Recent Developments in Solar and Low-Temperature Heat Sources Assisted Power and Cooling Systems: A Design Perspective

Chowdhury, Md. Tareq; Mokheimer, Esmail M. A.

doi:10.1115/1.4044562

Cited by 25 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 158 publications

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“…One of the most significant disadvantages of using fossil fuels is the release of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere [1-3]. Accordingly, various sustainable methods, such as the use of low-grade heat [4,5], geothermal energy [6,7], wind energy [8,9], and solar energy [10][11][12][13][14], have been applied to produce clean energy with little environmental pollution. Among these novel methods, harnessing solar energy via solar thermal power plants coupled with the Rankine cycle has gained attention [10][11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, various sustainable methods, such as the use of low-grade heat [4,5], geothermal energy [6,7], wind energy [8,9], and solar energy [10][11][12][13][14], have been applied to produce clean energy with little environmental pollution. Among these novel methods, harnessing solar energy via solar thermal power plants coupled with the Rankine cycle has gained attention [10][11][12][13][14]. In such plants, the collected solar energy is transformed to heat, being used by the Rankine cycle to generate power by use of a turbine [10][11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among these novel methods, harnessing solar energy via solar thermal power plants coupled with the Rankine cycle has gained attention [10][11][12][13][14]. In such plants, the collected solar energy is transformed to heat, being used by the Rankine cycle to generate power by use of a turbine [10][11][12][13][14]. However, the greatest disadvantage of solar energy plants is the limited availability of solar radiation on cloudy days and, also, at night.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Deep Eutectic Solvents as Phase Change Materials in Solar Thermal Power Plants: Energy and Exergy Analyses

et al. 2022

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Nowadays, producing energy from solar thermal power plants based on organic Rankine cycles coupled with phase change material has attracted the attention of researchers. Obviously, in such solar plants, the physical properties of the utilized phase change material (PCM) play important roles in the amounts of generated power and the efficiencies of the plant. Therefore, to choose the best PCM, various factors must be taken into account. In addition, considering the physical properties of the candidate PCM, the issue of environmental sustainability should also be considered when making the selection. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are novel green solvents, which, in addition to having various favorable characteristics, are environmentally sustainable. Accordingly, in this work, the feasibility of using seven different deep eutectic solvents as the PCMs of solar thermal power plants with organic Rankine cycles was investigated. By applying exergy and energy analyses, the performances of each were compared to paraffin, which is a conventional PCM. According to the achieved results, most of the investigated “DES cycles” produce more power than the conventional cycle using paraffin as its PCM. Furthermore, lower amounts of the PCM are required when paraffin is replaced by a DES at the same operational conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Deep Eutectic Solvents as Phase Change Materials in Solar Thermal Power Plants: Energy and Exergy Analyses

et al. 2022

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“…Biomass-fired ORC plants [34,35] operate under the same principles and use the same power cycles as those driven by solar energy harnessed by PTCs. There are many ways in which concentrating solar collectors and biomass can be integrated with ORC plants, as reviewed by Quoilin et al [27] and Chowdhury and Mokheimer [36]. In this context, it is crucial to characterize the solar thermal production in terms of temperature and mass flow rate, considering the daily and hourly variations in solar radiation [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Analysis and Design of a Solar-Based Parabolic Trough–ORC Cogeneration Plant for a Commercial Center

et al. 2020

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This paper performs technical, economic and environmental feasibility analyses of two different solar cogeneration plants, consisting of a solar system (a parabolic trough collector field coupled with thermal energy storage), an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), and mechanical chillers, that should cover the electrical and cooling demands of a commercial center located in Zaragoza (Spain). System A is hybridized with an auxiliary biomass boiler that complements the solar system’s thermal production, providing a constant heat supply to the ORC, which operates at full load during the operating hours of the solar system. In contrast, system B is not hybridized with biomass, so the ORC is fully driven by the solar system, operating at partial load according to the solar resource availability. Both systems are connected to the electrical grid, allowing electricity purchases and sales when needed. The design procedure involves the sizing of the equipment as well as the modelling of the hourly behavior of each system throughout the year. The physical analysis is complemented by an economic assessment, which considers investment and variable costs, as well as an estimate of the significant environmental benefits of the proposed plants. The solar plants are compared to a conventional system in which all the electrical consumption is covered with electricity purchased from the grid. The costs of the electricity produced by systems A and B are estimated at 0.2030 EUR/kWh and 0.1458 EUR/kWh, which are about 49% and 7% higher than the electricity purchase price in Spain (0.1363 EUR/kWh). These results indicate that while none of the solar plants are presently competitive with the conventional system, system B (without biomass hybridization) is actually closer to economic feasibility in the short and medium term than system A (with biomass hybridization).

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“…Parabolic troughs are one of main concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies in the current market [1][2][3], as illustrated in Fig. 1(a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controllable Solar Flux Heating for Freeze Recovery in Molten Salt Parabolic Trough Collectors

Imponenti

Shininger

Gawlik

et al. 2020

Journal of Energy Resources Technology

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In molten-salt parabolic trough plants, the melting process is particularly important for freeze recovery of salt that is solidified in a collector loop, should such an event occur. Currently impedance heating is expected for freeze recovery of the collector loops, but this method can be expensive. A lower-cost alternative is proposed to use controllable concentrated solar flux directly from the parabolic mirrors to thaw salt that is frozen in the collector. A computational fluid dynamics model was developed to explore the solidification and melting processes of molten salt in a parabolic trough receiver and to assess the viability of this concept. Results indicate that concentrated solar heating has the potential to melt frozen salt in 5.6 h, compared to that in 8.8 h for a 300 W m−1 impedance heating system. At the same time, controllable solar flux heating introduces nonuniform solar fluxes on the receiver surface, which can induce significant thermal stress on the receiver tube. A preliminary stress analysis indicates that the temperature difference across the receiver tube should be maintained below about 70 °C for heating up to 300 °C at internal pressures ≤10 bar. At these conditions, freeze recovery using solar flux heating will not significantly affect receiver lifetime. These results suggest that controllable solar flux heating could effectively supplement or replace impedance heating in the freeze recovery system. Incorporating this methodology in future parabolic trough concentrating solar power plants is an opportunity for capital and operational cost-savings.

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Recent Developments in Solar and Low-Temperature Heat Sources Assisted Power and Cooling Systems: A Design Perspective

Cited by 25 publications

References 158 publications

Deep Eutectic Solvents as Phase Change Materials in Solar Thermal Power Plants: Energy and Exergy Analyses

Deep Eutectic Solvents as Phase Change Materials in Solar Thermal Power Plants: Energy and Exergy Analyses

Comparative Analysis and Design of a Solar-Based Parabolic Trough–ORC Cogeneration Plant for a Commercial Center

Controllable Solar Flux Heating for Freeze Recovery in Molten Salt Parabolic Trough Collectors

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