Abstract

The paper presents the technical modifications of DEFRAC (Spanish acronym for Device for the Study of Highly Concentrated Radiative Fluxes) in order to obtain a mini-solar furnace (MSF). DEFRAC is placed in vertical position and the optical arrangement of facets is oriented viewing to the north. A small flat heliostat system with 5.6 m2 of surface area was designed and constructed to track the movement of the sun and redirect sunlight along to the optical axis of the fixed DEFRAC the concentrator. The reflective surface of the heliostat is obtained by using a flat mirror with a tolerance lesser than 1 mrad. The MSF has a shutter with an area of 2.56 m2 that attenuates the solar energy reflected by the heliostat. In this paper we present the preliminary result of the optical performance for the MSF and the evaluation of the track system of the heliostat and the control of the shutter. The MSF will be used in the development of different kind of studies; from studies of heat transfer in open small cavities to the development of small receivers.