ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION OF
SOLAR THERMAL PLANT WITH
24×7 THERMAL STORAGE
A thesis submitted for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
In
Mechanical Engineering
Submitted by
Anil Kumar
Supervisor Co-Supervisor Co-Supervisor
Prof. V K Sethi Prof. Suresh Kumar Soni Prof. Sachin Tiwari
Faculty of Engineering and Technology
RAM KRISHNA DHARMARTH FOUNDATION
UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL
2020
CHAPTER-5
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE SCOPE
Chapter-5 Conclusions and Future Scope
5. GENERAL
Energy security, high efficiency with economy feasibility, sustainable development
with environmental protection are the globally primacy topics. In present era the
growth of population is very fast, resulting energy demand is also increasing
exponentially mainly due to their modern life style, etc. Therefore, renewable based
24×7 energy solutions have to be invented. Conventional renewable energy
generation systems have enormous issues i.e. uninterrupted supply, energy storage
with controlled GHGs emissions. Unlike conventional renewable approach, an
innovative passive hybrid approach is the coupling of energy storage system with
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) system. By using solar energy, the hybrid system is
able to generate huge amount of energy. These systems are characterized by various
advantages i.e. appropriate efficiency, no emissions of GHGs with very low operation
and maintenance costs etc.
Two experimental set ups with objective to proficient exploitation solar energy and
store through solid storage systems to provide the power 24×7. A 1 MWe (3.5 MW
thermal) solar power plant with 16 hours thermal storage capacity and A 1 kWe high
energy density thermal energy storage for concentrated solar plant were experimented
and found satisfactory results as per Indian climatic conditions.
5.1 CONCLUSIONS FROM PERFORMANCE OF 1 MWe (3.5
MWh) SOLAR POWER PLANT WITH 16 HOURS THERMAL
STORAGE CAPACITY
The plant operates on Rankine cycle principle. The Parabolic Reflector concentrates
the solar radiation towards the in-house developed, highly efficient cavity receiver.
The cavity of the Receiver which is made of monolithic cast iron acts as perfect black
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Chapter-5 Conclusions and Future Scope
body and thus provides excellent thermal storage. The boiler grade coil around the
body acts as a heat exchanger which allows for water to exchange heat and convert
into steam.
The thermal storage can be operated between 250oC to 550oC and can be discharged.
The steam generated is mostly super- heated steam and the rest is saturated steam to
pertaining pressure from 38 bar to 44 bar gauge pressure.
5.2 CONCLUSIONS FROM PERFORMANCE OF 1 kWe HIGH
ENERGY DENSITY THERMAL STORAGE
It was concluded from various readings that the temperature achieved at the tip of
solar focal point about 1400oC. The temperature at the core mid-point was found to be
of the order of 310oC which is sufficient to generate steam for heat transfer studies.
5.3 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOLID THERMAL
STORAGE SYSTEM WITH OTHER SYSTEMS
S.N. Parameter India One Mount MNRE R&D Project ,
abu Bhopal
Technical Parameter
1 Thermal Capacity 3.5 MWth 40 KWth
2 Electrical Capacity 1 MWe 10 kWe
3 Heat source(CSP 60 sq m parabolic 16 sq m parabolic
System) Scheffler dish Scheffler dish
4 Storage medium Cast Iron Halide Salt
4.1 Specific heat(KJ/Kg K) 2100 3500
4.2 Life (year) 25 35
4.3 Heat redundancy ( min) 6000 8000
4.4 Density (kg/m3) 120 80
4.5 chemical composition
4.6 Chemically activeness inert inert
4.7 Impact on Environment
5 Area (Acre) 8 4.5
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Chapter-5 Conclusions and Future Scope
5.4 FUTURE SCOPE
The long term aim of this research work is to develop the necessary technology know-
how to enable the manufacturing process in India for large scale MW systems.
Promote energy efficient concept of steam generation through solar thermal storage
and apply in Carbon Capture Sequestration (CCS) system, shown as Fig. 5.1.
Fig. 5.1 Steam generation through solar thermal storage and apply in CCS system
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