Thermodynamic and economic analysis of a novel combination of the heliostat solar field with compressed air energy storage (CAES); a case study at San Francisco, USA

Abstract

In spite of the various important features of the compressed air energy storage (CAES), this technology suffer from some environmental effects because of the burn of fossil fuels in the combustor that reduces its widespread use. To address this problem, a novel green and effective concept based on the combination of the CAES with the concentrated solar power and absorption chiller is introduced. This hybridization not only helps the further development of both the CAES and solar sites as a type of renewable energy, but it also simultaneously generates power, cooling capacity, and hot water that are the main components for reducing peak energy demand, especially in hot climates. Thermodynamic analyses revealed that this combination results in a round trip efficiency and an exergy efficiency of 67.5 and 45.6%, respectively. In addition, solar receiver tower, heliostat field, and pressure regulator are the equipment with the highest exergy destruction. To approve the economic feasibility of the proposed system, a precise economic analysis was done for the case study of San Francisco, USA, concluding that the system has a payback time of 1.7 years and profitability of $231 M during the 30 years of its service time.