scholarly journals Capital Cost Assessment of Concentrated Solar Power Plants Based on Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Power Cycles

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Crespi ◽  
David Sánchez ◽  
Tomás Sánchez ◽  
Gonzalo S. Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Capital Cost ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power ◽  
Power Cycles ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
Major Equipment ◽  
Solar Field

Previous work by the authors has shown that broader analyses than those typically found in literature (in terms of operating pressures allowed) can yield interesting conclusions with respect to the best candidate cycles for certain applications. This has been tested for the thermodynamic performance (first and second laws) but it can also be applied from an economic standpoint. This second approach is introduced in this work where typical operating conditions for concentrated solar power (CSP) applications (current and future generations of solar tower plants) are considered (750 °C and 30 MPa). For these, the techno-economic performance of each cycle is assessed in order to identify the most cost-effective layout when it comes to the overnight capital cost (OCC). This analysis accounts for the different contributions to the total cost of the plant, including all the major equipment that is usually found in a CSP power plant such as the solar field and thermal energy storage (TES) system. The work is, thus, aimed at providing guidelines to professionals in the area of basic engineering and prefeasibility study of CSP plants who find themselves in the process of selecting a particular power cycle for a new project (set of specifications and boundary conditions).

Integral Techno-Economic Analysis of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Cycles for Concentrated Solar Power

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Crespi ◽  
David Sánchez ◽  
Tomás Sánchez ◽  
Gonzalo S. Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Storage System ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Energy Storage System ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power ◽  
Power Cycle ◽  
Thermodynamic Performance ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage System ◽  
Major Equipment ◽  
Solar Field

Previous work by the authors has shown that broader analyses than those typically found in literature (in terms of operating pressures allowed) can yield interesting conclusions with respect to the best candidate cycles for certain applications. This has been tested for the thermodynamic performance (1st and 2nd Laws) but it can also be applied from an economic standpoint. This second approach is introduced in this work where typical operating conditions for CSP applications (current and future generations of solar tower plants) are considered (900 °C and 30 MPa). For these, the techno-economic performance of each cycle are assessed in order to identify the most cost-effective layout when it comes to the Overnight Capital Cost. This analysis accounts for the different contributions to the total cost of the plant, including all the major equipment that is usually found in a CSP power plant such as the solar field and thermal energy storage system. The work is thus aimed at providing guidelines to professionals in the area of basic engineering and pre-feasibility study of CSP plants who find themselves in the process of selecting a particular power cycle for a new project (set of specifications and boundary conditions).

S-Ethane Brayton Power Conversion Systems for Concentrated Solar Power Plant

2015 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Coco Enríquez ◽  
Javier Muñoz-Antón ◽  
José María Martínez-Val Peñalosa
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Subcritical Water ◽  
Plant Performance ◽  
Solar Collectors ◽  
Steam Generation ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power ◽  
Power Cycles ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
Recompression Cycle

The objective of this investigation is the comparison between supercritical ethane (s-ethane, C2H6) and supercritical carbon dioxide (s-CO2) Brayton power cycles for line-focusing concentrated solar power plants (CSP). In this study, CSP are analyzed with linear solar collectors (parabolic trough (PTC) or linear Fresnel (LF)), direct molten salt (MS), or direct steam generation (DSG) as heat transfer fluids (HTF), and four supercritical Brayton power cycles configurations: simple Brayton cycle (SB), recompression cycle (RC), partial cooling with recompression cycle (PCRC), and recompression with main compression intercooling cycle (RCMCI). All Brayton power cycles were assessed with two working fluids: s-CO2 and s-ethane. As a main result, we confirmed that s-ethane Brayton power cycles provide better net plant performance than s-CO2 cycles for turbine inlet temperatures (TITs) from 300 °C to 550 °C. As an example, the s-ethane RCMCI plant configuration net efficiency is ∼42.11% for TIT = 400 °C, and with s-CO2 the plant performance is ∼40%. The CSP Brayton power plants were also compared with another state-of-the-art CSP with DSG in linear solar collectors and a subcritical water Rankine power cycle with direct reheating (DRH), and a maximum plant performance between ∼40% and 41% (TIT = 550 °C).

