For the future market potential of parabolic trough power plants with direct steam generation (DSG), it is beneficial to integrate a thermal storage system. Heat storage media based on phase change materials offer heat transfer at constant temperatures needed for the evaporation process. Different options for a plant layout are presented and discussed. The interactions between the three subsystems—solar field, power block, and thermal storage—are analyzed, and boundary conditions arising from the thermal storage system are identified. Compared with a system without storage the number of operating points increases significantly since different combinations of storage charge and discharge operations go along with a varying power output of the solar field. It is shown that the large number of theoretical operating points can be reduced to a subset with practical relevance. Depending on the live steam parameters a reheat is necessary within the power block. Compared with parabolic trough fields with a single phase heat transfer medium such as oil, a special heat exchanger configuration is needed for a DSG plant. Different alternatives based on available technologies are presented and evaluated.
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e-mail: tobias.hirsch@dlr.de
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August 2010
Research Papers
A Direct Steam Generation Solar Power Plant With Integrated Thermal Storage
Jürgen Birnbaum,
Jürgen Birnbaum
Siemens AG Power Generation
, Erlangen 91058, Germany
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Markus Eck,
Markus Eck
Institute of Technical Thermodynamics,
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
, Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, Stuttgart 70569, Germany
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Markus Fichtner,
Markus Fichtner
Siemens AG Power Generation
, Erlangen 91058, Germany
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Tobias Hirsch,
Tobias Hirsch
Institute of Technical Thermodynamics,
e-mail: tobias.hirsch@dlr.de
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
, Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, Stuttgart 70569, Germany
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Dorothea Lehmann,
Dorothea Lehmann
Institute of Technical Thermodynamics,
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
, Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, Stuttgart 70569, Germany
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Gerhard Zimmermann
Gerhard Zimmermann
Siemens AG Power Generation
, Erlangen 91058, Germany
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Jürgen Birnbaum
Siemens AG Power Generation
, Erlangen 91058, Germany
Markus Eck
Institute of Technical Thermodynamics,
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
, Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, Stuttgart 70569, Germany
Markus Fichtner
Siemens AG Power Generation
, Erlangen 91058, Germany
Tobias Hirsch
Institute of Technical Thermodynamics,
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
, Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, Stuttgart 70569, Germanye-mail: tobias.hirsch@dlr.de
Dorothea Lehmann
Institute of Technical Thermodynamics,
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
, Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, Stuttgart 70569, Germany
Gerhard Zimmermann
Siemens AG Power Generation
, Erlangen 91058, GermanyJ. Sol. Energy Eng. Aug 2010, 132(3): 031014 (5 pages)
Published Online: June 28, 2010
Article history
Received:
September 18, 2008
Revised:
February 19, 2010
Online:
June 28, 2010
Published:
June 28, 2010
Citation
Birnbaum, J., Eck, M., Fichtner, M., Hirsch, T., Lehmann, D., and Zimmermann, G. (June 28, 2010). "A Direct Steam Generation Solar Power Plant With Integrated Thermal Storage." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. August 2010; 132(3): 031014. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4001563
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