STASH – Standalone Alert System for Heat-transfer fluid loss in parabolic-trough concentrated solar plants

One of the most worrying problems during the operation of parabolic trough power plants is the occurrence of oil leaks along the circuit. Since these are more likely to appear in the components that suffer greater stress, such as those with moving parts, during the STASH project a heat transfer oil leak sensor will be integrated into the rotary joint isolators used throughout the solar field, which will allow real early detection of leaks, minimizing the damage, both economic and environmental, that an oil leak could cause. This will also make it possible to digitalize a basic task that the plant operator must perform in parallel with other tasks that are also being carried out at present, in order to reduce the personnel costs associated with them.

To this end, during the STASH project, work will be carried out on the integration of a leak sensor based on infrared gas detection technology adapted to this type of plant, developing both the light guide needed to interrogate the entire volume around the joint and the interrogator itself. In addition, this sensor will be provided with remote and autonomous operation capabilities, to help in the more than necessary process of digitization of solar thermal power plants. Finally, this project will also develop a relevant environment for testing, which will allow the complete sensor validation process to be carried out without the need to access commercial plants to do so, thus facilitating and speeding up this process.

CENER will provide the laboratory level development and knowledge of the sensor that has already been carried out. In addition, CENER’s experience in the development of different test benches and different stages of thermal loops, as well as the conditions under which the sensor will work in the plant, will allow the development of the relevant environment for the system tests, as well as the test plan to which the sensor will be subjected in this bench to demonstrate a correct operation directly comparable to that which it would have in any commercial plant.