Performance and cost assessment of Integrated Solar Combined Cycle Systems (ISCCSs) using CO2 as heat transfer fluid

In this paper, a performance and cost assessment of Integrated Solar Combined Cycle Systems (ISCCSs) based on parabolic troughs using CO₂ as heat transfer fluid is reported on. The use of CO₂ instead of the more conventional thermal oil as heat transfer fluid allows an increase in the temperature of the heat transfer fluid and thus in solar energy conversion efficiency. In particular, the ISCCS plant considered here was developed on the basis of a triple-pressure, reheated combined cycle power plant rated about 250 MW. Two different solutions for the solar steam generator are considered and compared.The results of the performance assessment show that the solar energy conversion efficiency ranges from 23% to 25% for a CO₂ maximum temperature of 550 °C. For a CO₂ temperature of 450 °C, solar efficiency decreases by about 1.5–2.0% points. The use of a solar steam generator including only the evaporation section instead of the preheating, evaporation and superheating sections allows the achievement of slightly better conversion efficiencies. However, the adoption of this solution leads to a maximum value of the solar share of around 10% on the ISCCS power output. The solar conversion efficiencies of the ISCCS systems considered here are slightly greater than those of the more conventional Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) systems based on steam cycles (20–23%) and are very similar to the predicted conversion efficiencies of the more advanced direct steam generation solar plants (22–27%).The results of a preliminary cost analysis show that due to the installation of the solar field, the electrical energy production cost for ISCCS power plants increases in comparison to the natural gas combined cycle (NGCC). In particular, the specific cost of electrical energy produced from solar energy is much greater (about two-fold) than that of electrical energy produced from natural gas.     

Effect of solid volume fraction and tilt angle in a quarter circular solar thermal collectors filled with CNT–water nanofluid

Solar thermal collectors have significant importance due to its wide use in solar thermal technology. Augmentation of heat transfer is a key challenge for solar thermal technology. A quarter circular solar thermal collectors is investigated throughout the paper introducing carbon nanotube (CNT)–water nanofluid in the cavity. Tilt angle of this type of collector plays a vital role and heat transfer can be maximized for a particular tilt angle and solid volume fraction of the nanofluid. Galerkin weighted residual of FEM has been applied for the numerical solution of the problem. Grid independency test and code validation have been assessed for the accuracy of numerical solution. In this paper a wide range of solid volume fraction (δ = 0 to δ = 0.12) and tilt angle (ϕ = 0 to ϕ = 60°) has been investigated for Rayleigh number (Ra = 10⁵–10⁸) with varying dimensionless times. It has been found that both solid volume fraction and tilt angle play vital roles for the augmentation of heat transfer and a good heat transfer characteristic can be obtained by compromising between these two parameters. The results are shown using streamline, isotherm contour and related graph and chart.     

The daily performance of a solar pond integrated with solar collectors

The present study deals with heat storage performance investigation of integrated solar pond and collector system. In the experimental work, a cylindrical solar pond system (CSPS) with a radius of 0.80 m and a depth of 2.0 m and four flat plate collectors dimensions of 1.90 m × 0.90 m was built in Cukurova University in Adana, Turkey. The CSPS was filled with salty water of various densities to form three salty water zones (Upper Convective Zone, Non-Convective Zone and Heat Storage Zone). Heat energy collected by collectors was transferred to the solar pond storage zone by using a heat exchanger system which is connected to the solar collectors. Several temperature sensors connected to a data acquisition system were placed vertically inside the CSPS and at the inlet and outlet of the heat exchanger. Experimental studies were performed using 1, 2, 3 and 4 collectors integrated with the CSPS under approximately the same condition. The integrated solar pond efficiencies were calculated experimentally and theoretically according to the number of collectors. As a result, the experimental efficiencies are found to be 21.30%, 23.60%, 24.28% and 26.52%; the theoretical efficiencies to be 23.42%, 25.48%, 26.55% and 27.70% for 1, 2, 3 and 4 collectors, respectively. Theoretical efficiencies were compared with the experimental results and hence a good agreement is found between experimental and theoretical efficiency profiles.     

