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Comparative Performance Assessment of a Hybrid Solar-Coal Power Plant

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Abstract

The focus of present study is to investigate technical, environmental and economic aspects of integrating concentrated solar energy into an existing 210-MW coal-based power plant for feed water heating. A possible alternative for such systems is a hybrid system (an integration of concentrating solar power (CSP) technology and fossil fuel based power plants), referred as solar thermal hybrid technology (STHT). The present investigation proposes integration of existing coal-fired power plant with concentrated solar energy. In this study, the steam extracted from first stage of turbine is replaced by solar energy; thereby reducing amount of heat input from the boiler considerably. This hybridization of existing coal-fired power plant with solar energy reduces coal consumption and CO2 emissions in fuel saving mode. The power output of hybrid solar-coal plant is augmented in power boosting mode when first-stage extraction steam replaced by solar energy is allowed to expand further in Rankine cycle. This study also compares the performance of hybrid solar-coal power plant in fuel saving and power boosting mode. An algorithm based upon this STHT plant is developed in MATLAB. Based upon this algorithm useful heat input and thermal losses that occur in the tubes of the solar collector have also been discussed in this paper.

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Abbreviations

CSP:

Concentrated solar power

STHT:

Solar thermal hybrid technology

CPP:

Coal-fired power plant

SCHPP:

Solar-coal hybrid power plant

SAPG:

Solar-aided power generation

PTC:

Parabolic trough collector

HPT:

High-pressure turbine

IPT:

Intermediate pressure turbine

LPT:

Low-pressure turbine

CP:

Condensate pump

FWP:

Feed water pump

G:

Generator

FWH:

Feed water heater

OWHE:

Oil-water heat exchanger

HPH:

High-pressure feed water heater

LPH:

Low-pressure feed water heater

NREL:

National renewable energy laboratory

HTF:

Heat transfer fluid

SAM:

Solar advisor model

HCE:

Heat collection element

DNI:

Direct normal insolation (W/m2)

GCV:

Gross calorific value (kcal/kg)

PLF:

Plant load factor

MUs:

Million units

I b,n :

Direct normal insolation (W/m2)

A c :

Aperture area of solar field (m2)

T i :

Inlet temperature of solar field (°C)

T o :

Outlet temperature of solar field (°C)

W :

Width of the mirror aperture (m)

θ i :

Incident angle of collector aperture (°)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Renewable Energy and Environment Development (CREED), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Rajasthan, 333031, India

    Baloda Sunil & Manoj S. Soni

Authors
  1. Baloda Sunil
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  2. Manoj S. Soni
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Correspondence to Baloda Sunil.

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Sunil, B., Soni, M.S. Comparative Performance Assessment of a Hybrid Solar-Coal Power Plant. Process Integr Optim Sustain 3, 227–235 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41660-018-0066-x

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