Saturated steam process with direct steam generating parabolic troughs

The direct steam generation (DSG) in parabolic trough collectors is an attractive option regarding the economic improvement of parabolic trough technology for solar thermal electricity generation in the multi Megawatt range. The European DISS project has proven the feasibility of the direct steam generation under real solar conditions in more than 4000 operation hours. Within the European R&D project INDITEP the detailed engineering for a pre-commercial DSG solar thermal power plant with an electrical power of 5 MW is being performed. This small capacity was chosen to minimise the risk for potential investors.In regards to DSG solar thermal power plants, only steam cycles using superheated steam have been investigated so far. The paper will investigate the advantages, disadvantages, and design considerations of a steam cycle operated with saturated steam for the first time. For near term applications, saturated steam operated DSG plants might be an interesting alternative for power generation in the small capacity range due to some specific advantages:

• Simple set up of the collector field.

• Proven safe collector field operation.

• Higher thermal efficiency in the collector field.

Conceptual design and techno-economic assessment of integrated solar combined cycle system with DSG technology

Direct steam generation (DSG) in parabolic trough collectors causes an increase to competitiveness of solar thermal power plants (STPP) by substitution of oil with direct steam generation that results in lower investment and operating costs. In this study the integrated solar combined cycle system with DSG technology is introduced and techno-economic assessment of this plant is reported compared with two conventional cases. Three considered cases are: an integrated solar combined cycle system with DSG technology (ISCCS-DSG), a solar electric generating system (SEGS), and an integrated solar combined cycle system with HTF (heat transfer fluid) technology (ISCCS-HTF).This study shows that levelized energy cost (LEC) for the ISCCS-DSG is lower than the two other cases due to reducing O&M costs and also due to increasing the heat to electricity net efficiency of the power plant. Among the three STPPs, SEGS has the lowest CO₂ emissions, but it will operate during daytime only.     

Analysis of an innovative direct steam generation‐based parabolic trough collector plant hybridized with a biomass boiler

Direct steam generation (DSG) is the process by which steam is directly produced in parabolic trough fields and supplied to a power block. This process simplifies parabolic trough plants and improves cost effectiveness by increasing the permissible temperature of the working fluid. Similar to all solar‐based technologies, thermal energy storage is needed to overcome the intermittent nature of solar. In the present work, an innovative DSG‐based parabolic trough collector (PTC) plant hybridized with a biomass boiler is proposed and analyzed in detail. Two additional configurations comprising indirect steam generation PTC plants were also analyzed to compare their energy and exergy performance. To consider a wide range of operation, the share of biomass input to the hybridized system is varied. Energy and exergy analyses of DSG are conducted and compared with an existing indirect steam generation PTC power plants such as Andasol. The analyses are conducted on a 50 MW regenerative reheat Rankine cycle. The results obtained indicate that the proposed DSG‐based PTC plant is able to increase the overall system efficiency by 3% in comparison with indirect steam generation when linked to a biomass boiler that supplies 50% of the energy.     

INDITEP: The first pre-commercial DSG solar power plant

This paper presents the conceptual design of the first solar power plant using Direct Steam Generation (DSG) in a parabolic-trough solar field. Experience and know-how in the DSG process acquired during the DISS project were applied in designing the solar field of this plant. The 5-MWe plant is composed of a DSG parabolic-trough solar field connected to a superheated steam Rankine power cycle. The solar field produces 410 °C/70-bar superheated steam. Detail engineering of this plant is currently underway within the framework of the INDITEP project, which is promoted by a German-Spanish consortium with the financial support of the European Commission (Contract No. ENK5-CT-2001-00540). The main design objective is to assure high operational flexibility and reliability. This is the reason why a robust superheated steam turbine has been selected, though the efficiency of its power block is modest.     

