Structural Performance-Based Design Optimisation of a Secondary Mirror for a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Plant

Lucio Pinello, Massimo Fossati, Marco Giglio, Francesco Cadini (), Carla Bevilacqua, Mario Cilento, Fulvio Bassetti and Raffaello Magaldi
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Lucio Pinello: Department of Mechanical Engineering—Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 1, 20156 Milano, Italy
Massimo Fossati: Department of Mechanical Engineering—Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 1, 20156 Milano, Italy
Marco Giglio: Department of Mechanical Engineering—Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 1, 20156 Milano, Italy
Francesco Cadini: Department of Mechanical Engineering—Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 1, 20156 Milano, Italy
Carla Bevilacqua: Magaldi Power S.p.A., Piazza di Pietra 26, 00186 Roma, Italy
Mario Cilento: Magaldi Power S.p.A., Piazza di Pietra 26, 00186 Roma, Italy
Fulvio Bassetti: Magaldi Power S.p.A., Piazza di Pietra 26, 00186 Roma, Italy
Raffaello Magaldi: Magaldi Power S.p.A., Piazza di Pietra 26, 00186 Roma, Italy

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-18

Abstract: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants use mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a receiver, to heat a fluid and store thermal energy, at high temperature and energy density, to produce dispatchable heat and/or electricity. The secondary mirror is a critical component in the optical system of certain Solar Power Tower plants (SPT), as it redirects the concentrated sunlight from the primary mirror onto the receiver, which can be arranged at ground level. In this study, we propose a design optimisation for the secondary mirror of a CSP plant. The design optimisation method consists of two steps. The first step involves the use of the finite element simulation software Abaqus 2022 to analyse the structural performance of the secondary mirror under thermal loads and wind. The second step consists of the use of simulation results to identify the combination of design parameters and best performances, with respect to both design constraints and structural safety. This is carried out by developing an algorithm that selects those configurations which satisfy the constraints by using safety coefficients. The proposed optimisation method is applied to the design of a potential configuration of a secondary mirror for the beam-down of the CSP Magaldi STEM ® technology, although the methodology can be extended to other components of CSP plants, such as primary mirrors and receivers, to further enhance the structural performance of these systems.

Keywords: optimisation; design optimisation; structural optimisation; CSP plant; secondary mirror; secondary mirror optimisation; renewable energies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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