Experimental Exploration of a Small Scale Pneumatically Pumped Thermal Storage System

A prototype water-glycerol two tank storage system was designed to simulate the fluidic properties of a high temperature molten salt system while allowing for room temperature testing of a low cost, small scale pneumatically pumped thermal storage system for use in concentrated solar power (CSP) applications. Pressurized air is metered into a primary heat transfer fluid (HTF) storage tank; the airflow displaces the HTF through a 3D printed prototype thermoplate receiver and into a secondary storage tank to be dispatched in order to drive a heat engine during peak demand times. A microcontroller was programmed to use pulse-width modulation (PWM) to regulate air flow via an air solenoid. At a constant frequency of 10Hz, it was found that the lowest pressure drops and the slowest flowrates across the receiver occurred at low duty cycles of 15% and 20% and low inlet air pressures of 124 and 207 kPa. However, the data also suggested the possibility of slug flow. Replacement equipment and design modifications are suggested for further analysis and high temperature experiments. Nevertheless, testing demonstrated the feasibility of pneumatic pumping for small systems.

Cross Compound Turbine Generator Unit With Elevated and Conventional Turbine Layouts

This engineering study demonstrates the feasibility and advantages of a cross compound unit with an elevated and conventional turbine layout. Existing materials and equipment manufacturing capabilities were used to design a double reheat unit using the elevated and conventional turbine layout with other mature energy-saving systems to achieve a net efficiency of 48.92%. The development of conventional coal-fired power plants is reviewed to describe the existing bottlenecks in high-efficiency Super Critical (SC) and Ultra Super Critical (USC) electrical generation units. The development of 700 °C Advanced Ultra Super Critical (A-USC) units has been much slower than expected mainly due to the material limitations. Double reheat systems increase efficiency but also significantly increase cost and complexity. This design reduces the use of expensive high-temperature materials, with significantly lower piping costs as well as lower pressure drops and heat losses which increase the efficiency and the performance-price ratio.

An Integrated Design Approach of Local Control System of a Linear Drive Single Facet Heliostat

In a central receiver solar power plant, heliostats are arranged with respect to the central receiver so as to reflect the rays from the sun onto the power tower with high precision by tracking the sun in both the azimuth and elevation directions. The master control system of a solar power plant consists of different levels. The first level is local control; it takes care of the positioning of the heliostats when the aiming point and the time are given to the system, and informs upper level about the status of the heliostats field. The second logic level makes some important dispatch calculations of heliostats field. The most popular linear two-axis local driving system of heliostat consists of two linear driving actuators, the driving mechanism with rotary joints, and the controller. Traditional methods for heliostat design are often based on a sequential approach in which the mechanical structure is designed first and then the control system is advised. In order to reach the optimal design of heliostats, an integrated design approach that concurrently considers the interactions between the mechanical and control subsystems is necessary. In this article, an integrated design methodology of heliostat drive system is presented. The methodology is based on modeling and simulation. The dynamic models that describe the behavior of the mechanical and control components are presented. These models involve mechanical and control design variables such as the motor parameters, power screw (including back lash), heliostat mass, load forces, and wind forces. Matlab, Solidwork, and Simulink are chosen to apply PID tracking control to heliostats, due to the ability to arbitrarily model complex mechanical systems, directly import properly constructed, third-party 3D CAD models, simulate integrated control, handle a variety of robotics nomenclature, and other features. The present methodology is employed for integrated design of a single facet small size heliostat with mirror area of 3 m2.The methods described in this article also show a way to rapidly simulate novel and complex heliostat geometries. Analysis of the heliostat drive system performance and dynamic characteristics according to mechanical and control design variables is conducted for the purpose of control system design and performance optimization. The drive system performance is evaluated in terms of positioning tracking errors, system response, and control system behavior. It is shown that the mechanical characteristics of the ball power screw actuator such as ball-screw diameter, lead, overall flexibility, stiffness, backlash, and inertia significantly influence the performance of drive system.

