Model validation and control strategy of a heat recovery system integrated in a renewable hybrid power plant demonstrator

Abstract

The main challenge that renewable power plants must tackle is the supply of stable and reliable power. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants can efficiently store heat by means of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems, which make them one of the most appropriate renewable energies for large-scale energy production. Nevertheless, they may not be able to satisfy the thermal demand of the power plant, especially under unfavorable meteorological conditions, due to TES system sizes being restricted by economic reasons. The HYSOL project presents an innovative hybridization configuration of CSP and biogas for a 100% renewable power plant. A demonstrator of this technology was built in the scope of the HYSOL project. This paper presents the development and experimental validation and control system of the Heat Recovery System (HRS) dynamic model included in the demonstrator. An experimental campaign was performed in the real facility in order to validate the model dynamics. This model can be used for studying the system dynamics, training plant operators, testing and validating advanced control strategies and could be applied for Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR).