER BLOCS
7.1 – Solarized Stirling Engines
Testing of Solarized Stirling Ebgines in Real Conditions	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Testing os Solarized gas turbine in Real Conditions	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Testing of small steam turbines powered by molten salt steam generator	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
7.2 Other Services on Engines and Power Blocks for CSP
Optimization of exhaust gas/ molten salt heat exchangers by means of numerical simulation and experimental test	No	No	No	No	No	No
8. – SERVICES ON CALIBRATION OF KEY SENSORS & MEASUREMENTS FOR STE
Online and offline diagnostics	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Calibration of Concentrated solar irradiance sensors	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
High flux sensors qualification	No	Yes	TBD	No	No	No
Qualification of high raditive flux processes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Calibration of Infrared sensors for temperature measurement	No	No	TBD	No	No	No
Non-Contact Temperature Measurement at Solar Furnaces	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
High temperature optical properties measurement	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Calibration of synthetic oil mass flow meters	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Calibration of solar Irradiation, Temperature and pressure measurement sensors	No	No	No	No	No	No
Calibration of RSP Solar Irradiation Sensors	No	No	No	No	No	No
9. – SERVICES ON SOLAR CHEMISTRY
9.1- Water Treatment, Disinfection adn Desalination
Solar photocatalytic treatment of urban and industrial wastewaters	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Solar Photocatalytic Water Disinfection	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Solar Reactors Development for Water Treatment	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Solar Thermal Desalination by Multi-Effect Distillation	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Efficiency improvement of low temperature distillation processes by absorption heat pumps	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Efficiency improvement of MED processes by absorption heat pumps	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Solar Thermal Desalination by Membrane Destillation	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Innovative membrane desalination technologies (MD,FO)	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Characterisation and Testing of Membranes for Water treatment	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Low-temperature solar collectors for thermal water treatment	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
9.2 – High Temperature Solar Chimestry
High Temperature Thermochemical Research Units	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Thermal and Themodynamic characterization of prototype Reactors for Central Receiver on Tower Technologies under real operating conditions	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Solar Fuels and Thermochemistry	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Qualification of Solar Driven Processes under realistic conditions	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
9.3 – Solar Hydrogen
Solar Hydrogen Production Process Qualification	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Solar Thermochemical Hydrogen/ Syngas	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Water splitting thermochemical cycles	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Solar Hydrogen production and wastewater treatment	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
10. – SERVICES ON MATERIALS TESTING AND QUALIFICATION
Surface materials treatment	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Metallography. Micro-hardness analytics. Thermogravimetric analysis	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Advanced materials analysis and characterization techniques	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Material synthesis	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Analytical Services (Other Materials)	No	No	No	No	No	No
Gas analysis	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Organic Coatings Qualification	Organic Coatings Qualification	Organic Coatings Qualification