Planning and building the first ultimate

trough collector field in the Kingdom of

Saudi Arabia
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2126, 040002 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5117582
Published Online: 26 July 2019

K.-J. Riffelmann, A. Schweitzer, G. Weinrebe, et al.

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© 2019 Author(s).
 Planning and Building the First Ultimate Trough Collector
Field in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
K.-J. Riffelmann1, a), A. Schweitzer2, b), G. Weinrebe², c), and M. Balz², d)
1
Dr.-Ing., sbp sonne gmbh, Schwabstr. 43, 70197 Stuttgart, Germany
2
sbp sonne gmbh, Schwabstr. 43, 70197 Stuttgart, Germany
a)
Corresponding author: k.riffelmann@sbp.de
b)
a.schweitzer@sbp.de
c)
g.weinrebe@sbp.de
d)
m.balz@sbp.de

Abstract. After successful demonstration of the Ultimate Trough Technology within the test loop in California [1], the
Ultimate Trough collector was selected by a Spanish-Saudi Arabic consortium for the first commercial project in Duba.
Figure 1 represents a picture of the DUBA Green Power Plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), nearly completed
as of February 2018. As the plant location is close to the border of the Red Sea, special engineering efforts had to be
performed on possible corrosion issues and high wind loads. Solutions for this and further particularities in the Ultimate
Trough collector design for the project are presented in this article.

INTRODUCTION
The Ultimate Trough Technology development started in 2010, jointly by Flabeg GmbH and sbp sonne gmbh,
with scientific support from Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics and the German Aerospace Center
(DLR), and co-financed by the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation und Nuclear Safety. At
this time, most of the CSP projects were planned, under construction or already in operation in the Southwest of the
U.S., and in Southern Europe, namely Spain.

FIGURE 1. Aerial view on the Ultimate Trough solar field of Duba Green Power Plant in the KSA (published at google maps,
February 2018)

SolarPACES 2018
AIP Conf. Proc. 2126, 040002-1–040002-8; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5117582
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1866-0/$30.00

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 Other countries like Morocco and Egypt in the MENA1 region, South Africa, and India just started to develop
projects, with remarkable success as we know now. Countries like China, the Gulf Country States or Saudi Arabia
where not in the focus at this time.
In 2010, a comprehensive analysis of local building codes to be applied for the construction of solar fields for CSP
plants has been performed for those areas in focus, to decide for the most suitable design wind load. Wind load is the
most principal factor with high impact on the steel mass for the structure of the collector, while other loads (snow, ice,
seismic, and temperature induced loads) play a minor role.
Figure 2 represents a map with investigated countries, showing equivalent wind load pressure deviated from local
building codes. The Ultimate Trough standard design can be used in the green and yellow areas, and in most of the
blue areas with only minor adoptions (e.g. thicker profiles of some members in the torque box frames), without
changing the design principles.

FIGURE 2. Map with resulting design wind pressure loads according to local building codes for solar thermal power plants,
Green: < 1 kN/m², Yellow: <= 1.16 kN/m², blue: <= 1.6 kN/m², red: > 1.7 kN/m². Grey: not evaluated.

The standard design is suitable for wind speed up to 40 m/s 2. A wind fence is required at east and west field limits.

PARTICULARITIES FOR THE FIRST COMMERCIAL ULTIMATE TROUGH

PROJECT IN DUBA
The Ultimate Trough technology was chosen by the solar field EPC contractor, a consortium of the Spanish
company Initec Energía and Saudi Services for Electro Mechanic Works (SSEM), on an advanced stage of the project.
At that time, the boundaries for the solar field were already fixed, based on another collector geometry with smaller
collector width and length. The impacts on the solar field layout are described in the next section below.
As the Duba plant is located close to the border of the Red Sea in the KSA, special engineering efforts had to be
performed on possible corrosion issues and high wind loads. Different proposals were elaborated to tackle these issues,
the most relevant are presented in further sections.
Note that not all of the proposed solutions were realized in the project. It was under the responsibility of the EPC
contractor to select the most suitable ones.

1
Middle East North Africa
2
3-second gust wind speed with 50 years return period (10 m height, terrain roughness category II) according to EUROCODE.

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 Table 1 below summarizes the main differences between the Ultimate Trough standard design and the deviations
required for the Duba project.