Theoretical Study on Chemical-Kinetic Characteristics of Oxy-Coal Mild Combustion

The chemical-kinetic characteristics of oxy-coal MILD combustion under different initial temperature and oxygen concentration were studied numerically. Aromatic benzene was considered representative for coal molecule. A unique reaction pathway under low oxygen concentration was obtained, the activation energy and reaction rate constant of involved elementary reactions were calculated through classic transition state theory (TST). The results show that low oxygen concentration and high temperature is advantageous for thickening flame front as well as slowing down flame propagation; as oxygen concentration and temperature increase, the global activation energy increases with greater slope; the decomposition of C5H5 dominates under high oxygen concentration, while the decomposition and oxidation of C5H5 become equally important as oxygen concentration decreases, leading to a new pathway that the complexity of overall chemical reactions develops; the radical CH2CHO is easily trigged under low oxygen concentration, its decomposition reaction dominates in the unique pathway C5H5→C5H4O→c-C4H5CH2CHO→CH3 due to larger activation energy, where more CO escapes. The simulation results have theoretical referencing value, laying foundations for the further practical work.

Combined-Cycle Start-Up Procedures: Dynamic Simulation and Measurement

The daily operation of combined-cycle power plants is increasingly characterized by frequent start-up and shutdown procedures. In addition to the basic requirement of high efficiency at design load, plant operators therefore acknowledge the relevance of enhanced flexibility in operation — in particular, fast start-ups — for plant competitiveness under changing market conditions. The load ramps during start-up procedure are typically limited by thermal stresses in the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) due to thick-walled components in the high pressure circuit. Whereas conventional HRSG design is largely based on simple steady-state models, detailed modelling and dynamic simulation of the relevant systems are necessary in order to optimize HRSG design with respect to fast start-up capability. This study investigates the capability of a comprehensive process simulation model to accurately predict the dynamic response of a triple-pressure heat recovery steam generator with reheater from warm and hot initial conditions to the start-up procedure of a heavy-duty gas turbine. The commercial combined-cycle power plant (350 MWel) was modelled with the thermal-hydraulic code Apros. Development of the plant model is based on geometry data, system descriptions and heat transfer calculations established in the original HRSG design. The numerical model is validated with two independent sets of measurement data recorded at the real power plant, showing good agreement.

Design Optimization of T-Root Geometry of a Gas Engine HP Compressor Rotor Blade for Lifing the Blade Against Fretting Failure

Stress Concentration Factor (SCF) is significant in machine elements as it gives rise to localised stresses which lead to peak stresses introducing cracks which propagate further and hence the component fails before the desired design life. Turbine blades are subjected to high centrifugal stresses and vibratory stresses in a Gas Engine HP Rotor. The vibratory stresses arise due to air wake flow excitations called Nozzle Passing Frequency (NPF). Hence, Turbomachinery industry calls for an optimum structurally rigid blade root geometry. An optimum blade root was defined, as a root with practical geometry, which when loaded returns the minimum fillet SCF. In the present work an approach has been done for design optimization of fillet stresses at sharp edges of T-root blade, optimization of platform dimensions, shank dimensions, root land dimensions and to ensure that stress distribution is uniformly spread along the filleted width of the root land on both sides of the blade, which otherwise will lead to crack initiation, propagation and hence, fretting failure at blade root lands. This may further lead to blade lift and effect on stage and overall gas engine failure over a period of cycles. Hence, a special attention is made on SCF of the T root -blade which fails and to guarantee for safe and reliable operation under all possible service conditions. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is used to determine the fillet stresses and Peterson’s SCF chart is effectively utilized to modify the blade root. The root is modified due to the difficulty in manufacturing the butting surface of the tang which grips the blade to the disk crowns having small contact area. The blade height is suitably designed using Campbell diagram by ensuring the working frequency is well within 6e excitations for the specified operating speeds. Hence, increasing the life of the HP compressor blade.

