Hybrid solar-biomass combined Brayton/organic Rankine-cycle plants integrated with thermal storage: Techno-economic feasibility in selected Mediterranean areas

Abstract This paper presents a thermodynamic analysis and techno-economic assessment of a novel hybrid solar-biomass power-generation system configuration composed of an externally fired gas-turbine (EFGT) fuelled by biomass (wood chips) and a bottoming organic Rankine cycle (ORC) plant. The main novelty is related to the heat recovery from the exhaust gases of the EFGT via thermal energy storage (TES), and integration of heat from a parabolic-trough collectors (PTCs) field with molten salts as a heat-transfer fluid (HTF). The presence of a TES between the topping and bottoming cycles facilitates the flexible operation of the system, allows the system to compensate for solar energy input fluctuations, and increases capacity factor and dispatchability. A TES with two molten salt tanks (one cold at 200 °C and one hot at 370 °C) is chosen. The selected bottoming ORC is a superheated recuperative cycle suitable for heat conversion in the operating temperature range of the TES. The whole system is modelled by means of a Python-based software code, and three locations in the Mediterranean area are assumed in order to perform energy-yield analyses: Marseille in France, Priolo Gargallo in Italy and Rabat in Morocco. In each case, the thermal storage that minimizes the levelized cost of energy (LCE) is selected on the basis of the estimated solar radiation and CSP size. The results of the thermodynamic simulations, capital and operational costs assessments and subsidies (feed-in tariffs for biomass and solar electricity available in the Italian framework), allow estimating the global energy conversion efficiency and the investment profitability in the three locations. Sensitivity analyses of the biomass costs, size of PTCs, feed-in tariff and share of cogenerated heat delivered to the load are also performed. The results show that the high investment costs of the CSP section in the proposed size range and hybridization configuration allow investment profitability only in the presence of a dedicated subsidy framework such as the one available in the Italian energy market. In particular, the LCE of the proposed system is around 140 Eur/MWh (with the option to discharge the cogenerated heat) and the IRR is around 15%, based on the Italian electricity subsidy tariffs. The recovery of otherwise discharged heat to match thermal energy demand can significantly increase the investment profitability and compensate the high investment costs of the proposed technology.

[1]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  Working Fluid Selection and Electrical Performance Optimisation of a Domestic Solar-ORC Combined Heat and Power System for Year-Round Operation in the UK , 2017 .

[2]  G. Concentratin.  CONCENTRATING SOLAR POWER , 2007 .

[3]  Chao Xu,et al.  Parametric optimization of regenerative organic Rankine cycle (ORC) for low grade waste heat recovery using genetic algorithm , 2013 .

[4]  Alberto Giaconia,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment of a High Temperature Molten Salt Concentrated Solar Power Plant , 2011 .

[5]  Takahisa Yamamoto,et al.  Design and testing of the Organic Rankine Cycle , 2001 .

[6]  Valentina Salomoni,et al.  Structural Design Criteria for Steel Components of Parabolic-Trough Solar Concentrators , 2007 .

[7]  T. J. Kotas,et al.  The Exergy Method of Thermal Plant Analysis , 2012 .

[8]  Prasanta Kumar Dey,et al.  The feasibility of hybrid solar-biomass power plants in India , 2012 .

[9]  Armando C. Oliveira,et al.  Numerical simulation of a hybrid concentrated solar power/biomass mini power plant , 2017 .

[10]  Stuart White,et al.  Concentrated solar power hybrid plants, which technologies are best suited for hybridisation? , 2013 .

[11]  V. Russo,et al.  CSP Plant Thermal-hydraulic Simulation , 2014 .

[12]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  Low-Concentration Solar-Power Systems Based on Organic Rankine Cycles for Distributed-Scale Applications: Overview and Further Developments , 2015, Front. Energy Res..

[13]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  An Assessment of Solar–Thermal Collector Designs for Small-Scale Combined Heating and Power Applications in the United Kingdom , 2015 .

[14]  David Chiaramonti,et al.  Design and simulation of a small polygeneration plant cofiring biomass and natural gas in a dual combustion micro gas turbine (BIO_MGT) , 2009 .

[15]  Oyeniyi A. Oyewunmi,et al.  Performance of working-fluid mixtures in ORC-CHP systems for different heat-demand segments and heat-recovery temperature levels , 2017 .

