Dumped Energy

Hello Paul,

Running SAM 2011 physical model, in some simulations happens that in some hours in which the turbine is not working at full capacity and therefore the thermal energy to the turbine is not the maximum permitted, some of this energy goes to dumped energy. This should not be the way to work, shouldn't be?

Which factors limit the thermal energy entering the turbine? I suppose that dumped energy only should exist when the thermal energy to the PB will be the maximun.

Thanks and regards

Please see the explanation of dumped energy for the physical trough model in the Physical Trough Model (PDF 3.7 MB) on page 16, and the description of collector defocusing in Section 2.2.1.

For the physical trough model, SAM records an approximation the amount of solar energy incident on the array that the system does not allow to reach the collector by defocusing the collectors when the solar field energy exceeds the power cycle's design point, and reports this value as "dumped thermal energy."

Best regards,
Paul.