Abstract
A method is presented to enhance solar penetration of a hybrid solar-combined cycle power plant integrated with a packed-bed thermal energy storage system. The hybrid plant is modeled using Simulink and employs systems-level automation. Feedback control regulates net power, collector temperature, and turbine firing temperature. A base-case plant is presented, and plant design is systematically modified to improve solar energy utilization. A novel recycling configuration enables robust control of collector temperature and net power during times of high solar activity. Recycling allows for improved solar energy utilization and a yearly solar fraction over 30%, while maintaining power control. During significant solar activity, excessive collector temperature and power setpoint mismatch are still observed with the proposed recycling configuration. A storage bypass is integrated with recycling, to lower storage charging rate. This operation results in diverting only a fraction of air flow to storage, which lowers the storage charging rate and improves solar energy utilization. Recycling with a storage bypass can handle larger solar inputs and a solar fraction over 70% occurs when following a drastic peaking power load. The novel plant configuration is estimated to reduce levelized cost of the plant by over 4% compared to the base-case plant.
Highlights
Concentrated solar power (CSP) offers a potential path towards reducing carbon emissions from centralized power plants
CSP can be integrated with thermal energy storage (TES), which is advantageous compared to other energy systems that are limited to battery storage [2,3]
The study presents a systematic approach where modifications are made to the configuration of the plant and the performance of each configuration is discussed in depth
Summary
Concentrated solar power (CSP) offers a potential path towards reducing carbon emissions from centralized power plants. Holistic automation must be utilized to achieve this goal [6,21,39] This is done by designing plant configurations and developing control algorithms that can direct excess solar energy to heat sinks, such as the packed-bed TES considered in this study, to better harness excess solar energy without having to direct it away from the collector. This study would be the first to develop such an operation of a hybrid solar-combined cycle power plant with energy storage with a goal to increase solar fraction under a peaking power production schedule This is achieved by systematically changing the plant configuration as well as the control schemes and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of each configuration.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
