Abstract
In the development of renewable energy sources, there has been a trend toward increasing and stabilising the power output of Concentrated Solar Power Plants (CSPPs) during times of reduced solar resource through the use of Thermal Energy Storage Devices (TESDs). This study investigates whether the use of a molten salt TESD decreases the efficiency of a parabolic trough CSPP due to additional system energy losses despite prolonging the operational time of the CSPP. A theoretical analysis of a simplified CSPP was made to determine if a TESD would impact the efficiency of the CSPP. This was followed up by a survey of currently active parabolic trough CSPPs both with and without molten salt TESDs. The theoretical analysis illustrated that a TESD would have no effect on the efficiency of a CSPP. However, the survey revealed that the use of a TESD improved the efficiency of a CSPP. The results of the study don't support the theoretical analysis or the hypothesis suggesting that a property has been overlooked. This property is most likely to be that generators tend to operate best within a certain temperature range, and in a CSPP the optimum temperature range cannot be maintained. This results in a generator being selected capable of operating for the longest period with the lowest amount of excess solar energy. When a TESD is implemented, the excess solar energy is stored for later use, prolonging the generator's running time and increasing the useable energy. The realisation of the ability of a TESD to increase the efficiency of a CSPP as well as extending its operating time shows a promising area of development in CSPP technology and increasing its application in electricity generation.
Highlights
Throughout the last century, fossil fuels have been a major part of the world energy market.as the world’s energy demand has increased [1], so too has its burden on the Earth, leading to a need to implement renewable and environmentally friendly forms of power generation
The hypothesis of this paper proposes that by looking at the efficiency of a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant with a molten salt Thermal Energy Storage Devices (TESDs) attached, it would be expected that if the theoretical net daily heat of a thermal storage device is zero, the annual efficiency of a CSP plant without a TESD would be greater than one that does due to energy losses associated with the efficiency of thermal storage devices and heat exchangers
In order to test the validity of the proposed hypothesis a meta-study was performed, analysing the efficiency of Concentrated Solar Power Plants (CSPPs) that utilised a TESD against CSPPs that did not, and a theoretical analysis of the two systems was undertaken
Summary
Throughout the last century, fossil fuels have been a major part of the world energy market.as the world’s energy demand has increased [1], so too has its burden on the Earth, leading to a need to implement renewable and environmentally friendly forms of power generation. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is one such power generation method being utilised and developed. Power is generated through the reflection of sunlight onto a receiver, the heat from this is transferred to steam to power a turbine. While these setups may be attractive from an environmental point of view, there are key detractors from using this as a primary source of power generation, two of the larger being power generation during times of low light, and low efficiency. This study seeks to investigate the impact of TESDs on the efficiency of the Concentrated Solar Power Plants (CSPPs) they are attached to
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