This project involves designing, developing and building a small-scale prototype of a concentrating solar power tower system. The system will consist of several heliostats that direct sunlight towards a receiver on a 6-meter tower to collect solar energy. The heat transfer fluid in the receiver will transfer the collected heat to a storage tank containing molten salt for thermal energy storage. The stored thermal energy can then be used to generate electricity similarly to fossil fuel power plants.

1. A small Concentrating Solar Power Tower System
‫هذا‬‫المشروع‬‫نظام‬ ‫وبناء‬ ‫وتطوير‬ ‫بتصميم‬ ‫يتعلق‬‫نموذج‬‫صغير‬ ‫برج‬‫موضح‬ ‫هو‬ ‫(كما‬
)‫المرفق‬ ‫بالشكل‬‫ويتم‬ ‫ذائب‬ ‫ملح‬ ‫على‬ ‫يحتوي‬ ‫خزان‬ ‫في‬ ‫وتخزينها‬ ‫الشمسية‬ ‫الطاقة‬ ‫لجمع‬
‫الشمس‬ ‫أشعة‬ ‫تتبع‬‫كبيرة‬ ‫القطة‬ ‫بمرايا‬‫تدفق‬ ‫تركيز‬ ‫على‬ ‫تعمل‬ ‫التي‬ ‫الهيلوستات‬ ‫وتسمى‬
‫حرارية‬ ‫مبادالت‬ ‫نحو‬ ‫اإلشعاعية‬ ‫الطاقة‬‫شمسية‬ ‫مستقبالت‬ ‫تسمى‬‫الطاقة‬ ‫نقل‬ ‫يتم‬ ‫حيث‬ ،
‫الحرارية‬.‫الشغال‬ ‫المائع‬ ‫إلى‬‫األشعة‬ ‫تعكس‬ )‫(هيلوستات‬ ‫عواكس‬ ‫عدة‬ ‫من‬ ‫يتكون‬ ‫النظام‬
‫مناسب‬ ‫ارتفاع‬ ‫ذو‬ ‫برج‬ ‫باتجاه‬ ‫الشمسية‬.‫و‬‫مستقبل‬ ‫يوجد‬‫الجزء‬ ‫في‬‫البرج‬ ‫من‬ ‫العلوي‬
‫و‬ .‫الهيلوستات‬ ‫من‬ ‫المنعكسة‬ ‫الشمسية‬ ‫الطاقة‬ ‫لجمع‬‫يوجد‬‫المجمعة‬ ‫الحرارة‬ ‫لنقل‬ ‫سائل‬
‫ذائبة‬ ‫أمالح‬ ‫على‬ ‫الخزان‬ ‫هذا‬ ‫يحتوي‬ ‫حيث‬ ‫تخزين‬ ‫خزان‬ ‫إلى‬ ‫المستقبل‬ ‫في‬.‫النظم‬ ‫وتشمل‬
‫الحرارية‬ ‫والمبادالت‬ ،‫والمستقبل‬ ، ‫المرايا‬ ،‫وحواملها‬ ‫الهيلوستات‬ ‫على‬ ‫الفرعية‬
‫ال‬ ‫وخزانانات‬،‫الفرعي‬ ‫النظام‬ ‫قبل‬ ‫من‬ ‫الشمسية‬ ‫الطاقة‬ ‫جمع‬ ‫وبعد‬ .‫الذائب‬ ‫ملح‬‫ال‬‫مركزات‬
‫لكهربائية‬ ‫الحرارية‬ ‫الطاقة‬ ‫تحويل‬ ‫يمكن‬ ‫فإنه‬ ،‫الشمسية‬ ‫الطاقة‬ ‫ومستقبالت‬ ، ‫الضوئية‬
‫والتي‬ ‫ذلك‬ ‫بعد‬‫من‬ ‫تتولد‬ ‫التي‬ ‫الكهربائية‬ ‫الطاقة‬ ‫تلك‬ ‫مع‬ ‫التشابه‬ ‫أوجه‬ ‫من‬ ‫الكثير‬ ‫بها‬
.‫األحفوري‬ ‫بالوقود‬ ‫تعمل‬ ‫محطات‬

2. ‫الشمسي‬ ‫للبرج‬ ‫توضيحي‬ ‫رسم‬
Summary:
A small scale prototype of solar tower system to gather
solar energy and store it in a molten salt tank will be
designed, developed and built (Fig. 1). The heliostats focus
the energy flow towards solar receivers, where energy is
transferred to a working thermal fluid. The proposed
system consists of several heliostats directing incident
solar rays to a tower of height about 6 meters. A solar
receiver will be installed at the top of the tower to collect

3. solar energy reflected from the heliostats. The heat
transfer fluid (HTF) transfers the collected heat in the
receiver to a storage tank. The storage tank contains molten
salts.
Fig. 1. Schematic of a solar tower power plant.
Storage Tanks:
Cold and hot tanks, which operate at atmospheric pressure,
will be fabricated from stainless steel with their walls and
roofs well insulated.
Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF):
In this system, molten salt will be used as the heat transfer
fluid where it will be heated by concentrated solar
radiation. In this molten-salt power tower plant, cold salt is
pumped from a tank at ground level to the receiver mounted

4. at top of the tower where it is heated by concentrated
sunlight. The salt flows back to ground level into another
tank.
Properties of Molten Salt:
Molten salt is a salt mixture of sodium and potassium
nitrates, 60% NaNO3 and 40% KNO3, which can be used as
heat transfer fluid in the temperature range from 260°C
and 600°C.
Features of the molten Salt:
 Operative temperatures: 260-600°C;
 Non flammable and non toxic fluid;

Salts Physical Properties :
 Density: 1899 kg m-3
 Thermal conductivity: 0.52 W.mg. K-1
 Heat capacity 1.46 kJ.kg. K-1
 Freezing Temperature: 238°C;
 Melting Temperature: 221°C;
 Heat of Fusion: 161 kJ/kg;
 Volume Change on Fusion: 4.6%.
The following is widely published design point values that have used for 60/40
Na/K Nitrate mixture.
Temperature
Density
(kg/m3
)
Specific Heat
(J/kg-K)
Absolute Viscosity
(Pa-s)
Thermal Conductivity
(W/m-K)
400 1835.6 1511.8 0.00178 0.519
At 300 C° the density is about 1900 kg/m3

5. Pipes:
The salt piping system includes all piping and valves
necessary to transport the cold salt from the cold salt tank
to the receiver inlet vessels and send it from the receiver
to the hot salt storage tank. The pipes are expected to be
insulated stainless steel.
Receiver:
Receivers of solar tower power stations serve to transform
the radiation energy, diverted and concentrated by the
heliostat field, into technical useful energy. It is proposed
to have a stainless steel receiver of 1.5 m x 1.5 m sit on the
top of a steel tower of 6-meter height. The receiver will
have a drain back to the cold tank. Ten flat heliostats (2.3
m2
each) will be used to direct sun rays to this receiver.
input
output