Solar thermodynamic plants for cogenerative industrial applications in southern Europe

The paper deals with the preliminary design and optimization of cogenerative solar thermodynamic plants for industrial users. The considered plants are all based on proven parabolic trough technology, but different schemes have been analyzed: from a conventional configuration with indirect steam cycle and a heat transfer fluid such as synthetic oil or molten salts, to a more innovative arrangement with direct steam generation in the solar field. Thermodynamic parameters of the steam cycle have been optimized considering some constraints due to the heat requirements of the user, leading to a preliminary design of the main components of the system and an estimation of costs. Resulting net electric efficiency is about 10% for conventional synthetic oil plant, while 13% for innovative molten salts and DSG.A comparison with conventional solar thermodynamic systems for electricity production and photovoltaic power plants shows the economic and energetic benefits of the cogenerative solution. Cost of electricity for solar plant is cheaper of about 20 €/MWh than conventional solar power application. Moreover, heat recovery allows to achieve a further 50% of CO₂ emission savings compared to reference solar plants for only electricity production.     

Comparative system analysis of direct steam generation and synthetic oil parabolic trough power plants with integrated thermal storage

Parabolic trough power plants are currently the most commercially applied systems for CSP power generation. To improve their cost-effectiveness, one focus of industry and research is the development of processes with other heat transfer fluids than the currently used synthetic oil. One option is the utilization of water/steam in the solar field, the so-called direct steam generation (DSG).Several previous studies promoted the economic potential of DSG technology (Eck et al., 2008b, Price et al., 2002, Zarza, 2002). Analyses’ results showed that live steam parameters of up to 500 °C and 120 bars are most promising and could lead to a reduction of the levelized electricity cost (LEC) of about 11% (Feldhoff et al., 2010). However, all of these studies only considered plants without thermal energy storage (TES).Therefore, a system analysis including integrated TES was performed by Flagsol GmbH and DLR together with Solar Millennium AG, Schott CSP GmbH and Senior Berghöfer GmbH, all Germany. Two types of plants are analyzed and compared in detail: a power plant with synthetic oil and a DSG power plant. The design of the synthetic oil plant is very similar to the Spanish Andasol plants (Solar Millennium, 2009) and includes a molten salt two-tank storage system. The DSG plant has main steam parameters of 500 °C and 112 bars and uses phase change material (PCM) for the latent and molten salt for the sensible part of the TES system. To enable comparability, both plants share the same gross electric turbine capacity of 100 MWel, the same TES capacity of 9 h of full load equivalent and the same solar multiple of the collector field of about two.This paper describes and compares both plants’ design, performance and investment. Based on these results, the LEC are calculated and the DSG plant’s potential is evaluated. One key finding is that with currently proposed DSG storage costs, the LEC of a DSG plant could be higher than those of a synthetic oil plant. When considering a plant without TES on the other hand, the DSG system could reduce the LEC. This underlines the large influence of TES and the still needed effort in the development of a commercial storage system for DSG.     

Applied research concerning the direct steam generation in parabolic troughs

With levelized electricity costs (LEC) of 10–12 USCts/kWh the well-known SEGS (Solar Electric Generating Systems) plants in California are presently the most successful solar technology for electricity generation [Price and Cable (2001) Proc. ASME Int. Solar Energy Conf. Forum 2001]. The SEGS plants apply a two-circuit system, consisting of the collector circuit and the Rankine cycle of the power block. These two-circuits are connected via a heat exchanger. In the case of the Direct Steam Generation (DSG) in the collector field [Zarza et al. (2001) Proc. Solar Forum 2001, Washington], the two-circuit system turns into a single-circuit system, where the collector field is directly coupled to the power block. This renders a lower investment and higher process temperatures resulting in a higher system efficiency. Due to the lower investment and the higher efficiency a reduction of the LEC of 10% is expected when the DSG process is combined with improved components of the solar collectors [Zarza (2002) DISS Phase II Final Report, EU Contract No. JOR3-CT98-0277]. Within the European DISS (Direct Solar Steam) project the feasibility of the direct steam generation has been proven in more than 3700 operation hours. Steam conditions of 100 bar and 400 °C have been demonstrated. This paper presents the main scientific results of the DISS project that aims at the investigation and demonstration of the DSG process in parabolic troughs under real solar conditions.     

