Publications Details

Test Bed Concentrator No. 1 calorimetry results

Rawlinson, K.S.; Dudley, V.E.

Calorimetry was performed on Sandia National Laboratories' Test Bed Concentrator {number sign}1 (TBC-1) during late July and early August 1989. The purpose of the tests was to determine the total power available from the concentrator and the amount of the total power that can be focused through a 22-cm aperture plate located at the nominal focal point of the dish. The 22-cm aperture corresponds to the diameter of several reflux receivers that are currently under development, fabrication and testing at Sandia. The calorimeter test will allow the efficiency of the sodium reflux receivers to be calculated. The total power (normalized to 1000 W/m{sup 2}) available from TBC-1 is 66.4 kW into the 22-cm aperture plate. Within error limits, this power level is the same with or without the aperture plate. The power levels stated are for this time (July 1989) and will probably change as the mirrors further degrade. Since the last calorimetry tests were performed, the mirror facets have degraded significantly, and the results presented here support this effect. Finally, three of the 220 facets were missing. 3 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs.