A CONCENTRATED SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEMS

MRE809 PRESENTATION

SUBMITTED TO THE

DEPARTMENT OF PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY

USMANU DANFODIYO UNIVERSITY, SOKOTO

BY

MUHAMMAD, Sani
20210315003

AUGUST, 2021
 SUMMARY

This paper begins by defining ‘concentrated solar thermal system’ (CST) or ‘concentrated
solar power’ (CSP) and outlining the role of the renewable energy resources. It then
introduces some of the historical background to the development of CSP systems and the
present day context of a period of industry growth amid major changes to the world’s energy
systems. It describes the key approaches of parabolic trough, central receiver, linear Fresnel,
Fresnel lens and parabolic dish concentrator systems. The prospects for continued deployment
growth and parallel cost reductions are discussed. Finally the suitable concentrated solar
thermal system for rural area electrification is outlined.
INTRODUCTION

Concentrating solar thermal system (CST) systems use combinations of mirrors or lenses to
concentrate direct beam solar radiation to produce forms of useful energy such as heat,
electricity or fuels by various downstream technologies. The term ‘concentrating solar power’
is often used synonymously with ‘concentrating solar thermal power’. In this book the term is
used in a more general sense to include both concentrating solar thermal (CST) and
concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) energy conversion. Whilst the primary commercial attention
today and the emphasis in this is on systems designed for generation of electric power. A
previous well respected coverage of this nature was provided by Winter et al. (1991).

Concentrated solar thermal system (CST) According to the last report from the International
Energy Agency (OECD/IEA 2014), the global energy demand is set to grow by 37 % by 2040,
but the development path for a growing world population and economy is less energy-intensive
than it used to be. Furthermore, climate change, which is caused in part by greenhouse gas
emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, along with a slight increase in their use, makes it
almost mandatory to use renewable energies to both satisfy energy demand and achieve a
sustainable future energy supply. In particular, solar energy is predicted to figure strongly
because it is the energy source with the greatest potential of all the renewable sources (Webber
2008). This is the reason why electricity generation using concentrating solar power (CSP)
plants will play an important role in the future (Zachary and Layman 2009) Some scenarios
predict participation from thermal solar energy of about 11 % of global electricity generation
by 2050 (OECD/IEA 2014). The current projects under construction estimate a power of
980MW, and projects for a total of 7500 MWe have already been announced. A prominent
project is the well-known Desertec Industrial Initiative (Desertec Foundation 2010), which
began in 2009. The aim is to provide electricity to southern Europe as well as to the Middle
East and North Africa (these last two are grouped under the acronym MENA, Middle East and
North Africa) using the installation of CSP plants in desert regions.

All the technologies used in the generation of electricity using CSP plants are based on
concentrating solar radiation to obtain thermal energy at high temperature, which is then used
to generate electricity via conventional power cycles using steam or gas turbines (or Starling
engines). To concentrate the solar energy, most systems use glass mirrors with up to 95 %
reflectivity, which constantly follow the path of the sun using the direct normal irradiance
(DNI). These technologies demonstrate optimal integration in hybrid systems, combining with
fossil fuels or other sources of renewable energies. The advantage of CSP plants compared
with other systems that also use renewable energies (such as solar photovoltaic and wind
power) is that they can mostly replace the use of fossil fuel by oversizing the solar collector
field used to concentrate the solar radiation and storing part of the generated energy in a
thermal storage system. There are two types of concentrators: those that concentrate the solar
radiation at a focal point (central receiver and parabolic dish systems) and those that
concentrate the solar radiation onto a line (parabolic-trough and linear Fresnel). Figure 1.
shows the CSP technologies mentioned, which are described in more detail below.
Figure. 1 concentrating solar power technologies

