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The use of solar-powered Stirling engines to convert thermal energy into electricity is a promising and renewable technological solution that can contribute to reducing dependence on fossil fuels for electricity generation. Unfortunately, the lack of experimental performance data and operating parameters for this type of technology limits its detailed characterization, difficult its modeling and design and consequently its utilization. This paper aims to validate the mathematical model of the Dish/Stirling system previously published by Mendoza et al. (2017) with the TRINUM system, installed at the Federal University of Itajub a-Brazil. For nominal conditions, the Dish/Stirling system generates an electric power of 1.00 kW at a solar irradiation of 725 W/m2 with a system overall efficiency of 17.6%. The results show that for solar irradiance values between 520 and 950 W/m2 the experimental tests and the results of the mathematical modeling do not present considerable differences, obtaining an electric power of 1089 kWe and an efficiency of 17.98%, which represents deviations in the range of 2%e12%.

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Gas turbine power plants have been widely studied, and as a result the negative effects on their output power and thermal efficiency have been known when operating in atmospheric conditions exceeding ISO conditions. For this reason, different technologies and methodologies have been implemented, aiming to increase the output power and improve the thermal efficiency. Unfortunately, the lack of operational parameters for this system limited its characterization and implementation of strategies to improve its performance. Advanced exergetic and exergoeconomic analyses have been applied to improve energy and economic performance in steam injection gas turbine (STIG) cycle power plants with air cooling with a compression refrigeration machine. Results shows that the main sources of irreversibilities and higher costs are in the Combustion Chamber (CC), Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) and Gas Turbine (GT). From these components, the components of the HRSG and GT have the greatest potential for improvement, and this can be achieved by improving the overall configuration of the system, due to the fact that the destruction of exogenous exergy is in more significant measure avoidable. While the higher costs of investment can be reduced in the Combustion Chamber and Gas Turbine.

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