A binary-flashing geothermal power plant

A novel type of binary geothermal installation is analyzed. It would increase the work obtained by more than 20%. This installation utilizes partial evaporation of the secondary fluid and flashing of the remaining liquid. Freon, ammonia and isobutane are examined as secondary fluids for the new installation. They all yield superior thermodynamic performance with respect to a conventional binary unit because the binary-flashing installation optimizes two parameters rather than one only. It also appears that the new installation is economically advantageous over existing installations.     

Optimal design of binary cycle power plants for water-dominated,medium-temperature geothermal fields

Exploitation of lower temperature, water-dominated geothermal fields is analyzed, and a methodology for optimizing geothermal binary plants is discussed. The geothermal fluid inlet temperatures considered are in the 110–160 °C range, while the return temperature of the brine is assumed to be between 70 and 100 °C. The analysis shows that the brine specific consumption, ranging from 20 to 120 kg s⁻¹ for each net MW produced, and the efficiency of the plants, ranging from 20% to 45% in terms of Second Law efficiency, are dictated mainly by the combination of the brine inlet temperature, the brine rejection temperature and the energy conversion cycle being used. For given operating conditions and with correct matching between working fluid and energy conversion cycle, it is possible to obtain very similar performances in a number of different cases. It is shown that optimization of the plant can yield improvements of up to 30–40% in terms of reduction of brine specific consumption compared to conventional design.     

Comparison of low temperature mixed refrigerant cycles for separation systems

Numerous mixed refrigerant cycles (MRCs) were developed in the past several decades in different applications. In this paper, two sets of low temperature MRCs are developed and simulated for a typical olefin plant utilizing a mixture of methane, ethane, propane and nitrogen as cycle working fluid to replace the pure ethylene refrigeration cycle that is used in conjunction with propylene refrigeration cycle in conventional plants. The key parameters of the cycles including mixture compositions and operating pressure levels are optimized to meet the objective of minimum shaftwork in compressor. The results show that different cycle configuration has different optimal mixture composition and low and high operating pressures. The results of exergy analysis reveal that the main location of the exergy loss in the cycles is the heat exchanger system. Also, the Carnot factor versus heat flow diagram is provided to identify the distribution of inefficiencies in the heat exchangers for each cycle. The simulation results show that MRCs can improve the thermodynamic performance of refrigeration system using the optimal working fluid mixture composition, optimal high and low operating pressures and optimal arrangement of the cycle components. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Life cycle assessment of geothermal binary power plants using enhanced low-temperature reservoirs

Geothermal binary power plants that use low-temperature heat sources have gained increasing interest in the recent years due to political efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the consumption of finite energy resources. The construction of such plants requires large amounts of energy and material. Hence, the question arises if geothermal binary power plants are also environmentally promising from a cradle-to-grave point of view. In this context, a comprehensive Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) on geothermal power production from EGS (enhanced geothermal systems) low-temperature reservoirs is performed. The results of the analysis show that the environmental impacts are very much influenced by the geological conditions that can be obtained at a specific site. At sites with (above-) average geological conditions, geothermal binary power generation can significantly contribute to more sustainable power supply. At sites with less favorable conditions, only certain plant designs can make up for the energy and material input to lock up the geothermal reservoir by the provided energy. The main aspects of environmentally sound plants are enhancement of the reservoir productivity, reliable design of the deep wells and an efficient utilization of the geothermal fluid for net power and district heat production.     