Parabolic Trough Collectors

Parabolic-trough collectors consist of long U-shaped mirrors with a linear axis tracking system.
The mirrors reflect direct solar radiation along their focal line, where an absorber tube is
located. The receiver/absorber tube is made of steel and has a selective coating that maintains
high absorbance in the solar spectrum wavelength range, but high reflectance in the infrared
spectrum (i.e. it emits as little as possible). In order to prevent heat loss to the ambient air, the
absorber tube is enveloped by an evacuated glass tube. A heat transfer fluid flows into the
absorber tube and absorbs the radiation that has been concentrated 30–100 times. The most
commonly used fluid is thermal oil, although the use of water/steam or molten salt is also being
researched (Fernandez-Garcıa et al. 2010). In a CSP plant with parabolic-trough technology
(PT-CSP), once the fluid has absorbed the radiation, it is used to generate steam in a heat
exchanger at around 390 C, which is then sent to a conventional Rankine cycle to produce
electricity. A hybrid operation is also possible using all types of fossil fuels and renewables
(Trieb et al. 2009). Because of the variable nature of solar radiation, it is necessary to design
the collector field to generate more energy than the turbine can accept under normal conditions.
This excess of energy is used to charge the storage system, which provides the required energy
to the turbine during periods when there is insufficient solar radiation (Tamme et al. 2004). The
storage systems in the first PT-CSP plants were based on two storage tanks, in which the heat
transfer fluid also served as the storage medium. This concept was demonstrated successfully
in the first of the solar electric generating systems (SEGS) plants (Winter et al. 1990).
However, the heat transfer fluid used in these PT-CSP plants was very expensive, greatly
increasing the total cost of scaling up the storage capacity. For this reason, a study was carried
out to evaluate the concept of molten salts as the thermal storage medium in PT-CSP plants,
using data from the solar power plant “Solar Two”. The study concluded that, given its
characteristics and cost, this type of storage could also be used in PT-CSP plants, with indirect
storage in two molten salt tanks. It is an efficient, low-cost storage medium and, moreover, the
molten salts are neither flammable nor toxic (Sandia National Laboratories, 2008). This is the
system currently used in commercial plants, such as ANDASOL, the first commercial plant
with such technology in Spain (Solar Millennium, 2009). The basic system consists of
circulating the oil through the collector solar field, then transferring its thermal energy through
a heat exchanger to the thermal storage medium, in this case molten salts (see Fig. 2.)

Figure. 2 Parabolic-trough collector field coupled to a steam cycle

One of the tanks is used to store the hot molten salts (the hot tank) and the other to receive the
cold molten salts (the cold tank). During the thermal storage charging cycle, part of the oil
coming from the solar collector field is sent to the oil–salt heat exchanger. In this way, thermal
energy is transferred from the oil to the salt stored in the hot tank. During the discharge cycle,
the salt and oil pathways in the oil–salt heat exchanger are inverted and, therefore, the thermal
energy is transferred from the salt to the oil on its way to the cold tank. Direct steam generation
in parabolic-trough absorber tubes is seen as a promising option for increasing the economic
efficiency of CSP plants (Eck and Steinmann 2005) as they can reach higher temperatures and
thus achieve greater efficiencies (Trieb et al. 2009). Furthermore, the environmental risks from
oil are avoided, as well as the heat exchanger between the collector field and the power cycle
unnecessary. Within a European project framework carried out at the Plataforma Solar de
Almerıa (PSA), the operation and control of this new technology has been successfully proven
under transitory and steady-state conditions. For this purpose, a loop 700 m length was
constructed with a 5.70-m parabolic-trough aperture, in which steam temperatures of up to 400
C and pressures of 100 bar have been achieved. The long-term objective is to heat steam to a
temperature of 550 C and 120 bar and to develop a thermal storage system that matches this
technology, based on phase-change storage (Eck 2009). Parabolic-trough systems dominate the
global market in CSP plants. The first to be installed using this technology were the SEGS
plants in the Mojave Desert in California (Pharabod and Philibert 1991). This was at the
beginning of the 1980s when plants with more than a 350 MWe capacity were put into
operation. By the middle of 2009, 95 % of the 560 MWe produced by CSP plants in the world
corresponded to plants whose technology was based on parabolic-trough collectors. Currently,
parabolic-trough technology for the CSP plants is the one most widely installed in the world
(90 % of the total). These systems achieve solar–electric conversion efficiencies of between 10
and 15 %, but have the potential of reaching 18 % in the medium-term (Trieb 2007). Solar–
electric efficiency includes the conversion of solar energy to thermal energy by means of a
solar collector field and the conversion of thermal energy to electricity using a power block. A
maximum solar–electric efficiency of 21.5 % was measured in a 30 MWe plant in California
(Trieb 2007).

Linear Fresnel

In linear Fresnel systems, as with parabolic-trough collector systems, solar radiation is

concentrated onto a line and can be coupled to steam cycles for electricity generation. These
systems have been developed with the aim of attaining a simpler design and at less cost than
the parabolic-trough systems. The first prototypes have shown promise and the first CSP plants
that include this technology are currently in the construction phase. The collectors in a linear
Fresnel system are made up of a large number of mirror segments that can individually follow
the path of the sun (see Fig. 2.7). Unlike parabolic-trough collectors, the absorber tubes in the
Fresnel systems are in a fixed position above the mirrors in the center of the solar field and,
therefore, do not move together with the mirrors as they follow the sun. The system can operate
with oil, water or molten salts. Current designs use water directly in the receiver tubes at 50 bar
pressure and 280 C, or alternatively molten salts (US DoE 2009). The storage methods
applicable for these systems are similar to those used for parabolic rough collector systems.

