Rotork works closely with the solar energy industry to integrate economical and efficient intelligent valve actuation and control solutions into the design of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants. The giant Noor CSP in Morocco is one of the projects using the Rotork solution.
The Noor I CSP Farm is the first phase of a project for the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) to bring renewable energy to millions living in Morocco. It is being followed by Noor ll and Noor lll expansions, due for completion by 2018, by when the entire grid will cover 6,000 acres and will be capable of generating up to 580 MW of power, making it the largest CSP complex in the world.
The now completed Noor l is made up of 500,000 curved mirrors, each standing at about 12 metres tall. These mirrors concentrate the sun’s light onto a pipeline filled with Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF), heating it up to 393°C. The HTF fluid, comprising molten salt and oil, is stored and used to create superheated steam for driving turbines that generate electricity. Construction of Noor ll, which will add 200 MW generating capacity, is now underway.
To date, more than 500 Rotork electric and pneumatic valve actuators have been supplied on the Noor project. The majority of these are the latest IQ and IQTF intelligent electric actuators operating isolating and regulating valves on the HTF pipework and storage plant, controlled by Rotork Pakscan two-wire digital networks.
The IQTF actuators deliver precise positional control of globe valves installed on the HTF pipework. Economical and reliable valve control is enhanced by the extremely long range network capabilities, built-in redundancy and installed cost savings enabled by Rotork Pakscan. Each Pakscan Master Station can operate a bus loop of up to 20 kilometres in length with no deterioration in communication performance or the need for repeaters, making it ideal for the very spacious environment of a solar power plant.
In addition, large numbers of Rotork CP and GP range pneumatic actuators have been supplied on butterfly valves providing isolating and regulating duties on the HTF and molten salt pipelines.
