AERES: Thermodynamic and Economic Optimization Software for Hybrid Solar–Waste Heat Systems

Abstract

Heliothermic technologies are affected by their low density, intermittence and low economic competitiveness. Hybrid solar–waste heat power systems can increase plant conversion efficiency and power generation while reducing intermittence. This study focused on the development of software (AERES) to economically optimize hybrid solar–waste heat power systems in terms of technology selection, sizing, operating conditions and power block characteristics. The technologies considered for algorithm selection were (i) heat exchangers that recover a wide range of waste heat sources, (ii) non-concentrating and concentrating solar collectors (a flat plate, an evacuated tube, a linear Fresnel and a parabolic trough), (iii) organic Rankine cycle power blocks and (iv) storage tanks (direct thermal storage systems). The last two technologies were represented by surrogate models so that a large number of decision variables could be optimized simultaneously. The optimization considered local climate conditions hourly to provide irradiation, local temperature and wind speed. The case studies indicated that optimized ORCs for waste heat recovery are economically competitive, reaching internal rates of return (IRRs) of 44%, 39% and 34% for a waste heat of 50 MWt at 350 °C, 300 °C and 250 °C, respectively. On the other hand, heliothermic technologies were not selected by the algorithm and provided non-competitive results for the analyzed cases.