TABLE 1. Key data of Ultimate Trough standard design and deviations for the DUBA project
Ultimate Trough Deviations for DUBA
standard design project
Aperture width 7.51 m -

SCE length 24.5 m -

SCEs per SCA 10 8

SCA length 246.7 m 197.5 m

Aperture area / SCA 1,716 m² 1,373 m²

Heat Collection Element

Diameter for synthetic oil applications 88.9 mm -

Length (5 resp. 6 HCE per SCE) 4877 mm 4062 mm

Design Conditions

Corrosion category C3 C5-M

Wind design speed 40 m/s 3 155 km/h (43.1 m/s)4

Mirror RP5 RP5s

Thickness 4 mm 4 and 5 mm

Size 2 x 2 m² 2 x 1.6 m²

Design Adaptions Due to Limited Solar Field Size

The Ultimate Trough technology was chosen by the solar field EPC contractor, a consortium of the Spanish
company Initec Energía and Saudi Services for Electro Mechanic Works (SSEM), on an advanced stage of the project.
At that time, the boundaries for the solar field were already fixed, based on another collector geometry with smaller
collector width and length. Therefore, several deviations from the standard design were chosen:
 The UT collector length was shortened, from 247 m (10 Solar Collector Elements per Collector Assembly) to
197.5 m (8 SCE per SCA). Four SCAs built one collector loop.
 In the south field, standard loops are installed, i.e. the collectors are arranged like an “U”, with one cross over
pipe between the second and third collector. The north field consists of “W” shaped loops, with four collectors
in parallel, connected with three cross over pipes.
 The row distance was shortened from 22 m to 18 m.

All deviations from the standard design are due to limits of available land, and have only economic disadvanteages
(more drive pylons per square meter aperture area, more cross over pipes, less yield due to shading effects). From the
engineering point of view, no special risks are related to these changes.

3
3-second gust wind speed with 50 years return period (10 m height, terrain roughness category II) according to EUROCODE. Wind fence
required at east and west field limits.
4
According to Saudi Building Code 301 wind map

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 The solar collector field consists of 31 loops with 124 UT collectors, around 170,000 m² aperture area. Figure 3
below represents the chosen field layout.

FIGURE 3. Solar field layout of the DUBA Green power plant at Duba, KSA

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 Design Adaptions Due to High Corrosion Category C5-M
While most of the CSP plants so far were built in desert climates, mostly at elevated heights and far away from the
coast due to more favorable solar resources, the Duba project is built at the Red Sea.

FIGURE 4. Map depicting the project location at the Red Sea close to Duba, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (from Google maps)

This location is rated in category “C5-M”, i.e. coastal and offshore areas with high salinity. The collectors are
located around 200 m to 1000 m from the shore line, and therefore subject to an atmosphere with high salinity, and
even spray from the sea. The collector parts which are exposed to the harsh environment include steel structures,
bearings, glass mirrors, HCE joints, brackets and bellow shields, and hydraulic drive units.

Steel Structure

Within the standard design, all steel structure elements are protected against corrosion by hot dip galvanizing. The
typical required zinc layer thickness for long period protection (> 15 years) is 30 µm, for corrosion category C3
medium according to ISO 12944. In practice, typical thickness of 60 - 100 µm is achieved with standard parameters
in the zinc coating bath.

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 TABLE 2. Atmospheric corrosion categories according to ISO 12944 part 2

Standard design

Design for the project

For C5-M, the expected annual zinc thickness loss is around 4 – 6 times higher than for C3, therefore the coating
must be increased to 150 µm at least.
It might be difficult to reach such coating at parts with thin wall thickness like the cantilever arms, which consist
mainly of hollow sections with 1 - 1.5 mm wall thickness. The following important parameters need to be considered
among others:
 Silicium, Aluminum and Phosphor content in the steel favors the build-up of thicker zinc coating. A Silicium
content > 0.3% is required.
 The dipping time has to be adjusted. Longer dipping times lead to further growth of the iron-zinc alloy layer.
 The zinc bath temperature has influence on the zinc thickness. Lower temperatures favor larger thicknesses.
 An additional steel material surface treatment by sweeping for example can favor the building up of higher
zinc thickness
Considering these parameters, the build-up of thicker zinc coating is feasible. It is recommended to conduct a
qualification test for the hot dip galvanizing process, before starting mass production.
Alternative coatings like „Duplex coating” or Magnelis® from ArcellorMittal, are feasible as well. From the
economic point of view they are less attractive.

Pylon Bearings

The UT standard pylon bearing consists of a chrome plated surface on the top of a sub-layer of nickel on the torque
tube, and a composite material as bearing liner on top of the middle pylon. The material combination is proven
technology with good running characteristics and gives long term protection, but only in atmospheres from C0 to C3
medium.