Performance of a direct steam generation solar thermal power plant for electricity production as a function of the solar multiple

This paper describes the influence of the solar multiple on the annual performance of parabolic trough solar thermal power plants with direct steam generation (DSG). The reference system selected is a 50 MW_e DSG power plant, with thermal storage and auxiliary natural gas-fired boiler. It is considered that both systems are necessary for an optimum coupling to the electricity grid. Although thermal storage is an opening issue for DSG technology, it gives an additional degree of freedom for plant performance optimization. Fossil hybridization is also a key element if a reliable electricity production must be guaranteed for a defined time span. Once the yearly parameters of the solar power plant are calculated, the economic analysis is performed, assessing the effect of the solar multiple in the levelized cost of electricity, as well as in the annual natural gas consumption.     

Technical and economical analysis of a solar–geothermal hybrid plant based on an Organic Rankine Cycle

A combined concentrating solar power system and a geothermal binary plant based on an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is analyzed. Given a supercritical ORC, designed for the optimal utilization of an intermediate enthalpy geothermal source, a solar parabolic trough field was included in the plant, introducing an additional high temperature heat source for the cycle and increasing power production. The off-design performance analysis of the power cycle was performed first. An hour-by-hour simulation was then carried out to estimate the yearly production using a detailed solar field model. Finally, a differential economic analysis was performed to determine the cost of the additional electricity generated with the solar source. On the basis of the current cost of solar collectors, levelized costs of electricity of 145-280 €/MWh were obtained depending on the location of the plant: a competitive value with respect to large, stand-alone concentrating solar power plants.     

Energy performance and numerical optimization of a screw expander–based solar thermal electricity system in a wide range of fluctuating operating conditions

This paper provides fundamental principles to study the thermodynamic performance of a new screw expander–based solar thermal electricity plant. While steam turbines are generally used in direct steam generation solar systems without admitting fluid in two-phase conditions, steam screw expanders, as volumetric machines, can convert thermal to mechanical energy also by expanding liquid-steam mixtures without a decline in efficiency. In effect, steam turbines are not as competitive as screw expanders when the net power is smaller than 2 MW and for low-grade heat sources. The solar electricity generation system proposed in this paper is based on the steam Rankine cycle: Water is used as both working fluid and storage, parabolic trough collectors are used as a thermal source, and screw expanders are used as power machines. Since screw expanders can operate at off-design working conditions in several situations when installed in direct steam generation solar plants, studying expander performance under fluctuating working situations is a crucial issue. The main aim of the present paper is to establish a thermodynamic model to study the energetic benefits of the proposed power system when off-design operating conditions and variable solar radiation occur. This entails, first and foremost, developing overexpansion and underexpansion numerical models to describe the polytropic expansion phase, which considers all the losses affecting performance of the screw expander under real operating conditions. To assess the best operating conditions and maximum efficiency of the whole power system at part-load working conditions under fluctuating solar radiations, parametric optimization is then improved in a wide range of variable working conditions, assuming condensation pressures of water increasing from 0.1 to 1 bar, under an evaporation temperature rising from 170°C to 300°C.     

Modelling of parabolic trough direct steam generation solar collectors

Solar electric generation systems (SEGS) currently in operation are based on parabolic trough solar collectors using synthetic oil heat transfer fluid in the collector loop to transfer thermal energy to a Rankine cycle turbine via a heat exchanger. To improve performance and reduce costs direct steam generation in the collector has been proposed. In this paper the efficiency of parabolic trough collectors is determined for operation with synthetic oil (current SEGS plants) and water (future proposal) as the working fluids. The thermal performance of a trough collector using Syltherm 800 oil as the working fluid has been measured at Sandia National Laboratory and is used in this study to develop a model of the thermal losses from the collector. The model is based on absorber wall temperature rather than fluid bulk temperature so it can be used to predict the performance of the collector with any working fluid. The effects of absorber emissivity and internal working fluid convection effects are evaluated. An efficiency equation for trough collectors is developed and used in a simulation model to evaluate the performance of direct steam generation collectors for different radiation conditions and different absorber tube sizes. Phase change in the direct steam generation collector is accounted for by separate analysis of the liquid, boiling and dry steam zones.     

Design and simulation of a solar-powered/fuel-assisted rankine engine for power generation

A solar-powered/fuel-assisted steam Rankine engine (SPFASRE) that generates a 36 kW steady electrical power is designed. Steam is generated at 230°C using an unfired boiler. The boiler is connected to oil loops that utilize 400 m² of single axis tracking concentrating parabolic-trough collectors and an auxiliary gas-fired heater. The steam leaving the boiler is superheated to 400°C in an LPG-fired superheater. The Rankine engine features a two-stage turbine. The calculated steam Rankine cycle's efficiency at design condition is 23·2%.

