Abstract
Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems allow us to effectively store and release the collected thermal energy from solar thermodynamic plants; however, room for improvements exists to increase their efficiency when in operation. For this reason, in this work, a smart management strategy of an innovative LHTES in a micro-scale concentrated solar combined heat and power plant is proposed and numerically investigated. The novel thermal storage system, as designed and built by the partners within the EU funded Innova MicroSolar project, is subdivided into six modules and consists of 3.8 tons of nitrate solar salt kNO3/NaNO3, whose melting temperature is in the range 216 ÷ 223 °C. In this study, the partitioning of the storage system on the performance of the integrated plant is evaluated by applying a smart energy management strategy based on a fuzzy logic approach. Compared to the single thermal energy storage (TES) configuration, the proposed strategy allows a reduction in storage thermal losses and improving of the plant’s overall efficiency especially in periods with limited solar irradiance. The yearly dynamic simulations carried out show that the electricity produced by the combined heat and power plant is increased by about 5%, while the defocus thermal losses in the solar plant are reduced by 30%.
Highlights
The building sector accounts for about 40% of the final energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions in Europe [1]
The yearly dynamic simulations carried out show that the electricity produced by the combined heat and power plant is increased by about 5%, while the defocus thermal losses in the solar plant are reduced by 30%
The following main components have been included into the model: (i) the LFR solar field; (ii) the micro Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) plant; and (iii) the Phase Change Material (PCM) thermal energy storage tank equipped with reversible heat pipes
Summary
The building sector accounts for about 40% of the final energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions in Europe [1]. In order to curb the share of the sector on the final energy consumption and the related environmental impact, the European Union is pushing towards an improvement in the energy efficiency of buildings and an increase in renewable energy technologies’ penetration into the grid [2]. A good contribution in this direction has been given by the introduction of concentrated evacuated tube collectors due to their optimal compromise between cost and conversion efficiency, promoted by recent progress in manufacturing [4]. In order to achieve higher conversion efficiencies and annual performance of ORC systems, solar technologies with higher concentration ratio than Compound Parabolic Collectors (CPC) are required [7]. Xu et al [8]
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