Thermo-Economic Analyses and Comparisons of Two S-CO2-Brayton-Cycle-Based Combined Power Cycles for Concentrated Solar Power Plants

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuegeng Ma ◽  
Xuwei Zhang ◽  
Ming Liu ◽  
Jiping Liu
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
Brayton Cycle ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power ◽  
Power Cycles ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
Cycle Efficiency ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power Plants ◽  
Residual Heat

In order to pursue superior cycle efficiency and lower power generation cost for the CSP plants, two S-CO2–Brayton–cycle–based power cycles with different utilization methods of the residual heat recover of the top S-CO2 Brayton cycle (SCBC) are investigated to seek alternatives to the stand-alone S-CO2 cycle as the power block of concentrated solar power plants. The residual heat released by the top S-CO2 cycle are either utilized to drive a LiBr absorption chiller (AC) for further chilling of the CO2 fluids exiting the precooler before entering the main compressor inlet temperature or recovered by an organic rankine cycle (ORC) for generating electricity. Thermo-economic analysis and optimization are performed for the SCBC–AC and SCBC–ORC, respectively. The results show that the thermal and exergetic efficiencies of the SCBC–AC are comparable with those of the SCBC–ORC in low pressure ratio conditions (PR<2.7) but are apparently lower than SCBC–ORC when PR is over 2.7. The LCOE of the CSP plant integrated with SCBC–AC is more sensitive to the change of PR. The optimal PR to maximum the cycle efficiency or minimize the plant LCOE for the SCBC–ORC is higher than that for the SCBC–AC, while the optimal recuperator effectiveness to minimize the LCOE of CSP plant integrated with SCBC–ORC is lower than that of SCBC–AC. The optimization results show that the thermo-economic performance of the SCBC–AC is comparable to that of the SCBC–ORC. Significant ηex improvement and LCOE reduction can be obtained by both the two combined cycles relative to the stand-alone S-CO2 cycle. The maximal ηex improvements obtained by the SCBC–ORC and SCBC–AC are 6.83% and 4.12%, respectively. The maximal LCOE reduction obtained by the SCBC-ORC and SCBC–AC are 0.70 ȼ / (kW·h) and 0.60 ȼ / (kW·h), respectively.

scholarly journals Potential of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Power Cycles to Reduce the Levelised Cost of Electricity of Contemporary Concentrated Solar Power Plants

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 5049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Crespi ◽  
David Sánchez ◽  
Gonzalo S. Martínez ◽  
Tomás Sánchez-Lencero ◽  
Francisco Jiménez-Espadafor
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Supercritical Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power ◽  
Power Cycles ◽  
Cost Of Electricity ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power Plants ◽  
Supercritical Carbon

This paper provides an assessment of the expected Levelised Cost of Electricity enabled by Concentrated Solar Power plants based on Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (sCO 2 ) technology. A global approach is presented, relying on previous results by the authors in order to ascertain whether these innovative power cycles have the potential to achieve the very low costs of electricity reported in the literature. From a previous thermodynamic analysis of sCO 2 cycles, three layouts are shortlisted and their installation costs are compared prior to assessing the corresponding cost of electricity. Amongst them, the Transcritical layout is then discarded due to the virtually impossible implementation in locations with high ambient temperature. The remaining layouts, Allam and Partial Cooling are then modelled and their Levelised Cost of Electricity is calculated for a number of cases and two different locations in North America. Each case is characterised by a different dispatch control scheme and set of financial assumptions. A Concentrated Solar Power plant based on steam turbine technology is also added to the assessment for the sake of comparison. The analysis yields electricity costs varying in the range from 8 to over 11 ¢/kWh, which is near but definitely not below the 6 ¢/kWh target set forth by different administrations. Nevertheless, in spite of the results, a review of the conservative assumptions adopted in the analysis suggests that attaining costs substantially lower than this is very likely. In other words, the results presented in this paper can be taken as an upper limit of the economic performance attainable by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide in Concentrated Solar Power applications.

scholarly journals Influence of Working Fluid Composition on the Optimum Characteristics of Blended Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Cycles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Crespi ◽  
G. S. Martínez ◽  
P. Rodriguez de Arriba ◽  
D. Sánchez ◽  
F. Jiménez-Espadafor
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Supercritical Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Molar Content ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power Plants ◽  
Supercritical Carbon

Abstract The supercritical Carbon Dioxide power cycle technology has attracted growing interest from the scientific community, becoming one of the most important options currently considered for CSP applications. This is thanks to its high thermal efficiency, even at moderate turbine inlet temperatures, and small footprint. Nevertheless, sCO2 power cycles require a fairly low compressor inlet temperature to exploit their full thermodynamic potential. When this cannot be achieved, as it is usually the case for Concentrated Solar Power plants where ambient temperatures are high, the interest of the technology is compromised. To compensate for this effect, the SCARABEUS project is working on the development of certain chemical dopants that could be added to the raw CO2, obtaining new working fluids with the same or even better performance than pure CO2 even at higher minimum cycle temperatures. This paper studies the impact of using CO2 mixtures blended with Hexaflurorobenzene (C6F6) and Titanium Tetrachloride (TiCl4). It is found that these mixtures enable thermal efficiencies that are higher than if pure CO2 were used. The efficiency gain can be as high as 3 percentage points, depending on the dopant used and the operating conditions considered. In addition to this absolute performance gain, the paper reveals that there are additional degrees of freedom that enable more effective cycle optimisation. These are the dopant molar content, not only its composition, and the cycle layout used. When this is studied, it is found that the optimum molar content ranges from 10 to 20% and that the layouts of interest when using mixtures are simpler than if plain CO2 were used. These results open the way for a significant performance enhancement of Concentrated Solar Power plants.