A computer program was developed to simulate the system's performance under design and off-design conditions. The results of the simulation indicate that the size of the solar collector chosen provides from 80% to 85% of the total energy required for the Rankine cycle during the summer, fall and spring seasons. In the winter season, however, about 70% of the total energy is supplied by solar energy.

This paper describes the design of SPFASRE and its seasonally projected performance for Jeddah's climate in Saudi Arabia.     

A control procedure for the elimination of mal flow rate distribution in evaporating flow in parallel pipes

Solar power plants that are based on an array of parallel parabolic trough solar collectors currently use oil as the heated fluid. Direct steam generation (DSG) has the potential of being a more efficient and less costly process owing to the elimination of oil as an indirect secondary heating medium and the elimination of heat exchanges and extra equipment needed for the transfer of heat from oil to water/steam.Unfortunately the use of DSG may possess problems regarding undesired flow distribution among the parallel pipes as well as possible flow instabilities. In this work we propose a control procedure that can adjust the flow rate in each of the parallel pipes to a desired quality at the pipes exit.     

A conceptual design of solar boiler

State-of-the-art concepts for solar thermal power systems are based on parabolic trough, tower or parabolic disks either heating molten salts, mineral oil, air or generating steam. We propose in this paper, a conceptual design of a solar boiler. This concept comes from the conventional thermal power plants boiler, with the difference that the heat comes from mirrors that concentrate the solar radiation on wall-type array of solar collectors, instead of coming from fuel flames and hot gases. In our preliminary performance, analysis of this innovative solar boiler applied to electricity production, we have found that overall efficiency of the conversion from direct solar irradiation energy to electricity is above 20%, which is comparable to the value of parabolic trough and central tower technologies. Besides that, the concept seems very robust and could overcome some drawbacks derived from pressure losses, control complexity and material thermo-mechanical stress.     

A novel power block for CSP systems

Concentrating Solar Thermal Power (CSP) and in particular parabolic trough, is a proven large-scale solar power technology. However, CSP cost is not yet competitive with conventional alternatives unless subsidized. Current CSP plants typically include a condensing steam cycle power block which was preferably designed for a continuous operation and higher operating conditions and therefore, limits the overall plant cost effectiveness and deployment. The drawbacks of this power block are as follows: (i) no power generation during low insolation periods (ii) expensive, large condenser (typically water cooled) due to the poor extracted steam properties (high specific volume, sub-atmospheric pressure) and (iii) high installation and operation costs.In the current study, a different power block scheme is proposed to eliminate these obstacles. This power block includes a top Rankine cycle with a back pressure steam turbine and a bottoming Kalina cycle comprising another back pressure turbine and using ammonia-water mixture as a working fluid. The bottoming (moderate temperature) cycle allows power production during low insolation periods. Because of the superior ammonia-water vapor properties, the condensing system requirements are much less demanding and the operation costs are lowered. Accordingly, air cooled condensers can be used with lower economical penalty. Another advantage is that back pressure steam turbines have a less complex design than condensing steam turbines which make their costs lower. All of these improvements could make the combined cycle unit more cost effective. This unit can be applicable in both parabolic trough and central receiver (solar tower) plants.The potential advantage of the new power block is illustrated by a detailed techno-economical analysis of two 50 MW parabolic trough power plants, comparing between the standard and the novel power block. The results indicate that the proposed plant suggests a 4-11% electricity cost saving.     

Energy performance enhancement of solar thermal power plants by solar parabolic trough collectors and evacuated tube collectors-based preheating units

Solar steam power plant is the dominant technology in the category of solar thermal power systems. In steam power cycles, there is usually a couple of steam lines, extracted from medium-pressure and low-pressure turbines, to preheat the working fluid before the boiler. This although leads to an increase in the energy efficiency of the cycle, reduces the contribution of the turbine proportionally. Therefore, finding an alternative method of preheating the working fluid would be effective in further enhancement of the efficiency of the system. In this study, the feasibility of using solar collectors for the preheating process in a solar steam power plant is investigated. For this, parabolic trough solar collectors and evacuated tube solar collectors based on a wide range of different scenarios and configurations are employed. The plant is designed, sized and thermodynamically analyzed for a case study in Saudi Arabia where there is a large solar irradiation potential over the year. The results of the simulations show that, among all the considered scenarios, a power cycle aided by a set of parabolic trough collectors as the preheating unit is the best choice technically. This configuration leads to about 23% increased power generation rate and 6.5% efficiency enhancement compared to the conventional design of the plant.     

