Evaluation of Energy Efficiency and the Reduction of Atmospheric Emissions by Generating Electricity from a Solar Thermal Power Generation Plant

Francisco Jurado,Gary Ampuño,Juan Lata-Garcia

doi:10.3390/en13030645

Francisco Jurado, Gary Ampuño + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en13030645

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Journal: Energies	Publication Date: Feb 3, 2020
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Jaén, Politecnica Salesiana University

Abstract

The increase of renewable energy generation to change the productivity of a country and electrify isolated sectors are some of the priorities that several governments have imposed in the medium term. Research centers are looking for new technologies to optimize the use of renewable energies and incorporate them into hybrid generation systems. In the present work, the modeling of a solar thermal energy generation plant is being carried out. The climatic data used belong to two coastal cities and one island of Ecuador. The contribution of this work is to simulate a complete model of SCF and PCS, in which the variables of outlet temperature and oil flow are involved at the same time. Previously investigations use only outlet temperature for evaluating power plants. The model of the solar thermal plant is composed of a field of solar collectors, a storage tank, and an energy conversion system. As a result, we obtain a model of a thermosolar plant that will allow us to make decisions when considering the incorporation of micronetworks in systems isolated from the electrical network. The use of thermosolar technology allows the reduction in the risk of spills by the transport of fossil fuels in ships. The study of the CO2 emission factor in Ecuador from 2011 to 2018 is also carried out.

Highlights

One of the main challenges to be reversed according to global development indicators is the high concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) due to the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation applications and industrial processes [1,2]
In the solar collector field (SCF), solar irradiance heats the fluid circulating through the solar collector fields (SCF) causing it to reach temperatures in excess of 200 ◦ C
The thermal energy is used by a steam generator, which produces a steam pressure capable of moving a turbine

Summary

Introduction

One of the main challenges to be reversed according to global development indicators is the high concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) due to the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation applications and industrial processes [1,2]. One of the means to achieve a reduction in GHGs is the use of technologies to convert solar energy into electricity. The most used solar collectors are shown in [4,5] such as flat-plate, parabolic compound, evacuated tube This work focuses on parabolic trough solar thermal power plants, which consist of a Solar In reference [6], the authors present free applications that allow the design of solar fields.

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