Performance assessment of an integrated free cooling and solar powered single-effect lithium bromide-water absorption chiller

In this study, performance assessment of an integrated cooling plant having both free cooling system and solar powered single-effect lithium bromide–water absorption chiller in operation since August 2002 in Oberhausen, Germany, was performed. A floor space of 270 m² is air-conditioned by the plant. The plant includes 35.17 kW cooling (10-RT) absorption chiller, vacuum tube collectors’ aperture area of 108 m², hot water storage capacity of 6.8 m³, cold water storage capacity of 1.5 m³ and a 134 kW cooling tower. The results show that free cooling in some cooling months can be up to 70% while it is about 25% during the 5 years period of the plant operation. For sunny clear sky days with equal incident solar radiation, the daily solar heat fraction ranged from 0.33 to 0.41, collectors’ field efficiency ranged from 0.352 to 0.492 and chiller COP varies from 0.37 to 0.81, respectively. The monthly average value of solar heat fraction varies from 31.1% up to 100% and the five years average value of about 60%. The monthly average collectors’ field efficiency value varies from 34.1% up 41.8% and the five-year average value amounts about 28.3%. Based on the obtained results, the specific collector area is 4.23 (m²/kW_cold) and the solar energy system support of the institute heating system for the duration from August 2002 to November 2007 is 8124 kWh.     

Performance of a dual-purpose solar continuous adsorption system

A conceptual design and performance of a dual-purpose solar continuous adsorption system for domestic refrigeration and water heating is described. Malaysian activated carbon and methanol are used as the adsorbent–adsorbate pair. The heat rejected by the adsorber beds and condensers during the cooling process of the refrigeration part is recovered and used to heat water for the purpose of domestic consumption. In a continuous 24-h cycle, 16.9 MJ/day of heat can be recovered for heating of water in the storage tanks. In the single-purpose intermittent solar adsorption system, this heat is wasted. The total energy input to the dual-purpose system during a 24-h operation is 61.2 MJ/day and the total energy output is 50 MJ/day. The latter is made up of 44.7 MJ/day for water heating and 5.3 MJ/day for ice making. The amount of ice that can be produced is 12 kg/day. Using typical value for the efficiency of evacuated tube collector of water heating system of 65%, the following coefficient of performances (COP's) are obtained: 44% for adsorption refrigeration cycle, 73% for dual-purpose solar water heater, 9.1% for dual-purpose solar adsorption refrigeration and 82.1% for dual-purpose of both solar water heater and refrigerator.     

Integration of Kalina cycle in a combined heat and power plant,a case study

This paper presents the integration of the Kalina cycle process in a combined heat and power plant for improvement of efficiency. In combined heat and power plants, the heat of flue gases is often available at low temperatures. This low-grade waste heat cannot be used for steam production and therefore power generation by a conventional steam cycle. Moreover, the steam supply for the purpose of heating is mostly exhausted, and therefore the waste heat at a low-grade temperature is not usable for heating. If other measures to increase the efficiency of a power plant process, like feed-water heating or combustion air heating, have been exhausted, alternative ways to generate electricity like the Kalina cycle process offer an interesting option. This process maximizes the generated electricity with recovery of heat and without demand of additional fuels by integration in existing plants. The calculations show that the net efficiency of an integrated Kalina plant is between 12.3% and 17.1% depending on the cooling water temperature and the ammonia content in the basic solution. The gross electricity power is between 320 and 440 kW for 2.3 MW of heat input to the process. The gross efficiency is between 13.5% and 18.8%.     

A novel thermal water pump for circulating water in a solar water heating system

This research purpose was to perform a parametric study of a novel thermal water pump well fitted in a simulated solar water heating system (SWHS). The SWHS was composed of a heating tank (HT), a hot water storage tank (ST) and an overhead tank (OT). The HT together with a specially designed valve act as a novel thermal water pump that gets power from hot water vapor and air pressure produced by a built-in electric heater in order to transfer heat from the HT to ST. The general operation of this pump has four stages for each cycle: heating, water circulating, vapor circulating and water supplying. The discharge water heads were varied with an increment of 0.25 m from 0.75 to 3 m. According to the experiment, it was found that the pump could operate at an average HT temperature of about 80–95 °C leading to 70–80 °C ST temperatures and 20–35 pumping cycles and consumed 17 MJ energy input during 9-h period. The overall thermal efficiency of the SWHS was 33–42% and the mean pump efficiency was about 0.005–0.011% depending upon the discharge heads.     

