Safety valve manufacturer LESER presented its pressure relief valve for concentrated solar power plants at the CSP exhibition in Las Vegas in June. Parabolic trough systems, which are currently the most widely installed concentrated solar power system, require safety valves to secure the heat transfer fluid (HTF) which can reach up to 150–400°C. Power tower systems, molten salt heat storage and other renewable energy applications also have special application requirements for safety valves.
LESER has designed a safety valve for securing pressures of up to 40 bar and temperatures of up to 400°C in the solar field. The Solar Field product solution based on a compact performance valve is ideally placed to work in CSP plants. The body material is resistant to heat. With a spring and a balanced bellows made from Inconel, functionality is ensured even at high temperatures and high back-pressures up to 80%. Weld-on inlet and outlet ends ensure a tight connection, as do special sealings between bonnet and body to enhance external tightness even for creeping media like HTF. The valve has a test gag in order to be able to do a pressure test of the entire power plant.