Durability Studies of Solar Reflectors Used in Concentrating Solar Thermal Technologies under Corrosive Sulfurous Atmospheres

Alejandro García-Segura, Aránzazu Fernández-García, Francisco Buendía-Martínez, María Jesús Ariza, Florian Sutter and Loreto Valenzuela
Additional contact information
Alejandro García-Segura: CIEMAT-Plataforma Solar de Almería, Ctra. Senés, 04200 Tabernas, Almería, Spain
Aránzazu Fernández-García: CIEMAT-Plataforma Solar de Almería, Ctra. Senés, 04200 Tabernas, Almería, Spain
Francisco Buendía-Martínez: CIEMAT-Plataforma Solar de Almería, Ctra. Senés, 04200 Tabernas, Almería, Spain
María Jesús Ariza: Applied Physics Department, Almería University, CITE II-A Building, 04120 La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain
Florian Sutter: DLR, German Aerospace Center, Institute for Solar Research, Ctra. Senés, km 4, P.O. Box 22, 04200 Tabernas, Almería, Spain
Loreto Valenzuela: CIEMAT-Plataforma Solar de Almería, Ctra. Senés, 04200 Tabernas, Almería, Spain

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: Concentrating solar thermal (CST) technologies are a feasible and promising option to tackle worldwide energy problems. These solar facilities are sometimes located near industrial sites, where their main components—including concentrating solar reflectors—are prone to significant degradation caused by corrosive agents, especially in the presence of sulfurous atmospheres such as H 2 S and SO 2 . This paper focuses on analyzing the influence of sulfurous atmospheres on the durability of reflector materials used in CST technologies. To this end, accelerated aging tests were performed on the most commonly used materials found in solar reflectors (i.e., thick silvered glass and aluminum-based reflectors) by applying the same concentrations of H 2 S and SO 2 under the same conditions of temperature and relative humidity. The results showed that the solar reflectors based on a silver reflective layer are significantly corroded by H 2 S atmospheres—several corrosion defects were found in the samples tested. However, those based on aluminum were barely affected by sulfurous environments in the conditions tested. Nonetheless, the study suggests that both reflector types are suitable candidates, depending on the purpose of the CST technology in question and the specific environmental conditions.

Keywords: renewable energy; concentrating solar thermal technology; solar reflector; durability; corrosive sulfurous atmosphere; industrial environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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