Analysis of low temperature solar thermal electric generation using regenerative Organic Rankine Cycle

The innovative configuration of low temperature solar thermal electric generation with regenerative Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is designed, mainly consisting of small concentration ratio compound parabolic concentrators (CPC) and the regenerative ORC. Advantages of the innovative configuration such as effectively reducing heat transfer irreversibility and permitting the use of thermal storage with phase change materials (PCMs) are outlined. The numerical simulation of the heat transfer and power conversion processes are carried out based on distributed parameters. The effects of regenerative cycle on the collector, ORC, and overall electricity efficiency are then analyzed. The results indicate that the regenerative cycle has positive effects on the ORC efficiency but negative ones on the collector efficiency due to increment of the average working temperature of the first-stage collectors. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate the overall electricity efficiency when regenerative cycle is adopted. Further investigation shows that there are maximum efficiencies for both the ORC and the system electric generation on conditions of constant irradiance, evaporation temperature, and environment temperature. And the regenerative temperature at which the system electricity efficiency reaches its maximum is smaller than that at which the ORC efficiency reaches its maximum by 12–21 °C. Thus, the regenerative cycle optimization of the solar thermal electric generation differs from that of a solo ORC. The system electricity efficiency with regenerative ORC is about 8.6% for irradiance 750 W/m² and is relatively higher than that without the regenerative cycle by 4.9%.     

Numerical simulation of underground Seasonal Solar Thermal Energy Storage (SSTES) for a single family dwelling using TRNSYS

A system for capturing and storing solar energy during the summer for use during the following winter has been simulated. Specifically, flat plate solar thermal collectors attached to the roof of a single family dwelling were used to collect solar thermal energy year round. The thermal energy was then stored in an underground fabricated Seasonal Solar Thermal Energy Storage (SSTES) bed. The SSTES bed allowed for the collected energy to supplement or replace fossil fuel supplied space heat in typical single family homes in Richmond, Virginia, USA. TRNSYS was used to model and simulate the winter thermal load of a typical Richmond home. The simulated heating load was found to be comparable to reported loads for various home designs. TRNSYS was then used to simulate the energy gain from solar thermal collectors and stored in an underground, insulated, vapor proof SSTES bed filled with sand. Combining the simulation of the winter heat demand of typical homes and the SSTES system showed reductions in fossil fuel supplied space heating in excess of 64%. The optimization of the SSTES scheme showed that a 15 m³ bed volume, 90% of the south facing roof, and a flow rate of 11.356 lpm through the solar collectors were optimal parameters. The overall efficiency of the system ranged from 50% to 70% when compared to the total useful energy gain of the solar collectors. The overall efficiency was between 6.1% and 7.6% when compared to the total amount of solar radiation incident upon the solar collectors.     

Integrating mid-temperature solar heat and post-combustion CO2-capture in a coal-fired power plant

This article proposed a hybrid power system combining mid-temperature solar heat and a coal-fired power plant for CO₂ capture. In this system, solar heat at around 300 °C replaces the high-quality steam extractions of the Rankine cycle to heat the feed water, so the steam that was to be extracted can expand efficiently in the high-pressure turbines. In this hybrid system, the CO₂ capture penalty is completely compensated for by the enhanced work output contributed by the solar heat. The annual solar field cost is reduced to 10.8 $/ton-CO₂, compared to 25.8 $/ton-CO₂ in a system with solar heat for direct solvent regeneration. Additionally, the mid-temperature solar heat is converted into work with an improved efficiency of 27%. Thus, this system offers a promising approach to reduce the CO₂ capture penalty in CCS with attractive cost-effective utilization of mid-temperature solar heat.     

An option for solar thermal repowering of fossil fuel fired power plants

Global climate change urges immediate measures to be taken to limit greenhouse gas emission coming from the fossil fuel fired power plants. Solar thermal energy can be involved in different ways in existing power generation plants in order to replace heat produced by fossil fuels.Solar field feed water preheating is mainly discussed in this paper as an option for fast and feasible RES penetration. Rankine regenerative steam cycled power plant has been modelled with Thermoflow software. The plant model incorporates also a field with solar Fresnel collectors that directly heats boiler’s feed water. The proposed plant modification yields substantial fossil fuel input reduction. The best results can be obtained when the group of high pressure heaters is replaced and feed water temperature exceeds its original design value. The solar power generation share can reach up to 23% of the power plant capacity in this case, having efficiency higher than 39% for the best solar hour of the year.     