The steam cycle efficiency of linear Fresnel systems is less than that of parabolic-trough
collector systems because the steam temperature is lower. However, the Fresnel systems have
certain advantages over parabolic-trough systems. The Fresnel collectors have a lighter
structure; those designed by Novatec Biosol are 80 % lighter per square meter (Trieb 2007).
Consequently, such systems require less investment and have lower operation and maintenance
costs than parabolic trough collectors. Regarding the disadvantages, the simple optical design
of the Fresnel system means that the optical efficiency of a field formed by these mirrors is
less; therefore, approximately 33 % more aperture area is necessary for the same thermal
energy production compared with parabolic-trough collectors (Trieb 2007). In terms of
integrating the solar field into the environment, the Fresnel system has considerable advantages
over parabolic-trough collectors. The land use is far better because less distance is required
between mirrors. The aperture area of the collectors covers between 80 and 95 % of the land
required, compared with only 30 % covered by parabolic-trough mirrors as a result of the
considerable distance needed between the collector rows to avoid shadowing. Therefore, the
land-use efficiency of linear Fresnel collectors is approximately three times greater than for
parabolic trough collectors (Trieb 2007). Taking into account that the Fresnel system has less
optical efficiency (about 67 % of that for a parabolic trough), the production per square meter
of land from this type of solar field is twice that of a parabolic-trough field. This fact might be
of little importance in isolated desert areas where land use is not limited, but could be of
relevance when it is integrated into a CSP plant in industrial or tourist complexes, or near
urban centers. However, this technology is not as mature as parabolic-trough technology and it
remains in the demonstration phase. Two plants are currently in operation, with a total capacity
of 6.4 MW

Central Receiver Systems (Solar Tower)

Central receiver (or solar tower) systems use a large field of mirrors with solar tracking on two
axes (called heliostats) that reflect the sunlight onto a central receiver located at the top of a
tower. In the receiver, the concentrated solar energy is absorbed by the working fluid that
circulates around it, converting the solar energy into thermal energy. Typical concentration
factors fluctuate between 200 and 1000 (Trieb et al. 2009). The working fluid can be water or
steam, molten salts, liquid sodium or air. The concentration factors achieved are so high in
these systems that temperatures of 1200 C can be reached (Alexopoulos and Hoffschmidt
2010), which enables them to be integrated into steam, gas or combined cycles (Price and
Kearney 1999; Buck et al. 2000; de Lalaing 2001). Moreover, these systems can be integrated
into fossil fuel plants for hybrid operation, offering a great variety of options. Commercial
solar towers also use molten salts as the thermal storage medium, allowing the system to
extend its operating hours or increase capacity during periods when the electricity flowing into
the network is at a higher price. Furthermore, ceramic material can be used as the storage
medium (if the heat transfer fluid is a gas) or a phase-change medium (if the heat transfer fluid
is water/steam). These systems can achieve high efficiencies when integrated into gas cycles,
and efficiency can even be increased using combined cycles, reaching cycle efficiencies of up
to 50 % (Trieb 2007). Moreover, they have the advantage of being able to operate with natural
gas during the start-up or when the solar radiation is not sufficient, with a high fossil fuel to
electricity conversion efficiency. For large-scale plants, this technology has potentially fewer
costs than linear concentration systems as a result of the high working temperature and
pressure and, therefore, greater thermodynamic efficiency. This is particularly important in dry
refrigeration applications, which operate at elevated ambient temperatures. In these cases, the
high working temperatures used in the solar towers means that the drop in power cycle
performance is less than with the parabolic-trough or linear Fresnel systems, in spite of the
higher working temperature in the condenser.

Solar tower receivers can be tubular or volumetric. In tubular receivers, the solar radiation
strikes the tubes through which the heat-transfer fluid circulates. This fluid can be water/steam,
liquid sodium, molten nitrate salts or air. With water/steam, the steam leaving the receiver is
sent directly to the turbine to generate electricity, without the need for a heat exchanger.
Conversely, volumetric receivers absorb the concentrated solar radiation in the interior of a
porous body. Here, air is used as the heat-transfer medium, which flows through the porous
material and produces convective heating. Creating air suction through the volumetric matrix,
the convective losses are negligible. As the gas passes through the absorber volume, its
temperature increases at the same time as the temperature of the material increases with depth.
Consequently, highest temperatures are reached in the inside of the absorber matrix, thus
minimizing radiation losses. The porous material can be metallic when working with
temperatures of up to 800 C, or ceramic when the working temperatures are even higher (Fend
et al. 2004). There are two main types of volumetric receivers: open (or atmospheric)
volumetric receivers and closed (or pressurized) volumetric receivers. The first uses ambient
air that is introduced from the outside into the receiver. Once the air has been heated, it flows
through a steam generator in a Rankine cycle to produce electricity.

