Performance comparison of organic Rankine cycles integrated with solar based combined cycle: A thermodynamic and exergoenvironmental analysis

Abstract

In the present study, the two configurations of the combined intercooled cascade supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) cycle/organic Rankine cycle (ORC) (configuration-1) and the combined intercooled cascade sCO2 cycle/parallel double evaporator ORC (PDORC) (configuration-2) were considered for the comparison on the basis of thermodynamic performance. Solar power tower (SPT) was considered as heat source for both the configurations. The effects of SPT design parameters on the systems were investigated. It was concluded that the addition of basic ORC and PDORC to the standalone intercooled cascade sCO2 cycle enhanced the thermal efficiency by 2.26% and 6.66% respectively, at 950 W/m2 of direct normal irradiation (DNI). In the case of basic ORC and PDORC, the waste heat recovery ratios were 0.1197 and 0.1775, respectively. It was also discovered that configuration-2 performed better than configuration-1 in terms of waste heat recovery and its optimized thermal efficiency was found as 52.34%. An exergoenvironmental analysis also performed on the present systems. Exergoenvironmental impact index decreases from 1.6504 to 0.6801 with increase in DNI while the exergetic stability factor increase from 0.3773 to 0.5952 with DNI.

Exergoeconomic and Thermodynamic Analyses of Solar Power Tower Based Novel Combined Helium Brayton Cycle‐Transcritical CO2 Cycle for Carbon Free Power Generation

“…The receiver absorbs the remaining total DNI as useable heat whereas a portion of the total DNI emitted on the heliostats is lost in the field. Consequently, the receiver's thermal response to the heliostat field can be represented as; [52,53] Qrec, in = 𝜂 field ⋅ QSun = 𝜂 field × DNI × A hel × N hel (4) where optical heliostat field efficiency is denoted by 𝜂 field and can be expressed as; [52,53] 𝜂 field = 𝜂 cos ⋅ 𝜂 s&b ⋅ 𝜂 int ⋅ 𝜂 att ⋅ 𝜂 ref (5) where 𝜂 s&b , 𝜂 cos , 𝜂 int , 𝜂 att , and 𝜂 ref represents the efficiencies of theshading and blocking, cosine effect, interception efficiency, atmospheric attenuation, and heliostats reflectivity, respectively. It is important to highlight that the computation of these parameters is beyond the scope of the current article and the practical values of an existing solar plant are considered for the above-mentioned parameters in the present paper.…”

“…From the solar radiation, the thermal energy is utilized in CSP‐based systems to power the thermodynamic cycle. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ] Temperatures between 150 and 1500 °C are obtained by CSP using specific mirror arrangements or reflectors in CSP systems. [ 5 ]…”

Condenser Pressure Influence on Ideal Steam Rankine Power Vapor Cycle using the Python Extension Package Cantera for Thermodynamics

“…In this cycle, the source of heat can be combustion that occurs externally (outside the main cycle itself), renewable solar heat, waste heat (hot exhaust gases from a separate gas turbine power cycle, resulting in a "combined cycle"), or heat released from a nuclear reactor. The working fluid can be water and steam or another organic substance [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. An important application of the Rankine cycle is in electric power generation in commercial power plants, which is essential to provide electricity to residential and commercial consumers [19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

A comparative study of combined cycles for concentrated solar power for efficient power generation using low Global Warming Potential (GWP) fluids to reduce environmental effects

“…Biomass, wind, solar, and geothermal energy are just a few of the renewable energy sources currently being employed to produce, clean and environmentally friendly energy. Solar energy is the most suited renewable energy source for power generation since it is readily available, inexpensive, and operates quietly [3].…”