Hi Marcelo,
You can determine the index for an HTF by looking at the SAM user interface.
For example, on the Solar Field page for the Physical Trough model, the Field HTF fluid (combo_htf_type) input is this dropdown list,
so combo_htf_type = 3 is the Therminol VP-1 HTF:
There is code in the user interface that translates combo_htf_type into a value for the SSC variable Fluid, so for Therminol VP-1,
you would set Fluid = 21:
equations{ 'Fluid' } = define() {
return ?${combo_htf_type}
[
18, // 18.) Nitrate Salt**
19, // 19.) Caloria HT 43**
20, // 20.) Hitec XL**
21, // 21.) Therminol VP-1**
22, // 22.) Hitec**
23, // 23.) Dowtherm Q**
24, // 24.) Dowtherm RP**
30, // 30.) Therminol 59
29, // 29.) Therminol 66
31, // 31.) Pressurized Water
50 // user defined HTF
];
};
Another, more useful reference might be the comment block in materials.cpp in the SAM GitHub repository, which is a complete list of all of the Fluid ID values:
github.com/NREL/SAM/blob/c6f570b48f35ace11590b95fedf14216996d6598/src/materials.cpp#L298
.
Best regards,
Paul.