Thermal efficiency improvement in high output diesel engines a comparison of a Rankine cycle with turbo-compounding

Thermal management, in particular, heat recovery and utilisation in internal combustion engines result in improved fuel economy, reduced emissions, fast warm up and optimized cylinder head temperatures. turbo-compounding is a heat recovery technique that has been successfully used in medium and large scale engines. Heat recovery to a secondary fluid and expansion is used in large scale engines, such as in power plants in the form of heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) [1]. The present paper presents a thermodynamic analysis of turbo-compounding and heat recovery and utilisation through a fluid power cycle, a technique that is also applicable to medium and small scale engines. In a fluid power cycle, the working fluid is stored in a reservoir and expanded subsequently. The reservoir acts as an energy buffer that improves the overall efficiency, significantly. This paper highlights the relative advantage of exhaust heat secondary power cycles over turbo-compounding with the aid of MATLAB based QSS Toolbox [2] simulation results. Steam has been selected as the working fluid in this work for its superior heat capacity over organic fluids and gases.     

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.     

Research on the generation of electricity from the geothermal resources in Simav region, Turkey

One of the greatest problems in using renewable energy sources is the great variability of energy level, both in the short and long term. Geothermal energy, by nature, has high availability because the source is not dependent on weather conditions, so it is among the most stable renewable energy sources. Geothermal energy has the potential to play an important role in the future energy supply of Turkey. Although Turkey has the second-highest geothermal energy potential in Europe, electricity generation from geothermal energy is rather low.This study examines the use of geothermal energy in electricity generation and investigates the applicability of the existent geothermal energy resources to electricity generation in the Kütahya–Simav region, Turkey. The binary cycle is used in the designed power plant for electricity generation from geothermal fluid in which the percentage of liquid is high and which is at lower temperature. In this power plant, R134a is chosen as the secondary fluid, whose boiling point temperature is lower than that of water, and is used instead of geothermal fluid in a second cycle. The thermal efficiency of the designed power plant is measured to be 12.93%.     

Industrial trigeneration using ammonia–water absorption refrigeration systems (AAR)

In many industrial processes there is a simultaneous need for electric power and refrigeration at low temperatures. Examples are in the food and chemical industries. Nowadays the increase in fuel prices and the ecological implications are giving an impulse to energy technologies that better exploit the primary energy source and integrated production of utilities should be considered when designing a new production plant. The number of so-called trigeneration systems installations (electric generator and absorption refrigeration plant) is increasing. If low temperature refrigeration is needed (from 0 to −40 °C), ammonia–water absorption refrigeration plants can be coupled to internal combustion engines or turbogenerators. A thermodynamic system study of trigeneration configurations using a commercial software integrated with specifically designed modules is presented. The study analyzes and compares heat recovery from the primary mover at different temperature levels. In the last section a simplified economic assessment that takes into account disparate prices in European countries compares conventional electric energy supply from the grid and optimized trigeneration plants in one test case (10 MW electric power, 7000 h/year).     

Comprehensive exergetic and economic comparison of PWR and hybrid fossil fuel-PWR power plants

A typical 1000 MW Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) nuclear power plant and two similar hybrid 1000 MW PWR plants operate with natural gas and coal fired fossil fuel superheater-economizers (Hybrid PWR-Fossil fuel plants) are compared exergetically and economically. Comparison is performed based on energetic and economic features of three systems. In order to compare system at their optimum operating point, three workable base case systems including the conventional PWR, and gas and coal fired hybrid PWR-Fossil fuel power plants considered and optimized in exergetic and exergoeconomic optimization scenarios, separately. The thermodynamic modeling of three systems is performed based on energy and exergy analyses, while an economic model is developed according to the exergoeconomic analysis and Total Revenue Requirement (TRR) method. The objective functions based on exergetic and exergoeconomic analyses are developed. The exergetic and exergoeconomic optimizations are performed using the Genetic Algorithm (GA). Energetic and economic features of exergetic and exergoeconomic optimized conventional PWR and gas and coal fired Hybrid PWR-Fossil fuel power plants are compared and discussed comprehensively.     

