OPTIMIZATION OF A SMALL SCALE CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER PLANT USING RANKINE CYCLE

A system for the exploitation of the available energy of the sun is proposed in this paper. The system involves a collector, a heat reservoir, a vapor generator, a set of direction control valves and a turbine. These components can be combined to form four closed different cycles in order to generate electricity or store heat according to the outdoor environment. An optimization method is proposed to optimize the energy collected at the shaft of the turbine for a given input sun power. The method establishes a functional relationship between the optimal mass flow rate through the collector, the sun input power and the optimal collected power at the shaft of the turbine. A similar functional relationship is established between the optimal temperature of the working fluid and the sun input power. The collected optimal energy is computed as a function of the sun input power for different temperatures of the vapor generator. The effect of the heat transfer coefficient and coefficient of radiation of Stefan-Boltzmann and the temperature of the vapor generator on the output optimal energy are investigated.

___

  • [1] M. Thirugnanasambandam, S. Iniyan, R. Goic, A review of solar thermal technologies.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Volume 14, issue, 1, January 2010, pages 312–322.
  • [2] I.L. Garca, J. L. Alvarez, D. Blanco, Performance Model for Parabolic Trough Solar Thermal Power Plants with Thermal Storage: Comparison to Operating Plant Data, Solar Energy. Volume 85, Issue 10, October 2011, Pages 2443–2460.
  • [3] H. Fathabadi, Novel high efficient offline sensorless dual-axis solar tracker for using in pho-tovoltaic systems and solar concentrators, Renewable Energy. Volume 95, September 2016, pp.485–494.
  • [4] O.A. Jaramillo, M. Borunda, K.M. Velazquez–Lucho, M. Robles,Parabolic trough solar collector for low enthalpy processes: An analysis of the efficiency enhancement by using twisted tape inserts. Renewable Energy. Volume 93, August 2016, Pages 125–141.
  • [5] R. Almanza, A.Lentz, G.Jimenez, Receiver behavior in direct steam generation with parabolic troughs. Solar Energy. Volume 61, Issue 4, October 1997, Pages 275–278.
  • [6] K. Bhagat, S.K. Saha, Numerical analysis of latent heat thermal energy storage using encapsulated phase change material for solar thermal power plant. Renewable Energy. Volume 95, September 2016, Pages 323–336.
  • [7] A.M. Delgado–Torres, L. Garca–Rodrguez, Design recommendations for solar organic Rankine cycle (ORC)powered reverse osmosis (RO) desalination. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Volume 16, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 44–53.
  • [8] M.M. Sorour, Performance of a small sensible heat energy storage unit. Energy Conversion and Management. Volume 28, Issue 3, 1988, Pages 211–217.
  • [9] M. Rady, A. Amin, M. Ahmed, Conceptual Design of Small Scale Multi-Generation Concentrated Solar Plant for a Medical Center in Egypt. Energy Procedia. Volume 83, December 2015, Pages 289–298.
  • [10] E. Bellos, C. Tzivanidis, K.A. Antonopoulos, G. Gkinis, Thermal enhancement of solar parabolic trough collectors by using nanofluids and converging-diverging absorber tube. Re-newable Energy. Volume 94, August 2016, Pages 213–222.
  • [11] P. Selvakumar, S.A. Prasanth, N. Rakesh, A.Vignesh, Fluid flow and heat transfer analysis on multiple parabolic trough collectors by varying heat transfer fluids, Undergraduate Project Thesis, India: Anna University of Technology Coimbatore, 2011.
  • [12] S. Quoilin, Experimental Study and Modeling of a Low Temperature Rankine Cycle for Small Scale Cogeneration PhD Thesis, Belgia: Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department Thermodynamics Laborator, 2007.
  • [13] B.F. Tchanche, G. Papadakis, G. Lambrinos, A. Frangoudakis, Fluid selection for a low-temperature solar organic Rankine cycle. Applied Thermal Engineering. Volume 29, Issues 1112, August 2009, Pages 2468–2476.
  • [14] J. Nouman, Comparative Studies and Analyses of Working Fluids for Organic Rankine Cycles ORC, Master of Science Thesis, KTH School of Industrial Engineering and Management; 2012, SE-100 44 Stockolm.
  • [15] T.C. Hung, T.Y. Shai, S.K. Wang, A review of organic rankine cycles (ORCs) for the recovery of low-grade waste heat. Energy. Volume 22, Issue 7, July 1997, Pages 661–667.
  • [16] T.C. Hung, Waste heat recovery of organic Rankine cycle using dry fluids. Energy Conversion and Management. Volume 42, Issue 5, March 2001, Pages 539–553.
  • [17] T. Saitoh, N.Yamada, S. Wakashima, Solar Rankine Cycle System Using Scroll Expander,Journal of environment and engineering. Volume 2, No 4,2007, pages 986–992.
  • [18] B.F. Tchanche, G. Papadakis, G. Lambrinos, A. Frangoudakis, Fluid selection for a low-temperature solar organic Rankine cycle. Applied Thermal Engineering. Volume 29, Issues 1112, August 2009, Pages 246–2476.
  • [19] G.Pei, Y. Li, J. Li, Performance evaluation of a micro turbo-expander for application in low- temperature solar electricity generation. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A. Volume 12, Issue 3, March 2011, pages 207–213.
  • [20] S.H. Kang, Design and experimental study of ORC (organic Rankine cycle) and radial turbine using R245fa working fluid. Energy. Volume 41, Issue 1, May 2012, Pages 514–524.
  • [21] R. Zanelli, D. Favrat, Experimental investigation of a hermetic scroll expander-generator.Proceedings of the International Compressor Engineering Conference at Purdue. 1994, pages 459–464.
  • [22] V.Lemort, S. Quoilin, C. Cuevas, J.Lebrun, Testing and modeling a scroll expander integrated into an Organic Rankine Cycle. Applied Thermal Engineering. Volume 29, Issues 1415, October 2009, Pages 3094–3102.
  • [23] T.S. Saitoh, H. Okudaira, A.Hoshi, Study on Solar Rankine Cycle Engine of Displacement-type. Transactions of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers. Volume 69, Series B, No 680,2003, pages 142–148.
  • [24] L. Navarro, A. de Gracia, D. Niall, A. Castell, M. Browne, S. J. McCormack, Ph. Grffiths, L. F. Cabeza, Thermal energy storage in building integrated thermal systems: A review. Part 2. Integration as passive system. Renewable Energy. Volume 85, January 2016, Pages 1334–1356.
  • [25] S.A. Kalogirou, S. Karellas, V. Badescu, K. Braimakis, Exergy analysis on solar thermal systems: a better understanding of their sustainability. renewable energy. volume 85, january 2016, pages 1328–1333.