Performance enhancement of conventional combined cycle power plant by inlet air cooling,inter-cooling and LNG cold energy utilization

This paper has proposed an integrated advanced thermal power system to improve the performance of the conventional combined cycle power plant. Both inlet air cooling and inter-cooling are utilized within the proposed system to limit the decrease of the air mass flow contained in the given volume flow as well as reduce the compression power required. The latent heat of spent steam from a steam turbine and the heat extracted from the air during the compression process are used to heat liquefied natural gas (LNG) and generate electrical energy. The conventional combined cycle and the proposed power system are simulated using the commercial process simulation package IPSEpro. A parametric analysis has been performed for the proposed power system to evaluate the effects of several key factors on the performance. The results show that the net electrical efficiency and the overall work output of the proposed combined cycle can be increased by 2.8% and 76.8 MW above those of the conventional combined cycle while delivering 75.8 kg s^?1 of natural gas and saving 0.9 MW of electrical power by removing the need for sea water pumps used hitherto. Compared with the conventional combined cycle, the proposed power system performance has little sensitivity to ambient temperature changes and shows good off-design performance.     

Design and performance of a solar-powered heating and cooling system using silica gel/water adsorption chiller

In this paper, a solar-powered compound system for heating and cooling was designed and constructed in a golf course in Taiwan. An integrated, two-bed, closed-type adsorption chiller was developed in the Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan. Plate fin and tube heat exchangers were adopted as an adsorber and evaporator/condenser. Some test runs have been conducted in the laboratory. Under the test conditions of 80 °C hot water, 30 °C cooling water, and 14 °C chilled water inlet temperatures, a cooling power of 9 kW and a COP (coefficient of performance for cooling) of 0.37 can be achieved. It has provided a SCP (specific cooling power) of about 72 W/(kg adsorbent). Some field tests have been performed from July to October 2006 for providing air-conditioning and hot water. The efficiency of the collector field lies in 18.5–32.4%, with an average value of 27.3%. The daily average COP of the adsorption chiller lies in 33.8–49.7%, with an average COP of 40.3% and an average cooling power of 7.79 kW. A typical daily operation shows that the efficiency of the solar heating system, the adsorption cooling and the entirely solar cooling system is 28.4%, 45.2%, and 12.8%, respectively.     

Correlations for natural convective heat exchange in CPC solar collector cavities determined from experimental measurements

A detailed experimental study was undertaken to analyse the natural convective heat transfer in CPC cavities, a complex function of collector orientation, geometrical aspect ratios and thermal boundary conditions at the enclosure walls. Results are reported for CPC solar collectors with full-, three quarter- and half-height reflectors, C_R = 2 and a 100 mm wide flat plate absorber. Experiments were conducted using a purpose built solar simulator under controlled lab environment employing realistic boundary and thermal conditions. The effects of simultaneous tilting of the solar collectors about both transverse and longitudinal axes, truncation of the reflector walls and inlet water (collector heat removal fluid) temperature on the natural convective heat flow characteristics inside the CPC cavity have been determined. It is concluded that the correlations developed for prediction of natural convection characteristics in rectangular, annuli and V-trough enclosures are not appropriate for application to CPC solar collectors with divergence ranging from 150% to 300%. Based on the experimental data a correlation is presented to predict the natural convection heat loss from the absorber plate of solar collectors for a range of water inlet temperatures.     

Simulation and analysis of the central cavity receiver’s performance of solar thermal power tower plant

Solar central receiver, which plays a dominant role in the radiation–heat conversion, is one of the most important components in the solar tower plants. Its performance can directly affect the efficiency of the entire solar power generation system. In this study, an integrated receiver model for full range operation conditions was proposed in order to simulate and evaluate the dynamic characteristics of a solar cavity receiver. It mainly couples the radiation–heat conversion process, the determination of convective heat transfer coefficient, the temperature computation of receiver walls and the calculation and analysis of the thermal losses. Based on this model, the dynamic characteristics of the solar cavity receiver were tested by encountering a sudden solar radiation disturbance. In addition, the thermal loss was also calculated and analyzed with different wind conditions. The results indicated that the parameters of the receiver had a significant variation under the sharp disturbance of DNI if no control rules were imposed. The wind conditions can obviously affect the thermal losses and the value reaches its maximum when the wind blows from the side of the receiver (α = 90°). In order to verify the validity of this model, the simulation results were used to compare the design points under the same input conditions, and the results showed that simulation data had a good agreement with design data.     

