Exergetic Analysis of a Solar Thermal Power Plant

Abstract

The study of heat loss and exergy loss distribution in the power plant system plays a very important role in improving the efficiency of the system. In this paper, a dynamic simulation model of the 5MW solar thermal power system is established. Then, the simulation test with the actual data in a solar thermal power plant is carried out, and we analyze the heat and the exergy loss of the system. The results show that, the heat loss of the condenser is the largest, up to 72%. To increase the thermal efficiency of the system, the energy-saving research for the condenser should be pay attention to. The solar collector field has the most of exergy loss in the system, accounting for approximately 89%. From the exergy efficiency perspective, the solar collector system has huge potential for energy- saving. The thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency of a solar thermal power plant system increases as the load increases, full-load operation of the unit should be maintained as much as possible.