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 The NiCr-layer is not resistant in C5-M climate. Therefore, the UT test loop in California has been equipped with
an alternative solution, using a stainless-steel metal sheet which is wrapped around the torque tube. With this design,
the torque tube itself can be manufactured more cost effective, with galvanized surface instead of the NiCr layer. The
bearing liner on top of the pylon bearing has not been modified, thus is a composite material with excellent low friction
properties. This new bearing type is now under testing since summer 2016.

FIGURE 5. Middle pylon bearing at Ultimate Trough test loop. Stainless steel sheet resistant to C5-M is wrapped around the
axis and fixed with circular clamps.

Mirrors

The reflective silver layer of trough parabolic mirrors is protected by two to three coatings on the back side, and
the glass surface on the front side. While the glass on the front side is totally resistant to the C5-M atmosphere, special
requirements for the back-side coating were specified for the Duba project. The hours of resistance to salt spray fog
testing according to ISO 9227 NSS and to copper-chloride acetic acid spray fog testing (ISO 9227 CAS) was
significantly extended, from some hundred hours to 2000 hours.
Due to requirements of the RFQ, the outer borders of the solar field are equipped with thicker mirrors (5 mm
instead of 4 mm).

High Wind Loads

As already described in the introduction, the Ultimate Trough standard design was developed for wind load
resistance up to 40 m/s gust wind speed according to Eurocode (compare footnote 1). The wind map of Saudi Building
Code (SBC 301) shows gust wind speed of 155 km/h (43.1 m/s) for the project location at Duba.
One important reason to select the Ultimate Trough collector was its general ability to be adapted for locations
with such high wind speed. One design feature and outcome of intensive wind tunnel testing during the design phase
was the mirror gap in longitudinal direction between the inner and outer mirror, reducing the wind resistance
coefficient (Cw value) up to 30%. This is one advantage of the torque box design, i.e. the back bone of the collector
structure which consists of frames bolted together on the construction site, forming a rectangular cross section of 1.85
x 1.85 m². Steel members of the frames which are at their limit (for 40 m/s) can be easily replaced by thicker profiles
or profiles with larger cross section. Outcome of a pre-feasibility study was that the design can be adopted to high
wind speed up to 45 m/s (3-sec. gust wind speed in 10 m height, see also footnote 1), without changing the design
principles.

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 The shortening of collectors by one SCE on each side of the drive pylon as described in the first sub-section helped
further to reduce the torsion load on the collector.

Design Deviations due to Relatively Small Solar Field and Localization Issues
A further challenge in the project was the relatively small solar field (about 170’000 m² aperture area) and the
requirement to have high local content. Generally, the Ultimate Trough was designed for solar field sizes of 500’000
m² and more, according to projects projected in many countries like the U.S., South Africa, the MENA region at that
time when development started. E.g. the torque box was designed to use the semi-automated clinching method to join
the box frames efficiently, as described in [2,3]. As the investment for such automation is not economic for the small
solar field, the box had to be re-designed with short notice. Also, the mirror length (in longitudinal direction, not
effecting the parabolic shape) has been reduced compared to the test loop, as necessary modifications of the mirror
manufacturing line were not economical for the small project size. Generally, the assembly procedures of the collector
elements were adopted to reflect low labor cost in the country.

CONCLUSION
After successful demonstration of the Ultimate Trough since 2013, this technology was chosen through an open
competitive bidding for the DUBA Green Power Plant project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Due to the harsh
environmental boundary conditions – the site is located at the border of the Red Sea in a highly corrosive atmosphere
and exposed to high wind loads – special efforts were required. The collector design was adopted through careful
selection of suitable materials resistant to corrosion category C5-M. Critical parts which needed a major design change
like the pylon bearings were even tested at the demonstration loop in California. The Duba solar field installation is
meanwhile completed and will be commissioned soon.

REFERENCES
1. K. Riffelmann, T. Richert, P. Nava, A. Schweitzer, Ultimate Trough – A Significant Step toward Cost-
competitive CSP, Energy Procedia, Vol. 49, 2014, 1831 - 1839
2. A. Schweitzer, W. Schiel, M. Birkle, P. Nava, K.-J. Riffelmann, A. Wohlfahrt, G. Kuhlmann, Ultimate Trough
– Fabrication, Erection and Commissioning of the World’s Largest Parabolic Trough Collector, Energy Procedia,
Vol. 49, 2014, 1848-1857
3. A. Schweitzer, W. Schiel, Z. Abul-Ella, P. Nava, K.-J. Riffelmann, A. Wohlfahrt, G. Kuhlmann, Ultimate Trough
– The next generation collector for parabolic trough power plants, 17th SolarPACES Conference, 20 – 23
September 2011, Granada, Spain

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