[16]  D. Meeker,et al.  High-temperature stability of ternary nitrate molten salts for solar thermal energy systems , 1990 .

[17]  Brian Norton,et al.  Technological Assessment of Different Solar-Biomass Systems for Hybrid Power Generation in Europe , 2017 .

[18]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  Novel hybrid CSP-biomass CHP for flexible generation: Thermo-economic analysis and profitability assessment , 2017 .

[19]  Valentina Salomoni,et al.  New Trends in Designing Parabolic trough Solar Concentrators and Heat Storage Concrete Systems in Solar Power Plants , 2010 .

[20]  SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY PRODUCTION: GUIDELINES AND FUTURE PROGRAMMES OF ENEA , 2007 .

[21]  Rambod Rayegan,et al.  A procedure to select working fluids for Solar Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs) , 2011 .

[22]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  Industrial waste-heat recovery through integrated computer-aided working-fluid and ORC system optimisation using SAFT-Γ Mie , 2017 .

[23]  Bernardo Fortunato,et al.  Part Load Performance and Operating Strategies of a Natural Gas—Biomass Dual Fueled Microturbine for Combined Heat and Power Generation , 2015 .

[24]  María Uris,et al.  Techno-economic feasibility assessment of a biomass cogeneration plant based on an Organic Rankine Cycle. , 2014 .

[25]  Warren D. Seider,et al.  Product and Process Design Principles: Synthesis, Analysis, and Evaluation , 1998 .

[26]  Louis Gosselin,et al.  Review of utilization of genetic algorithms in heat transfer problems , 2009 .

[27]  Stuart White,et al.  Concentrating solar power hybrid plants – Enabling cost effective synergies , 2014 .

[28]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  AN ASSESSMENT OF WORKING-FLUID MIXTURES USING SAFT-VR MIE FOR USE IN ORGANIC RANKINE CYCLE SYSTEMS FOR WASTE-HEAT RECOVERY , 2014 .

[29]  Yiping Dai,et al.  Thermodynamic analysis and optimization of an (organic Rankine cycle) ORC using low grade heat source , 2013 .

[30]  Rhys Jacob,et al.  Review on concentrating solar power plants and new developments in high temperature thermal energy storage technologies , 2016 .

[31]  Pedro J. Mago,et al.  An examination of regenerative organic Rankine cycles using dry fluids , 2008 .

[32]  A. Hammerschmid,et al.  Theoretical Analysis of the Combination of CSP with a Biomass CHP-plant Using ORC-technology in Central Europe , 2014 .

[33]  G. Langella,et al.  Optimization of Solar Integration in Biomass Fuelled Steam Plants , 2015 .

[34]  Nilay Shah,et al.  Thermo-economic assessment of externally fired micro-gas turbine fired by natural gas and biomass: applications in Italy. , 2013 .

[35]  Rong Zeng,et al.  Exergy and environmental assessments of a novel trigeneration system taking biomass and solar energy as co-feeds , 2016 .

[36]  Robert A. Taylor,et al.  Annual comparative performance and cost analysis of high temperature, sensible thermal energy storage systems integrated with a concentrated solar power plant , 2017 .

[37]  Mariano Martín,et al.  Optimal coupling of a biomass based polygeneration system with a concentrated solar power facility for the constant production of electricity over a year , 2015, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[38]  D. Sánchez,et al.  Alternative ORC bottoming cycles FOR combined cycle power plants , 2009 .

[39]  Romano Giglioli,et al.  A micro combined cycle plant for power generation from solid biomass: coupling EFMGT and ORC , 2011 .

[40]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  Optimisation of a high-efficiency solar-driven organic Rankine cycle for applications in the built environment , 2018, Applied Energy.

[41]  Tsuyoshi Murata,et al.  {m , 1934, ACML.

[42]  Mehdi Mehrpooya,et al.  Prediction of standard chemical exergy by a three descriptors QSPR model , 2007 .

[43]  Soteris A. Kalogirou,et al.  A small-scale solar organic Rankine cycle combined heat and power system with integrated thermal energy storage , 2017 .

[44]  Klaus Görner,et al.  Boosting power output of a sugarcane bagasse cogeneration plant using parabolic trough collectors in a feedwater heating scheme , 2015 .

