Optimum design and performance of a solar dish microturbine using tailored component characteristics

Abstract The aim of the paper is to find the optimum design and performance of solar microturbines powered by parabolic dish collectors using an innovative methodology which integrates the design and off-design models of the total system. In contrast to the common practice of assigning an estimated efficiency to the engine turbomachinery (generalized performance maps), the procedure hereinafter produces the specific geometry and the characteristic maps of compressor and turbine, according to their inlet/outlet thermodynamic states and working cycle boundary conditions. With this global approach, a sensitivity analysis is performed to search for the pressure ratio that maximizes the solar-to-electric efficiency at design point for a constant air mass flow rate and turbine inlet temperature. Maximum values in the range 18.0–21.7% are obtained for a pressure ratio of 3.2 when the turbine inlet temperature changes between 800 °C (base-case system) and 900 °C. The methodology allows also to simulate the performance of the system when different design DNIs are considered with the aim to maximize the annual yield of the system. Simulations performed for Beijing, Seville and San Diego showed that quite different DNIs (610–815 W/m2) are to be chosen to get the maximum annual (average) efficiency: 11–16% for the base-case system and 14–19% for a more advanced design.

[1]  José Antonio Brioso,et al.  Solugas – Comprehensive analysis of the solar hybrid Brayton plant , 2016 .

[2]  P. Schwarzbözl,et al.  Solar gas turbine systems: Design, cost and perspectives , 2006 .

[3]  Peter Schwarzbözl,et al.  Solar-Hybrid Gas Turbine-based Power Tower Systems (REFOS)* , 2001 .

[4]  David Reay,et al.  Compact Heat Exchangers: Selection, Design and Operation , 2001 .

[5]  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.

[6]  Charles E. Andraka,et al.  Dish systems for CSP , 2017 .

[7]  James Spelling,et al.  Preliminary design and analysis of a novel solar receiver for a micro gas-turbine based solar dish system , 2015 .

[8]  Alberto Traverso,et al.  Optimal design of compact recuperators for microturbine application , 2005 .

[9]  Chris Rodgers,et al.  Paper 5: A Cycle Analysis Technique for Small Gas Turbines , 1968 .

[10]  W. P. J. Visser,et al.  Development of a 3 kW Microturbine for CHP Applications , 2011 .

[11]  Donald R. Gallup,et al.  A solarized Brayton engine based on turbo-charger technology and the DLR receiver , 1994 .

[12]  R. W. Harrigan,et al.  Solar energy fundamentals and design , 1985 .

[13]  M. Lanchi,et al.  Investigation into the Coupling of Micro Gas Turbines with CSP Technology: OMSoP Project , 2015 .

[14]  Miriam Ebert,et al.  Solugas – Operation Experience of the First Solar Hybrid Gas Turbine System at MW Scale , 2014 .

[15]  Leonard D. Jaffe.  A Review of Test Results on Solar Thermal Power Modules With Dish-Mounted Stirling and Brayton Cycle Engines , 1988 .

[16]  E. Macchi,et al.  An advanced solution to boost sun-to-electricity efficiency of parabolic dish , 2016 .

[17]  Wujun Wang,et al.  An inverse design method for a cavity receiver used in solar dish Brayton system , 2014 .

[18]  Robert E. Wilson,et al.  Fundamentals of momentum, heat, and mass transfer , 1969 .

[19]  Wujun Wang,et al.  Integrated Design of a Hybrid Gas Turbine-Receiver Unit for a Solar Dish System , 2015 .

[20]  O. E. Baljé,et al.  A Study on Design Criteria and Matching of Turbomachines: Part A—Similarity Relations and Design Criteria of Turbines , 1962 .

[21]  Richard B. Diver,et al.  A Compendium of Solar Dish/Stirling Technology , 1994 .

[22]  Torsten Fransson,et al.  Micro Gas-Turbine Design for Small-Scale Hybrid Solar Power Plants , 2013 .

[23]  David Sánchez,et al.  A methodology to identify potential markets for small-scale solar thermal power generators , 2016 .

[24]  Ambra Giovannelli,et al.  State of the Art on Small-Scale Concentrated Solar Power Plants , 2015 .

[25]  James Spelling,et al.  Thermoeconomic Analysis of a Solar Dish Micro Gas-Turbine Combined-Cycle Power Plant , 2015 .

[26]  Marc Röger,et al.  Infrared-Reflective Coating on Fused Silica for a Solar High-Temperature Receiver , 2007 .

[27]  Josua P. Meyer,et al.  Modeling the small-scale dish-mounted solar thermal Brayton cycle , 2016 .

[28]  James A. Harris,et al.  Focal plane flux distributions produced by solar concentrating reflectors , 1981 .

[29]  James Kesseli.  Brayton Power Conversion System , 2012 .

[30]  O. E. Baljé.  A Study on Design Criteria and Matching of Turbomachines: Part B—Compressor and Pump Performance and Matching of Turbocomponents , 1962 .

[31]  Colin F. McDonald.  Low-cost compact primary surface recuperator concept for microturbines , 2000 .

[32]  James Spelling,et al.  Small Scale Hybrid Solar Power Plants for Polygeneration in Rural Areas , 2014 .

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

[34]  Andrea De Pascale,et al.  Performance analysis of a micro gas turbine and solar dish integrated system under different solar-only and hybrid operating conditions , 2016 .

[35]  David Sánchez,et al.  Cost analysis of solar thermal power generators based on parabolic dish and micro gas turbine: Manufacturing, transportation and installation , 2017 .

[36]  Colin F. McDonald,et al.  Recuperator considerations for future higher efficiency microturbines , 2003 .

[37]  O. E. Baljé.  A Study on Reynolds Number Effects in Turbomachines , 1964 .

[38]  Dong Ni,et al.  Recuperators for micro gas turbines: A review , 2017 .

[39]  Mohamed S. El-Genk,et al.  Compressor and Turbine Models of Brayton Units for Space Nuclear Power Systems , 2007 .