Solar radiation attenuation in solar tower plants

With the advent of the first commercial solar power tower plants with a rated power in the 10–20 MW range, scale-up to larger 20–50 MW commercial plants is being considered (Lata et al., 2010, Herring, 2009) in the vast arid regions of the sunbelt. In the case of single-tower plants, the heliostat field size grows considerably and the heliostat–receiver slant range distances are often over 1 km. Solar radiation attenuation over these distances cannot be neglected and must be taken into consideration during plant design. The measurement of the atmospheric attenuation is not an easy task and the use of spectral atmospheric transmission models is necessary. We used the MODTRAN (MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission) code to study the solar radiation attenuation at different slant range distances in different scenarios: rural atmosphere on a clear day (visibility 23 km) and rural atmosphere on a hazy day (visibility 5 km).     

Analysis of solar desiccant cooling system for an institutional building in subtropical Queensland,Australia

Institutional buildings contain different types of functional spaces which require different types of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. In addition, institutional buildings should be designed to maintain an optimal indoor comfort condition with minimal energy consumption and minimal negative environmental impact. Recently there has been a significant interest in implementing desiccant cooling technologies within institutional buildings. Solar desiccant cooling systems are reliable in performance, environmentally friendly and capable of improving indoor air quality at a lower cost. In this study, a solar desiccant cooling system for an institutional building in subtropical Queensland (Australia) is assessed using TRNSYS 16 software. This system has been designed and installed at the Rockhampton campus of Central Queensland University. The system's technical performance, economic analysis, energy savings, and avoided gas emission are quantified in reference to a conventional HVAC system under the influence of Rockhampton's typical meteorological year. The technical and economic parameters that are used to assess the system's viability are: coefficient of performance (COP), solar fraction, life cycle analysis, payback period, present worth factor and the avoided gas emission. Results showed that, the installed cooling system at Central Queensland University which consists of 10 m² of solar collectors and a 0.400 m³ of hot water storage tank, achieved a 0.7 COP and 22% of solar fraction during the cooling season. These values can be boosted to 1.2 COP and 69% respectively if 20 m² of evacuated tube collector's area and 1.5 m³ of solar hot water storage volume are installed.     

Liquid sodium versus Hitec as a heat transfer fluid in solar thermal central receiver systems

Selection of an appropriate HTF is important for minimising the cost of the solar receiver, thermal storage and heat exchangers, and for achieving high receiver and cycle efficiencies. Current molten salt HTFs have high melting points (142–240 °C) and degrade above 600 °C. Sodium’s low melting point (97.7 °C) and high boiling point (873 °C) allow for a much larger range of operational temperatures. Most importantly, the high temperatures of sodium allow the use of advanced cycles (e.g. combined Brayton/Rankine cycles). In this study, a comparison between the thermophysical properties of two heat transfer fluids (HTFs), Hitec (a ternary molten salt 53% KNO₃ + 40% NaNO₂ + 7% NaNO₃) and liquid sodium (Na), has been carried out to determine their suitability for use in high-temperature concentrated solar thermal central-receiver systems for power generation. To do this, a simple receiver model was developed to determine the influences of the fluids’ characteristics on receiver design and efficiency. While liquid sodium shows potential for solar thermal power systems due to its wide range of operation temperatures, it also has two other important differences – a high heat transfer coefficient (～an order of magnitude greater than Hitec) and a low heat capacity (30–50% lower than Hitec salt). These issues are studied in depth in this model. Overall, we found that liquid sodium is potentially a very attractive alternative to molten salts in next generation solar thermal power generation if its limitations can be overcome.     

The effects of operation parameter on the performance of a solar-powered adsorption chiller

A solar-powered adsorption chiller with heat and mass recovery cycle was designed and constructed. It consists of a solar water heating unit, a silica gel-water adsorption chiller, a cooling tower and a fan coil unit. The adsorption chiller includes two identical adsorption units and a second stage evaporator with methanol working fluid. The effects of operation parameter on system performance were tested successfully. Test results indicated that the COP (coefficient of performance) and cooling power of the solar-powered adsorption chiller could be improved greatly by optimizing the key operation parameters, such as solar hot water temperature, heating/cooling time, mass recovery time, and chilled water temperature. Under the climatic conditions of daily solar radiation being about 16–21 MJ/m², this solar-powered adsorption chiller can produce a cooling capacity about 66–90 W per m² collector area, its daily solar cooling COP is about 0.1–0.13.