Solar hybrid power plants have a significant potential for cost reduction when the solar energy is introduced into a gas turbine system. The introduction into gas turbine systems could be realized with pressurized volumetric air receivers heating the compressed air of the gas turbine before it enters the combustor. A receiver module, consisting of a secondary concentrator and a volumetric receiver unit, was tested at the Plataforma Solar de Almerı´a, Spain. Air exit temperatures up to 815°C and power levels of 410 kW were achieved. Total solar test time summed up to 400 hours. Receiver efficiencies were in the range of 70%. A new secondary concentrator with improved efficiency was designed and built. Based on an inexpensive manufacturing technology, the secondary concentrator geometry was optimized to reduce the optical losses. Performance tests with this new secondary concentrator and a cold-water calorimeter proved the expected increase in efficiency of about 10%. Maximum operation power was 450 kW at the exit aperture. The dependency of performance on the incidence-angle showed good agreement with the predictions, as well as the results of a special photographic measurement campaign. Several configurations of solar-hybrid gas turbine cycles in the low to medium power range are examined for performance and costs. The results confirm the promising potential of this technology to reach competitiveness in certain power markets; a comparison between a 30 MW solar-hybrid combined cycle plant and an ISCCS power plant are presented. Future developments for system improvement and cost reduction are discussed.
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February 2002
Technical Papers
Solar-Hybrid Gas Turbine-based Power Tower Systems (REFOS)*
Markus Pfa¨nder,
Markus Pfa¨nder
DLR-PSA, Apartado 39, E-04200 Tabernas, Spain
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Peter Schwarzbo¨zl,
Peter Schwarzbo¨zl
DLR-SE, Linder Ho¨he, D-51147 Ko¨ln, Germany
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Felix Tellez
Felix Tellez
CIEMAT/IER-PSA, Avenida Complutense 22, E-28040 Madrid, Spain
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Reiner Buck
Thomas Bra¨uning
Thorsten Denk
Markus Pfa¨nder
DLR-PSA, Apartado 39, E-04200 Tabernas, Spain
Peter Schwarzbo¨zl
DLR-SE, Linder Ho¨he, D-51147 Ko¨ln, Germany
Felix Tellez
CIEMAT/IER-PSA, Avenida Complutense 22, E-28040 Madrid, Spain
Contributed by the Solar Energy Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for publication in the ASME JOURNAL OF SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING. Manuscript received by the ASME Solar Energy Division, May 2001; final revision, Oct. 2001. Associate Editor: R. Pitz-Paal.
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Feb 2002, 124(1): 2-9 (8 pages)
Published Online: October 1, 2001
Article history
Received:
May 1, 2001
Revised:
October 1, 2001
Citation
Buck, R., Bra¨uning, T., Denk, T., Pfa¨nder, M., Schwarzbo¨zl, P., and Tellez, F. (October 1, 2001). "Solar-Hybrid Gas Turbine-based Power Tower Systems (REFOS)." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. February 2002; 124(1): 2–9. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1445444
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