Optimisingperformanceofintegrated
solarcombined-cyclepowerplants
Providingexpertdesignandanalysisservicestoproponentsoroperatorsof
integratedsolarcombined-cyclepowerplants
Challenges
Proponentsandoperatorsofsolarintegratedplantsface
complexchallengesindeterminingandoptimisingthe
performanceoftheirplants.Location,time-of-day,weather
anddesignofthesolarcollectorsystemhaveanimpacton
plantperformance.
Asolarplant’seffectivenessinimprovingaconventional
powerplant’sefficiencyalsodependsonhowthetwoplants
areconnected.Supplyingsolar-heatedsteamatlow
temperatureswillachieveverylittleincreaseinoutput.
Supplyingsteamathighertemperatures,whilemore
effective,canreducethesolarcollector’sefficiencyand
increaseitscost.Thechallengeisdeterminingtheunique
optimumarrangementforaparticularinstallation.
Afieldofparabolictroughsolarcollectors
Benefits
Inprovidingclientswithexpertdesignandanalysisservices–
forassessingconventionalandgasturbineplantswith,or
without,solarcollectors–HRLTechnologyGroup’sProcess
DesignTeamprovidesnumerousbenefitsincluding:
•
expertservicesfromexperiencedpersonnel
•
fastdesignandanalysisservices
•
accurate,authoritativeandindependentdesignand
analysisservices
•
plantoperationresultsthatcanbecombinedwithEEO
(EnergyEfficiencyOpportunitiesprogram)and
greenhousecreditsassessmenttoproduceaccurate
financialmodelling
•
quickevaluationoftheimpactofaddingsolarcollector
systemstopowerplants
•
assessingplantperformanceusingbiomassfuels.
HRL Technology Group Pty Ltd
ABN 89 609 887 327
[email protected]
hrl.com.au
Melbourne
Level One Unit 4
677 Springvale Road
Mulgrave VIC 3170
Phone +61 3 9565 9888
Fax +61 3 9565 9879
Morwell
Tramway Road
Morwell VIC 3840
Phone +61 3 5132 1500
Fax +61 3 5132 1580
Queensland
Unit 2
33-37 Rosedale Street
Coopers Plains QLD 4108
Phone +61 7 3423 4300
Fax +61 7 3345 5937
hrl:
hrl:ProcessDesignTeamprovidesexpertdesignservicesto
thoseproposingnewintegratedsolarthermalpowerplants.
Theteamalsoprovidesexpertanalyticalservicestooperators
ofintegratedsolarplant.Theteamdrawsonmanyyearsof
experienceinusingtheThermoflowsuiteofsoftwareto
designandanalyseconventionalandgasturbinecombined
cyclepowerplants.Theseskillscanalsobedrawnontomodel
powerplantsthatincludesolarthermalcollectorsystems.
TheThermoflowprogramsthehrl:teamusesinitsexpert
designandmodelledservicesforconventionalandgasturbine
combined-cyclepowerplantsincludeSteamPro,Steam
Master,GTProandGTMaster.Suchdesignscanbeimported
intoaThermoFlexmodelcontainingsolarcollectorand
thermalstoragemodels.Withinthemodellingsoftware,solar
devicescanbeconnectedtoapowerplantmodelandto
determineoverallperformanceunderawiderangeof
conditions.Ifrequired,modelscanbedesignedusingonly
Thermoflex.
Optimisingperformanceofintegratedsolarcombined-cyclepowerplants
Solutions
1
Modellingagasturbinecombinedcycle
plantcoupledtoasolarthermalsteam
generatorcapableofproducingpartially
superheatedhighpressuresteam
Theparabolictroughsolar-fieldheatsathermaloilwhichis
pumpedthroughaseriesshellandtubeheatexchangers
whichpreheatfeedwater,generatesteam,andsuperheat
steam.Thethermaloiltemperaturesarelimitedtoabout
400°Ctherebyrequiringfinalsuperheatingofthesteamin
theheatrecoverysteamgenerator(HRSG).Thesolar
generatorreceivespartiallypreheatedfeedwaterfromthe
HRSG,andreturnssuperheatedsteamwhichismixedwith
highpressure(HP)steamexitingthefirstsuperheater(HPS0).
Themixtureissuperheatedtofinalsteamturbinethrottle
conditionsofapproximately550°C.
Modellingsuggeststhesolarfieldcancontribute
approximately6.5percentoftotalplantpoweraddingsome
3.9percentagepointstoplantefficiency.Themodest
improvementscomewithlittleimpactonthecombinedcycle
operation.Solarsystemsmakingagreatercontributionadd
complexitytoplantdesignandtoplantoperationinnon-solar
mode.Inadditiontocalculatingplantperformance,the
modellingalsoprovidesanestimateofplantcost.
Modellingasolarcollectorwiththermal
storageintegratedwithaconventional
steamplant
Afieldofparabolictroughsolarcollectorsisusedtoheat
thermaloilwhichisthenstoredinathermallystratifiedtank.
A‘solarboiler’generatessteambycoolingthermaloil,drawn
fromthestoragetank,inaseriesoftubeandshellheat
exchangers.ThesteamfeedsaRankinecyclepowerplant.
Thetank’sperformanceismodelledusingsourcesandsinks.
Thesolarfieldisfedfromasourceat295°Crepresentingthe
coldbottomofthetank.Heatedoilfromthesolarfieldisfed
intoasinkformedinthetopofthetank.Hotliquidforthe
steamgeneratorisdrawnfromthetopofthetankandcool
thermaloilisreturnedtothebottomofthetank.
Themodel,inconjunctionwithanE-LINKworkbook,isusedto
analysesystemoperationoverdailycyclesthroughoutthe
year.Themodellingalsoprovesanestimateofthecostto
constructtheplant.
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Ó2016HRLTechnologyGroupPtyLtd
V20170430QA1034
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