Thermal energy storage for direct steam generation

Parabolic trough power plants with direct steam generation are a promising option for future cost reduction in comparison to the SEGS type technology. These new solar thermal power plants require innovative storage concepts, where the two-phase heat transfer fluid poses a major challenge. A three-part storage system is proposed where a phase change material (PCM) storage will be deployed for the two-phase evaporation, while concrete storage will be used for storing sensible heat, i.e. for preheating of water and superheating of steam. A storage system with a total storage capacity of approx. 1 MW h is described, combining a PCM module and a concrete module. The storage modules have been constructed for testing in a DSG-test facility specially erected at a conventional power plant of Endesa in Carboneras (Spain). Commissioning of the storage system started in May 2010; testing under real steam conditions around 100 bar will begin in August 2010.     

Soft-Computing Model-Based Controllers for Increased Photovoltaic Plant Efficiencies

Improved solar cell models and control methods using synergies of soft-computing techniques are used to demonstrate increased energy efficiencies of photovoltaic (PV) power plants connected to the electricity grid via space-vector-modulated three-phase inverters. The models and control strategies are combined to form two new model-based controllers that are more accurate and resilient than existing solutions resulting in increased power production. A radial-basis-function-network (RBFN) model with a neuro-fuzzy regulator applied to a plant well characterized by the conventional solar cell model provided an estimated 1.5% increase in power production over an existing conventional model proportional integral (PI)-regulator combination. A neuro-fuzzy model with a neuro-fuzzy controller applied to a plant poorly characterized by the conventional solar cell model gave an 8.6% increase in power. An analysis of the net contributions to the increased efficiencies shows that the improved models had the most effect on power gains.     

Technical and economic overview of geothermal atmospheric exhaust and condensing turbines,binary cycle and biphase plant

This paper is intended to provide a broad overview of the technical and economic aspects of small geothermal generating plants. This includes consideration of conventional steam turbines with atmospheric or condensing exhaust, binary cycle and biphase plant. A further total flow device, the helical screw expander, is currently under development by the Hydrothermal Power Company and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.A.) but has not been included as it is not yet in commercial production.     

Sensitivity analysis of steam power plant-binary cycle

This paper analyses a steam power – two-stage binary cycle plant (SPP–2BCP), in which low temperature waste heat from a conventional steam power plant can be efficiently utilized to generate electricity by installing a bottoming binary cycle. The result from a previous calculation on the installation of binary cycle technology on a Steam Power Plant (SPP) with n-Pentane working fluid indicates an increase in plant efficiency of about 9%. The purpose of this study is to analyze the sensitivity of performance of the binary cycle system against variations in the SPP operational load and the condenser’s cooling water temperature. The calculation is conducted on SPP load variations of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, inlet turbine pressure variations of 5 bar–30 bar, and inlet turbine temperature variations of 125 °C up to 235 °C. Each of these is also analyzed with ambient cooling water temperatures of 30 °C–37 °C. The results of the analysis indicate that the performance of this binary cycle SPP degrades slightly with SPP load, turbine inlet temperature, and turbine inlet pressure variations and with cooling water variations.     

Comparison of different solar plants based on parabolic trough technology

Solar thermal plants are among the most promising technologies to replace fossil fuel stationary applications, and within solar thermal technologies, parabolic troughs are considered the most mature application in the market. This paper compares different solar field technologies, in terms of both performance at design conditions and annual energy production; an in-house code, PATTO, was used to perform energy balances. We considered a reference case reflecting state-of-the-art Nevada Solar One, which showed a design efficiency and annual average efficiency of 22.4% and 15.3%, respectively, in agreement with actual performance. If solar salts are used as heat-transfer fluid instead of synthetic oil (e.g. ARCHIMEDE plant), the efficiency improved within the range of 6% due to the higher maximum temperature. Further thermodynamic advantages can be achieved with a direct steam generation plant; the main drawback is the more complex transient control and no commercially available storage systems. We propose the innovative Milan configuration, which combines advantages of direct steam evaporation and the use of a heat-transfer fluid, to investigate both synthetic oil and solar salts for steam superheating and reheating. Results for this configuration are very promising, with a sun-to-electric annual average efficiency of 17.8%, which is 16% higher than the reference case. Detailed daily simulations showed that advantages are more significant at low radiation. However, the plant should be optimized on an economic basis and we will discuss this in a future paper.     

