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A Review of Conventional and Innovative- Sustainable Methods for Cleaning Reflectors in Concentrating Solar Power Plants

Author

Listed:
  • Sahar Bouaddi

    (R&D Department, Masen, Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy, N° 50 Rocade Sud, Rabat-Casablanca, Rabat, 10 000, Morocco)

  • Aránzazu Fernández-García

    (CIEMAT—PSA, Ctra. Senés Km. 4, P.O. Box 22, 04200 Tabernas, Almería, Spain)

  • Chris Sansom

    (Precision Engineering Institute, School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University, Bedford MK43 0AL, UK)

  • Jon Ander Sarasua

    (Fundación IK4, Avda. Otaola 20, 20600 Eibar, Spain)

  • Fabian Wolfertstetter

    (DLR German Aerospace Center, Solar Research, Plataforma Solar de Almería, 04200 Tabernas, Spain)

  • Hicham Bouzekri

    (R&D Department, Masen, Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy, N° 50 Rocade Sud, Rabat-Casablanca, Rabat, 10 000, Morocco)

  • Florian Sutter

    (DLR German Aerospace Center, Solar Research, Plataforma Solar de Almería, 04200 Tabernas, Spain)

  • Itiziar Azpitarte

    (Fundación IK4, Avda. Otaola 20, 20600 Eibar, Spain)

Abstract

The severe soiling of reflectors deployed in arid and semi arid locations decreases their reflectance and drives down the yield of the concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. To alleviate this issue, various sets of methods are available. The operation and maintenance (O&M) staff should opt for sustainable cleaning methods that are safe and environmentally friendly. To restore high reflectance, the cleaning vehicles of CSP plants must adapt to the constraints of each technology and to the layout of reflectors in the solar field. Water based methods are currently the most commonly used in CSP plants but they are not sustainable due to water scarcity and high soiling rates. The recovery and reuse of washing water can compensate for these methods and make them a more reasonable option for mediterranean and desert environments. Dry methods, on the other hand, are gaining more attraction as they are more suitable for desert regions. Some of these methods rely on ultrasonic wave or vibration for detaching the dust bonding from the reflectors surface, while other methods, known as preventive methods, focus on reducing the soiling by modifying the reflectors surface and incorporating self cleaning features using special coatings. Since the CSP plants operators aim to achieve the highest profit by minimizing the cost of cleaning while maintaining a high reflectance, optimizing the cleaning parameters and strategies is of great interest. This work presents the conventional water-based methods that are currently used in CSP plants in addition to sustainable alternative methods for dust removal and soiling prevention. Also, the cleaning effectiveness, the environmental impacts and the economic aspects of each technology are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Sahar Bouaddi & Aránzazu Fernández-García & Chris Sansom & Jon Ander Sarasua & Fabian Wolfertstetter & Hicham Bouzekri & Florian Sutter & Itiziar Azpitarte, 2018. "A Review of Conventional and Innovative- Sustainable Methods for Cleaning Reflectors in Concentrating Solar Power Plants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-25, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:3937-:d:179121
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Costa, Suellen C.S. & Diniz, Antonia Sonia A.C. & Kazmerski, Lawrence L., 2016. "Dust and soiling issues and impacts relating to solar energy systems: Literature review update for 2012–2015," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 33-61.
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    5. Bouaddi, S. & Ihlal, A. & Fernández-García, A., 2017. "Comparative analysis of soiling of CSP mirror materials in arid zones," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 437-449.
    6. Saeed Hadian & Kaveh Madani, 2013. "The Water Demand of Energy: Implications for Sustainable Energy Policy Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(11), pages 1-14, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Wiesinger, F. & Sutter, F. & Fernández-García, A. & Wette, J. & Hanrieder, N., 2021. "Sandstorm erosion on solar reflectors: A field study on height and orientation dependence," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    2. Qi Xia & Shuaiming Feng & Mingmin Kong & Chen Chen, 2021. "Efficiency Enhancement of an Ammonia-Based Solar Thermochemical Energy Storage System Implemented with Hydrogen Permeation Membrane," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-13, November.
    3. Hachicha, Ahmed Amine & Al-Sawafta, Israa & Ben Hamadou, Dhouha, 2019. "Numerical and experimental investigations of dust effect on CSP performance under United Arab Emirates weather conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 263-276.
    4. Wiesinger, F. & Sutter, F. & Fernández-García, A. & Wette, J. & Wolfertstetter, F. & Hanrieder, N. & Schmücker, Martin & Pitz-Paal, R., 2020. "Sandstorm erosion on solar reflectors: Highly realistic modeling of artificial aging tests based on advanced site assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    5. Dahlioui, Dounia & El Hamdani, Fayrouz & Djdiaa, Abdelali & Martínez López, Teodoro & Bouzekri, Hicham, 2023. "Assessment of dry and wet cleaning of aluminum mirrors toward water consumption reduction," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 248-255.
    6. Alami Merrouni, Ahmed & Conceição, Ricardo & Mouaky, Ammar & Silva, Hugo Gonçalves & Ghennioui, Abdellatif, 2020. "CSP performance and yield analysis including soiling measurements for Morocco and Portugal," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1777-1792.
    7. García-Segura, A. & Sutter, F. & Martínez-Arcos, L. & Reche-Navarro, T.J. & Wiesinger, F. & Wette, J. & Buendía-Martínez, F. & Fernández-García, A., 2021. "Degradation types of reflector materials used in concentrating solar thermal systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    8. Azouzoute, Alae & Zitouni, Houssain & El Ydrissi, Massaab & Hajjaj, Charaf & Garoum, Mohammed & Bennouna, El Ghali & Ghennioui, Abdellatif, 2021. "Developing a cleaning strategy for hybrid solar plants PV/CSP: Case study for semi-arid climate," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).

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