Improving concentrating solar power plant performance by increasing steam turbine flexibility at start-up

摘要

Among concentrating solar power technologies, solar tower power plants currently represent one of the most promising ones. Direct steam generation systems, in particular, eliminate the usage of heat transfer fluids allowing for the power block to be run at greater operating temperatures and therefore further increasing the thermal efficiency of the power cycle. On the other hand, the current state of the art of these systems does not comprise thermal energy storage. The lack of storage adds to the already existing variability of operating conditions that all concentrating power plants endure due to the fluctuating nature of the solar supply. One way of improving this situation is increasing the operating flexibility of power block components to better adapt to the varying levels of solar irradiance.