Abstract
The current paper presents the design and investigation of a 100 MW concentrated solar power (CSP) system composed of a solar tower with a dual-tank direct thermal energy storage system that uses a mixture of molten potassium nitrate and sodium, incorporated with a 111 MWe gross power block composed of a conventional Rankine cycle. The analysis was conducted at Midelt city (Morocco) (32°41'06 latitude and 4°44'42 O longitude). This study aims to evaluate the impact of cooling tower technology on solar tower power plants from a performance and economic standpoint. To achieve this objective, for each cooling tower system, the main parameters were considered: the solar multiple of the system, and the thermal storage hours (TES); their influence on the annual energy generated, the capacity factor, the annual water consumption, and the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) to demonstrate the profitability and the cost-effectiveness of the CSP system on the studied site. The modeling results reveal that in terms of performance and economic perspective, the optimal configuration corresponds to a solar multiple of 3.5 and thermal storage of 16, using the evaporative-cooling system, which resulted in a capacity factor (CF) of 80.47%, and LCOE of 7.68 ¢ per kWh.
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