Concentrated solar power: Recent developments and future challenges

Jelley, N. A.; Smith, Thomas H. R.

doi:10.1177/0957650914566895

Cited by 23 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…This point is especially advantageous in arid regions with appropriate solar resources. To get those efficiencies quite high turbine inlet temperatures have to be reached in the solar receivers, about 800 -1000°C [8,9,10,11]. Several experimental prototypes have shown that this is feasible using ceramic materials in central tower volumetric receivers or other alternatives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roads to improve the performance of hybrid thermosolar gas turbine power plants: Working fluids and multi-stage configurations

Sánchez

Miguel-Barbero

Merchán

et al. 2018

Energy Conversion and Management

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This paper presents a general thermodynamic model for hybrid Brayton central tower thermosolar plants. These plants have been proved to be technically feasible but R+D efforts need to be done in order to improve its commercial interest. From the thermodynamic viewpoint it is necessary to increase its performance to get larger power production with reduced fuel consumption, and so reduced emissions. We develop a model for multi-step compression and expansion stages with that aim. The model is flexible and allows to simulate recuperative or non-recuperative plants, with an arbitrary number of stages and working with different subcritical fluids. The results for multi-step configurations are compared with those obtained for a plant with one turbine and one compressor. Different working fluids are analyzed, including air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and helium. Several plant layouts and the corresponding optimal pressure ratios are analyzed. It is concluded that configurations with two-stages compression with intercooling combined with one or two expansion stages can significantly improve overall plant efficiency and lower fuel consumption. Power block efficiencies can reach 0.50 and overall plant efficiency can attain values about 0.40 working with air or CO 2. For instance, comparing with a single stage plant running with air, a plant with subcritical CO 2 , two compression stages with intercooling and single step expansion can reach an overall efficiency about 19% larger and a fuel conversion rate around 23% larger. For such configuration, the specific fuel consumption is predicted to be about 108 kg/(MW h) at design point conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roads to improve the performance of hybrid thermosolar gas turbine power plants: Working fluids and multi-stage configurations

Sánchez

Miguel-Barbero

Merchán

et al. 2018

Energy Conversion and Management

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“…25 indicates, using the Eqs. (4,19,20,21), With the η pet to be the Petela factor for exergetic efficiency, (25) …”

Section: Preliminary Results Of This Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Solar energy is one of the most reliable choices among the renewable resources because this energy source can be converted into useful heat or electricity [4][5][6][7]. Numerous applications use solar energy for covering their energy needs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the thermal enhancement methods in parabolic trough collectors

Bellos

Tzivanidis

2017

Int J Energy Environ Eng

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Parabolic trough collector is an emerging solar technology for achieving the sustainability. Numerous studies have been focused on their performance evaluation and many techniques have been suggested for improving their thermal efficiency. The objective of this paper is to determine the impact of various thermal enhancement techniques on the thermal efficiency improvement of the PTC. The most usual techniques for increasing the thermal performance of parabolic trough collectors are the use of inserts, internal fins, metallic foams and the dimpled absorbers. A parametric analysis is conducted using different values of the thermal enhancement ratio (Nusselt number to the Nusselt number of the smooth absorber case). According to the final results, the thermal efficiency enhancement can reach up to 2% when the Nusselt number is about 2.5 times greater compared to the reference case and the inlet temperature is equal to 600 K. Moreover, in this case, the thermal losses are approximately 22% lower than in the respective reference case. For higher Nusselt number ratios, the thermal enhancement presents relatively small increase. This analysis is performed with a developed thermal model in Engineering Equation Solver (EES) which is validated with the literature results.

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“…S3). Concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies are extensively studied in the literature (32)(33)(34). The proposed SWP cycle is a central tower and direct steam cycle-type CSP plant.…”

Section: Benefits Relative To the Standalone Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Round-the-clock power supply and a sustainable economy via synergistic integration of solar thermal power and hydrogen processes

Gençer

Mallapragada

Maréchal

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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We introduce a paradigm-"hydricity"-that involves the coproduction of hydrogen and electricity from solar thermal energy and their judicious use to enable a sustainable economy. We identify and implement synergistic integrations while improving each of the two individual processes. When the proposed integrated process is operated in a standalone, solely power production mode, the resulting solar water power cycle can generate electricity with unprecedented efficiencies of 40-46%. Similarly, in standalone hydrogen mode, pressurized hydrogen is produced at efficiencies approaching ∼50%. In the coproduction mode, the coproduced hydrogen is stored for uninterrupted solar power production. When sunlight is unavailable, we envision that the stored hydrogen is used in a "turbine"-based hydrogen water power (H 2 WP) cycle with the calculated hydrogen-toelectricity efficiency of 65-70%, which is comparable to the fuel cell efficiencies. The H 2 WP cycle uses much of the same equipment as the solar water power cycle, reducing capital outlays. The overall sun-toelectricity efficiency of the hydricity process, averaged over a 24-h cycle, is shown to approach ∼35%, which is nearly the efficiency attained by using the best multijunction photovoltaic cells along with batteries. In comparison, our proposed process has the following advantages: (i) It stores energy thermochemically with a two-to threefold higher density, (ii) coproduced hydrogen has alternate uses in transportation/chemical/petrochemical industries, and (iii) unlike batteries, the stored energy does not discharge over time and the storage medium does not degrade with repeated uses. solar | electricity | hydrogen | solar thermal power | process synthesis D iminishing fossil fuel resources and increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas levels raise the ever-growing interest in developing and implementing renewable energy conversion technologies and strategies to meet society's energy needs (1-5). Among renewable energy sources, solar energy is prominent for its abundance. To put it into perspective, in 1.5 h 6.5 × 10 20 J of solar energy reaches the earth, which is more than the primary energy consumed cumulatively by humans on the planet in 1 y (∼5.4 × 10 20 J in 2013) (4, 6). However, harnessing solar energy for uninterruptable energy supply remains a challenge because it requires conversion systems to be integrated with efficient storage systems to overcome the inherent intermittency and uneven geographical distribution of solar irradiation.Here, we introduce the concept of "hydricity" to address this challenge. We propose solar thermal coproduction of hydrogen and electricity and their subsequent synergistic use to support a sustainable economy. Hydricity not only leads to efficient production of solar electricity but also opens up many more possibilities: a sustainability roadmap. In the subsequent sections, we present an example hydricity process to supply uninterruptable electricity round-the-clock at a constant power rate with a calculated overall sun-to-electr...

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Concentrated solar power: Recent developments and future challenges

Cited by 23 publications

References 83 publications

Roads to improve the performance of hybrid thermosolar gas turbine power plants: Working fluids and multi-stage configurations

Roads to improve the performance of hybrid thermosolar gas turbine power plants: Working fluids and multi-stage configurations

Assessment of the thermal enhancement methods in parabolic trough collectors

Round-the-clock power supply and a sustainable economy via synergistic integration of solar thermal power and hydrogen processes

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