Performance analysis of an Integrated Solar Combined Cycle using Direct Steam Generation in parabolic trough collectors

The contribution of solar thermal power to improve the performance of gas-fired combined cycles in very hot and dry environmental conditions is analyzed in this work, in order to assess the potential of this technique, and to feature Direct Steam Generation (DSG) as a well suited candidate for achieving very good results in this quest. The particular Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) power plant proposed consists of a DSG parabolic trough field coupled to the bottoming steam cycle of a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power plant. For this analysis, the solar thermal power plant performs in a solar dispatching mode: the gas turbine always operates at full load, only depending on ambient conditions, whereas the steam turbine is somewhat boosted to accommodate the thermal hybridization from the solar field.     

Performance and design optimization of a low-cost solar organic Rankine cycle for remote power generation

Recent interest in small-scale solar thermal combined heat and power (CHP) power systems has coincided with demand growth for distributed electricity supplies in areas poorly served by centralized power stations. One potential technical approach to meeting this demand is the parabolic trough solar thermal collector coupled with an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) heat engine.The paper describes the design of a solar organic Rankine cycle being installed in Lesotho for rural electrification purpose. The system consists of parabolic though collectors, a storages tank, and a small-scale ORC engine using scroll expanders.A model of each component is developed taking into account the main physical and mechanical phenomena occurring in the cycle and based on experimental data for the main key components.The model allows sizing the different components of the cycle and evaluates the performance of the system. Different working fluids are compared, and two different expansion machine configurations are simulated (single and double stage).     

Performance analysis of a solar-powered/fuel-assisted Rankine cycle with a novel 30 hp turbine

The subject of this analysis is a novel hybrid steam Rankine cycle, which was designed to drive a conventional open-compressor chiller, but is equally applicable to power generation. Steam is to be generated by the use of solar energy collected at about 100°C, and is then to be superheated to about 600°C in a fossil-fuel fired superheater. The steam is to drive a novel counter-rotating turbine, and most of its exhaust heat is regenerated. A comprehensive computer program developed to analyze the operation and performance of the basic power cycle is described. Each component was defined by a separate subroutine which computes its realistic off-design performance from basic principles. Detailed predicted performance maps of the turbine and the basic power cycle were obtained as a function of turbine speed, inlet pressure, inlet temperature, condensing temperature, steam mass flow rate, and the superheater's fuel consumption rate. Some of the major conclusions are: (1) the turbine's efficiency is quite constant, varying in the range of 68.5–76.5 per cent (75 per cent at design) for all conditions, (2) the efficiency of the basic power cycle is 18.3 per cent at design, more than double as compared to organic fluid cycles operating at similar solar input temperatures, at the expense of adding only 20 per cent non-solar energy. This, combined with the fact that actual organic Rankine cycles operate typically at temperatures above 140°C, predicts that this system would be economically superior by using less than half of the collector area and by also using less expensive collectors.     

Steam temperature stability in a direct steam generation solar power plant

Direct steam generation (DSG) is one alternative to the current oil-based parabolic trough solar thermal power plants. Within the German research project ITES, the dynamic behavior of a DSG collector field and the interactions with the conventional power block are assessed in detail. A transient solar field model developed by DLR is used to simulate the steam temperature behavior. Artificial irradiance disturbances as well as real irradiance data are used as input to the system. The resulting main steam temperature gradients are then analyzed by Siemens considering the standards for steam turbines.This paper presents the transient simulation results of the steam temperature as well as the corresponding results of the steam turbine analysis. It is found that the occurring temperature gradients are challenging for a safe turbine operation, if a conservative control system is used. Therefore, the use of an additional thermal inertia to stabilize the steam temperature is suggested. Its impact is also analyzed and discussed in this paper.