In this paper, a flux distribution model of the focal plane in dish concentrator system has been established based on ray tracking method. This model was adopted for researching the influence of the mirror slope error, solar direct normal irradiance, and tracking error of elevation-azimuth tracking device (EATD) on the focal spot characteristics (i.e., flux distribution, geometrical shape, centroid position, and intercept factor). The tracking error transmission law of the EATD transferred to dish concentrator was also studied. The results show that the azimuth tracking error of the concentrator decreases with the increase of the concentrator elevation angle and it decreases to 0 mrad when the elevation angle is 90°. The centroid position of focal spot along x-axis and y-axis has linear relationship with azimuth and elevation tracking error of EATD, respectively, which could be used to evaluate and calibrate the tracking error of the dish concentrator. Finally, the transmission law of the EATD azimuth tracking error in solar heliostats is analyzed, and a dish concentrator using a spin-elevation tracking device is proposed, which can reduce the effect of spin tracking error on the dish concentrator. This work could provide fundamental for manufacturing precision allocation of tracking devices and developing a new type of tracking device.
8 June 2018 in International Journal of Energy Research
Dish-Stirling concentrated solar power system (DS-CSP) is an important pathway for converting solar energy into electricity at high efficiency. In this study, a rated power 38 kW DS-CSP system was developed (installed in Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing Group). The heat engine adopted the alpha-type four cylinders double-acting Stirling engine (Stirling Biopower Flexgen S260). The absorber flux distribution simulation was conducted using ray tracing method and then the 204 m2 parabolic dish concentrator system (diameter is 17.70 m and focal length is 9.49 m) with single concentrator plus single pillar supporting has been designed and built. A water-cooled disc target and an absorber imitation device were adopted to test the tracking performance of the dish concentrator system, homogeneity of the focal spot and flux distribution of the absorber. Finally, the S260 Stirling engine was installed on the focal position of the dish concentrator and then the net output power date of the 38 kW DS-CSP system was tested. The absorber overheating problem on the DS-CSP system performance was discussed when the DS-CSP system was installed in different locations. The testing result shows that this system achieved the net output power of 38 kW and solar-to-electricity efficiency (SEE) of 25.3% with the direct normal irradiation (DNI) at 750 W/m2. The net output power can further increase to 40.5 kW with the SEE of 26.6% when the DNI reaches up to the maximum of 761 W/m2. The net output power of the 38 kW DS-CSP system has a linear function relationship with the DNI. The fitting function is Net power output=0.1003×DNI-36.129, where DNI is at the range of 460~761 W/m2. This function could be used to predict the amount of the 38 kW DS-CSP system annual generation power.
Underwater images have the advantage of carrying high information density and are widely used for marine information acquisition. Due to the complex underwater environment, the captured images are often unsatisfactory and often suffer from color distortion, low contrast, and blurred details. Physical model-based methods are often used in relevant studies to obtain clear underwater images; however, water selectively absorbs light, making the use of a priori knowledge-based methods no longer applicable and thus rendering the restoration of underwater images ineffective. Therefore, this paper proposes an underwater image restoration method based on adaptive parameter optimization of the physical model. Firstly, an adaptive color constancy algorithm is designed to estimate the background light value of underwater image, which effectively guarantees the color and brightness of underwater image. Secondly, aiming at the problem of halo and edge blur in underwater images, a smoothness and uniformity transmittance estimation algorithm is proposed to make the estimated transmittance smooth and uniform, and eliminate the halo and blur of the image. Then, in order to further smooth the edge and texture details of the underwater image, a transmittance optimization algorithm for smoothing edge and texture details is proposed to make the obtained scene transmittance more natural. Finally, combined with the underwater image imaging model and histogram equalization algorithm, the image blurring is eliminated and more image details are retained. The qualitative and quantitative evaluation on the underwater image dataset (UIEBD) shows that the proposed method has obvious advantages in color restoration, contrast and comprehensive effect, and has achieved remarkable results in application testing. It shows that the proposed method can effectively restore underwater degraded images and provide a theoretical basis for the construction of underwater imaging models.