ANSYS > Case Studies > NEM Energy's Innovative Solar Energy System: A Case Study

NEM Energy's Innovative Solar Energy System: A Case Study

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Technology Category
  • Sensors - Optical Sensors
  • Sensors - Utility Meters
Applicable Industries
  • Electrical Grids
  • Renewable Energy
Applicable Functions
  • Product Research & Development
Use Cases
  • Smart Lighting
  • Structural Health Monitoring
Services
  • System Integration
About The Customer
NEM Energy b.v. is a leading company in the field of steam-generating equipment for power generation and industrial applications worldwide. The firm is driven by distinctive know-how and continuous technological innovation, leading to new applications such as steam generation from solar power. Their concentrated solar power (CSP) system is a sustainable source of power that uses mirrors or lenses to concentrate sunlight onto a small area to drive a heat engine connected to an electrical power generator.
The Challenge
NEM Energy b.v. was faced with a significant design challenge in their concentrated solar power (CSP) system. The CSP system uses mirrors or lenses to concentrate sunlight onto a small area to drive a heat engine connected to an electrical power generator. The key challenge was to increase the stiffness of the mirrors for CSP. This was crucial to ensure that as much reflected light as possible is directed to the target, called a receiver, without incurring a cost premium. Stiffness was critical because a mere 1-degree rotation error for a heliostat 380 meters away from the tower resulted in a 6.6-meter tracking error, meaning the reflected light was delivered 6.6 meters from the intended target on the tower.
The Solution
NEM Energy b.v. utilized ANSYS® Mechanical™ to address the design challenge. The engineering solution involved modeling the 16 mirror segments, or facets, of the heliostat with shell (mesh) elements. ANSYS Workbench™ was used to automatically add more than 1,000 contacts using a 5 mm tolerance value. Plastic deformation calculations were employed on small sections of the model to account for permanent deformations of the structure. ANSYS Parametric Design Language (APDL) command snippets were used to evaluate the model at different angles and wind speeds as part of a batch process. The output from the APDL command snippets was exported to a ray tracing routine that determined the effect of structural deformation on the light reaching the receiver. These results were then used to calculate the potential amount of electricity that could be generated by each heliostat design.
Operational Impact
  • The use of ANSYS® Mechanical™ and the engineering solutions implemented led to significant improvements in the performance and cost-efficiency of NEM Energy's heliostat designs. The simulation helped NEM to improve performance and reduce the cost of heliostat designs at a much faster pace than could be accomplished solely by building and testing prototypes. The output from the APDL command snippets was exported to a ray tracing routine that determined the effect of structural deformation on the light reaching the receiver. These results were then used to calculate the potential amount of electricity that could be generated by each heliostat design, thereby optimizing the efficiency of the CSP system.
Quantitative Benefit
  • Shell elements save computational time and can export rotation angles.
  • Automatic contact creation reduces the amount of time compared to manually creating contacts.
  • Plastic deformation calculations ensure that the permanent deformation is small enough to not affect the accuracy of linear analysis for structural predictions.

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