[45]  Peter Schwarzbözl,et al.  Biomass and central receiver system (CRS) hybridization: integration of syngas/biogas on the atmospheric air volumetric CRS heat recovery steam generator duct burner. , 2015 .

[46]  Maria Anna Chatzopoulou,et al.  Computer-aided working-fluid design, thermodynamic optimisation and thermoeconomic assessment of ORC systems for waste-heat recovery , 2018, Energy.

[47]  Stefan Wilbert,et al.  Best Practices Handbook for the Collection and Use of Solar Resource Data for Solar Energy Applications , 2015 .

[48]  Vincent Lemort,et al.  Pure and Pseudo-pure Fluid Thermophysical Property Evaluation and the Open-Source Thermophysical Property Library CoolProp , 2014, Industrial & engineering chemistry research.

[49]  Craig Turchi,et al.  Parabolic Trough Reference Plant for Cost Modeling with the Solar Advisor Model (SAM) , 2010 .

[50]  Guoquan Qiu,et al.  Selection of working fluids for micro-CHP systems with ORC , 2012 .

[51]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  On the use of SAFT-VR Mie for assessing large-glide fluorocarbon working-fluid mixtures in organic rankine cycles , 2016 .

[52]  S. Licoccia,et al.  Techno-economic comparison between CSP plants presenting two different heat transfer fluids , 2016 .

[53]  N. D. Kaushika,et al.  Thermal optimization of solar biomass hybrid cogeneration plants , 2006 .

[54]  Bernardo Fortunato,et al.  Cycle configuration analysis and techno-economic sensitivity of biomass externally fired gas turbine with bottoming ORC , 2015 .

[55]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  An assessment of solar-powered organic Rankine cycle systems for combined heating and power in UK domestic applications , 2015 .

[56]  M. J. Moran,et al.  Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics , 2014 .

[57]  Bernardo Fortunato,et al.  PART LOAD PERFORMANCE AND OPERATING STRATEGIES OF A NATURAL GAS - BIOMASS DUAL FUELLED MICROTURBINE FOR CHP GENERATION , 2014 .

[58]  Huili Zhang,et al.  Thermal energy storage: Recent developments and practical aspects , 2016 .

[59]  B. Corona,et al.  Hybridizing concentrated solar power (CSP) with biogas and biomethane as an alternative to natural gas: Analysis of environmental performance using LCA , 2014 .

[60]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  Thermoeconomic analysis of recuperative sub- and transcritical organic Rankine cycle systems , 2017 .

[61]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  Thermodynamic optimisation of a high-electrical efficiency integrated internal combustion engine – Organic Rankine cycle combined heat and power system , 2018, Applied Energy.

[62]  Ulf Herrmann,et al.  Two-tank molten salt storage for parabolic trough solar power plants , 2004 .

[63]  Nilay Shah,et al.  Natural gas–biomass dual fuelled microturbines: Comparison of operating strategies in the Italian residential sector , 2014 .

[64]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  Thermo-Economic and Heat Transfer Optimization of Working-Fluid Mixtures in a Low-Temperature Organic Rankine Cycle System † , 2016 .

[65]  Gorjan Alagic,et al.  #p , 2019, Quantum information & computation.

[66]  P. Alam.  ‘G’ , 2021, Composites Engineering: An A–Z Guide.

[67]  Hongguang Jin,et al.  New solar-biomass power generation system integrated a two-stage gasifier. , 2017 .

[68]  Tangellapalli Srinivas,et al.  Hybrid solar–biomass power plant without energy storage , 2014 .

[69]  M. Mehrpooya,et al.  Model development and energy and exergy analysis of the biomass gasification process (Based on the various biomass sources) , 2018, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.

[70]  W. Worek,et al.  Optimum design criteria for an Organic Rankine cycle using low-temperature geothermal heat sources , 2007 .

[71]  Antonio M. Pantaleo,et al.  Potentials and feasibility assessment of small scale CHP plants fired by energy crops in Puglia region (Italy) , 2009 .

[72]  Christos N. Markides,et al.  The role of pumped and waste heat technologies in a high-efficiency sustainable energy future for the UK , 2013 .

[73]  Danna Zhou,et al.  d. , 1840, Microbial pathogenesis.