Parabolic Dishes

Parabolic dishes are made up of an arrangement of mirrors on a parabolic surface, which tracks
the sun on two axes in such a way that the focal point is always located in the optical axis of
the parabola. The reflective surface (the mirror) reflects the incident solar radiation and
concentrates it at the parabolic focal point, close to which the Stirling motor is situated to
directly produce electricity using a generator. A Stirling motor is a thermal motor (with a cycle
of the same name) that uses gas as the working fluid. The advantage of these systems is the
high concentration factors that can be reached, between 1500 and 4000 (Kaltschmitt et al.
2007). In contrast to the systems mentioned previously, parabolic dishes do not require steam
generation because the motor works with helium (it has also been tested with hydrogen). The
characteristics of these systems are their high efficiency, modularity, autonomous operation
and great potential to work with hybrid systems (with solar energy, fossil fuels or both). These
systems have proven their high solar-to-electric conversion efficiency (31.25 %) (Moser et al.
2011). The modularity of these systems makes them ideal for isolated systems. The technology
is under development phase and its large-scale potential is currently being evaluated. The
systems with a Stirling dish have a relatively low electricity generation capacity of less than 25
kW. The technology has already been shown to be capable of capacities almost up to 1 MWe
(Braun et al. 2011).

Table 1 Characteristics of current concentrating solar power technologies (based on reference

(Fichtner and DLR 2011) except where indicated)
Concentration method
Characteristics Line concentrating system Point concentrating system
Solar field type Parabolic Linear Central Parabolic dish
trough Fresnel receiver
State of the art Commercial Recently Commercial Demonstration
commercial (Pitz-Paal et projects
al. 2012)
Cost of the solar 300–350 200–250 300–400 >350 (Trieb et
field (€/m2) al. 2009)
Investment costs 3500–6500 2500–4500 4000–6000 6000–10000
(€/m2) for SM1– (SM1 only)
SM2a
Typical unit size 10–250 5–200 10–100 0.1–1
(MW)
Peak solar 21 15 <20 31.25
efficiency (%)
Annual solar 10–16 (18 8–12 10–16 16–29
efficiency (%) projected) (15 projected) (25 proj.

Concentration 50–90 35–170 600–1000 up to

ratio 3000

Construction Demanding Simple Demanding Moderat

requirements e

Operating 350–415 (550 270–450 550–1000 750–

temperature (C) projected) (550 900
projected)

Heat transfer fluid Synthetic oil, Synthetic oil, Air, molten air
water/steam water/steam salts,
water/steam

Thermodynamic Rankine Rankine Brayton/ Stirling,

power cycle Rankine Brayton

Power unit Steam turbine Steam turbine Gas, steam Stirling

turbine engine

Experience High Low Moderate Moderat

e

Reliability Long-term Recently Recently Moderat

proven proven proven e

Thermal storage Molten, salts, Molten salts, Molten salts, No

media concrete, concrete, concrete, storage
phase-change phase-change ceramics, availabe
material material phase
change
material

Operation Demanding Simple Demanding Simple

requirements

Land requirements High Low High Moderat

e
CONCLUSION

In conclusion, all the CSP plants presented above can be used to generate electricity. However,
the aim of this research work presented in this paper explain different application of
concentrated solar thermal system and select the most favorable of these technologies for rural
electrification regarding performance, cost and integration. Table 1 gives a comparison of the
different types of CSP plants. As can be seen in Table 1, the maturity of point concentrating
systems is not as great as that for line concentrating systems. It is still uncertain whether central
receivers will be able to compete with line concentrating systems in the lower temperature
range (up to 550 C) for steam generation. On the other hand, parabolic dish systems only
operate in the kilowatt range, so they could be applied for decentralized, area but not for large-
scale applications as presented in this paper. Until now, line concentrating systems (parabolic
trough and liner Fresnel) have had clear advantages over other systems as a result of lower
costs, less material demands, simpler construction and higher efficiency, making them the best
candidates for CSP coupled to for a grid electrification. Apart from the line concentrating
systems, parabolic trough collectors have a better track record and reliability than Fresnel
systems.
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