Retracted: “Benchmark Thermodynamic Modelling Comparison of a Novel Modular Air-Cooled Condenser With Current Dry-Cooling Methodologies” [ASME 2016 Power Conference collocated with the ASME 2016 10th International Conference on Energy Sustainability and the ASME 2016 14th International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology, ASME 2016 Power Conference, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, June 26–30, 2016, Conference Sponsors: Power Division, Advanced Energy Systems Division, Solar Energy Division, Nuclear Engineering Division, ISBN: 978-0-7918-5021-3. Paper No. POWER2016-59589, pp. V001T04A010; 9 pages; doi:10.1115/POWER2016-59589]

This paper was withdrawn. ASME does not hold the copyright. December 21, 2018. Copyright © 2018 by ASME

Assessment of Power Consumption of an Electrodynamic Dust Shield to Clean Solar Panels

Substantial time and money have been directed toward photovoltaic solar power. However, mitigation of dust on solar panels has been largely neglected. The objective of this research was to determine the performance and power consumption of an electrodynamic dust shield (EDS) to clean solar panels as a function of dust particle size. We utilized a discrete element method to computationally simulate the transport, collision, and electrodynamic interactions of particles subjected to electrodynamic waves generated by an EDS. The EDS consisted of electrodes embedded within a dielectric material. 1250 monodisperse particles with diameters of 30–50 μm were simulated. In the absence of particle-particle interactions, an increase in diameter increased particle transport distance due to increased particle charge. However, inclusion of particle-particle collisions produced interactions such that an intermediate diameter yielded the smallest transport distance. Average power required to lift a particle off the surface was smallest with the smallest particle; however, power requirement decreased with diameter with a constant loading of particles on the EDS. Calculated from our simulation data, power consumption per unit area of an experimental EDS agreed with previous experimental studies. Our study elucidated important aspects of EDS operation and power consumption to mitigate dust on solar panels.

Analysis of a Renewable Energy Based System Using Nanofluids for Power Generation

In this present paper, a performance analysis of an Integrated Solar Rankine Cycle (ISRC) is provided. The ISRC consists of a nanofluid-based Parabolic Trough Solar Collector (PTSC), and a Thermal Energy Storage System (TES) integrated with a Rankine Cycle. The effect of dispersing Copper (Cu) nanoparticles in a conventional heating fluid (Syltherm 800) on the output performance and cost of the ISRC is studied for different volume fractions, and for two modes of operation. The first mode assumes no storage, while the second assumes a storage system with a storage period of 7 hours. For the second mode of operation, the charging and discharging cycles are explained. The results show that the presence of the nanoparticles causes an increase in the overall energy produced by the ISRC for both modes of operation, and also causes a decrease in the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LEC), and an increase in the net savings of the ISRC. When comparing the two modes of operation it is established that the existence of a storage system leads to a higher power generation, and a lower LEC; however the efficiency of the cycle drops. It is seen that the maximum increase in the annual energy output of the ISRC caused by the addition of the nanoparticles is around 3.5%, while the maximum increase in the net savings is around 12.8%.

The Straight-Bladed Morphing Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Blade pitch control has been extremely important for the development of Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs), allowing for greater efficiency over a wider range of operational regimes when compared to rigid-bladed designs. For Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs), blade pitching is inherently more difficult due to a dependence of attack angle on turbine armature location, shaft speed, and wind speed. As a result, there have been very few practical pitch control schemes put forward for VAWTs, which may be a major reason why this wind turbine type enjoys a much lower market share as compared to HAWTs. To alleviate this issue, the flexible, straight-bladed vertical-axis turbine is presented, which can passively adapt its geometry to local aerodynamic loadings and serves as a low-cost blade pitch control strategy increasing efficiency and startup capabilities. Using two-dimensional fluid-structure action simulations, this novel concept is compared to an identical rigid one and is proven to be superior in terms of power coefficient due to decreased torque minima. Moreover, due to the flexible nature of the blades, the morphing turbine achieves less severe oscillatory loadings. As a result, the morphing blade design is expected to not only increase efficiency but also system longevity without additional system costs usually associated with active pitch control schemes.