基于_分析的发电厂改造方法研究

根据分析理论,把锅炉、汽轮机及发电厂热力系统作为一个整体,通过对发电厂各环节进行分析找到具体损失环节并对具体位置提出改造方案,是发电厂改造的一种新方法。以某超超临界机组为例,运用分析理论找到损失环节,找到二次风温及给水温度对锅炉系统及电厂热力系统影响的关系,通过增加一级高压加热器提高给水温度,同时在保证锅炉排烟温度不变的前提下适当地提高二次风温,分析在给水温度及二次风温的双重作用下,锅炉乃至整个机组性能的变化。结果表明,当给水温度由299.5℃升高至322℃时,二次风温由327.8℃升高至360℃,锅炉系统传热损失由3 443 kJ/kg降低至3 254 kJ/kg,燃烧环节损失由6 204 kJ/kg降低至6 158 kJ/kg,锅炉效率由54.15%升高至54.45%,机组目的效率由42%升高至46.7%。     

流体流动的输出功率与功率耗散的协调优化

将生态学优化准则推广用于流体流动作功装置优化性能的分析,导出装置的一些新性能参数,并作些有意义的讨论。进一步阐明了生态学优化准则的重要意义。所得结论可为流体流动作功率装置的优化设计和最佳工况选择提供了些理论指导。     

A New Algorithm of Auto—Modelling for Fluid Network

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Low-grade heat conversion into power using organic Rankine cycles – A review of various applications

An organic Rankine cycle (ORC) machine is similar to a conventional steam cycle energy conversion system, but uses an organic fluid such as refrigerants and hydrocarbons instead of water. In recent years, research was intensified on this device as it is being progressively adopted as premier technology to convert low-temperature heat resources into power. Available heat resources are: solar energy, geothermal energy, biomass products, surface seawater, and waste heat from various thermal processes. This paper presents existing applications and analyzes their maturity. Binary geothermal and binary biomass CHP are already mature. Provided the interest to recover waste heat rejected by thermal devices and industrial processes continue to grow, and favorable legislative conditions are adopted, waste heat recovery organic Rankine cycle systems in the near future will experience a rapid growth. Solar modular power plants are being intensely investigated at smaller scale for cogeneration applications in buildings but larger plants are also expected in tropical or Sahel regions with constant and low solar radiation intensity. OTEC power plants operating mainly on offshore installations at very low temperature have been advertised as total resource systems and interest on this technology is growing in large isolated islands.     

Thermochemical energy transport costs for a distributed solar power plant

Thermochemical energy transport costs are calculated for a solar thermal power plant based on a distributed network of para-boloidal collectors. The optimum pipe size distribution within the fluid transport network has been generated subject to requirements of minimum cost and pressure drop equality across parallel conduction paths. The optimization procedure includes the installed capital cost of pipework together with the effective cost of pumping power. An analytical expression for the overall thermochemical energy transport cost has been derived, based on a Black and Veatch pipe cost survey in which conventional pipelaying technology is assumed. Thermochemical energy transport costs are calculated for systems based on ammonia, methanol, water-methane and sulphur trioxide. The derived costs are dominated by the pipe installation component whereas other parameters such as choice of system, operating pressure, reaction enthalpy and degree of reaction are of secondary importance. Larger collectors favour a lower installed cost per unit energy while increases in network area and hence in plant output capacity lead to slow increases in unit cost. Typical thermochemical energy transport costs for a solar thermal power plant operating only during sunlight hours and based on large collectors are estimated at $20 kWt^?1 (1974 U.S. dollars). It is suggested that there is a need for reduction of this estimate by developments in pipelaying technology tailored to the requirements of solar thermal power plants. Such developments would seem to be feasible for thermochemical energy transfer systems based on small diameter pipes and hence on high system pressures.     

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.