A HIGH INTENSITY SOLAR FACILITY FOR SIMULATING THERMAL NUCLEAR ENVIRONMENT

THE PROPOSED CONCEPT USES AN INNOVATIVE SOLAR CENTRAL RECEIVER DESIGN TO PRODUCE THE VERY HIGH FLUX DENSITIES AND POWER REQUIREMENTS NEEDED FOR THIS APPLICATION. AN ARRAY OF EQUATORIALLY MOUNTED HELIOSTATS WITH TOROIDAL SHAPED SURFACES ARE ARRAYED IN A TILTED FIELD LAYOUT. THE HIGH FLUX DENSITIES ARE PRODUCED THROUGH A COMBINATION OF THE DESIGNS ABILITY TO PLACE LARGE AMOUNTS OF HELIOSTAT AREA CLOSE TO THE FOCAL ZONE AND THE ABILITY TO CONTROL OPTICAL ASTIGMATISM. UNLIKE OTHER CENTRAL RECEIVER CONCEPTS, THE PROPOSED DESIGN DIRECTS THE CONCENTRATED SOLAR ENERGY TO A GROUND-BASED FOCAL ZONE ALLOWING FOR ANY SIZE AND SHAPE TEST OBJECT AND RAPID EXPERIMENT TURN AROUND. ALSO, DUE TO THE USE OF ONLY A SINGLE REFLECTIVE SURFACE, THE MAXIMUM ULTRAVIOLET CONTENT OF THE INCIDENT SOLAR ENERGY IS MAINTAINED, PROVIDING THE MOST ACCURATE SIMULATION OF A THERMAL NUCLEAR EVENT. A FACILITY BUILT ON THE PROPOSED CONCEPT WILL ALSO HAVE THE ABILITY TO GENERATE ELECTRICAL (OR OTHER) POWER WHEN NOT USED FOR TESTING PURPOSES.