A Novel Portable Device to Measure Transmittance and Reflectance of Parabolic Trough Receiver Tubes in the Field

2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Espinosa-Rueda ◽  
Noelia Martinez-Sanz ◽  
David Izquierdo-Nuñez ◽  
Marta Osta-Lombardo
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Portable Device ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power ◽  
Parabolic Trough ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
Technical Features ◽  
Solar Field

The performance of parabolic trough (PT) receiver tubes (RTs) has a direct impact on concentrated solar power (CSP) plant production. As a result, one major need of operation and maintenance (O&M) in operating plants is to monitor the state of the receiver tube as a key element in the solar field. In order to fulfill this necessity, Abengoa Solar has developed the first existing portable device for measuring the transmittance and reflectance of parabolic trough receiver tubes directly in the field. This paper offers a description of the technical features of the instrument and reviews the issues related to its usability as a workable portable device in operating solar fields. To evaluate its performance, laboratory studies have been carried out using two patterns to determine the accuracy and standard deviation of the measurements, obtaining excellent results. This information is complemented with data collected by O&M using this instrument in solar power plants. Studies have been carried out to determine the effect of both rainfall and artificial cleaning on the increase of transmittance. These values are then compared to those obtained from hand-cleaning, and show important differences. The results are discussed in this paper.

A Novel Portable Device to Measure Transmittance and Reflectance of Parabolic Trough Receiver Tubes in the Field

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Espinosa-Rueda ◽  
Noelia Martinez-Sanz ◽  
David Izquierdo-Nuñez ◽  
Marta Osta-Lombardo
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Portable Device ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power ◽  
Parabolic Trough ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
Technical Features ◽  
Solar Field

The performance of parabolic trough (PT) receiver tubes (RT) has a direct impact on concentrated solar power (CSP) plant production. As a result, one major need of operation and maintenance (O&M) in operating plants is to monitor the state of the receiver tube as a key element in the solar field. In order to fulfill this necessity, Abengoa Solar has developed the first existing portable device for measuring transmittance and reflectance of parabolic trough receiver tubes directly in the field. This paper offers a description of the technical features of the instrument and reviews the issues related to its usability as a workable portable device in operating solar fields. To evaluate its performance, laboratory studies have been carried out using two patterns to determine the accuracy and standard deviation of the measurements, obtaining excellent results. This information is complemented with data collected by O&M using this instrument in solar power plants. Studies have been carried out to determine the effect of both rainfall and artificial cleaning on the increase of transmittance. These values are then compared to those obtained from hand-cleaning and show important differences. The results are discussed in this paper.

scholarly journals Perspective on integration of concentrated solar power plants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bashria A A Yousef ◽  
Ahmed A Hachicha ◽  
Ivette Rodriguez ◽  
Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem ◽  
Abrar Inyaat
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
High Capacity ◽  
Solid Particles ◽  
Concentrated Solar Power ◽  
Power Fluctuation ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
Production Of Hydrogen ◽  
Solar Power Plants

Abstract Integration concept of energy resources can complement between the competing energy technologies. This manuscript presents a comprehensive review on the state-of-the-art of concentrated solar power (CSP) integration technology with various energy sources. Compared to CSP alone, integration of CSP and fossil fuel provides promising solution to solar energy intermittence, emissions and installation cost reduction, with 25% increase in electric power generation. On the other hand, integration of CSP with other sources such as geothermal and biomass can supply dispatchable power with almost zero emissions. The electricity produced via integrated CSP and photovoltaic (PV) has better power quality and less cost compared to that produced by PV alone or CSP alone, respectively. Integration of CSP and wind energy can meet peak demand, reduce power fluctuation and provide electrical power at a high capacity factor. However, the lack of reliable biomass, geothermal and wind data with the solar availability at specific locations is the main obstacle for the acceptance and further deployment of hybridization systems. The advantages and limitations of the hybrid technologies presented in this paper according to the literature are reviewed. Moreover, future directions of CSP such as production of hydrogen, solid particles receivers and the integration of supercritical carbon dioxide cycle are also discussed.

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