Title: Performance assessment of a solar tower assisted combined cycle power plant using supercritical carbon dioxide as a heat transfer fluid

Authors: Muhammad Sajid Khan; Muhammad Abid; Mi Yan; Tahir Abdul Hussain Ratlamwala; Ishrat Mubeen

Addresses: Institute of Energy and Power Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST), Mirpur (10250), AJK, Pakistan ' Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Faculty of Integrated Technologies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan, Darussalam, Brunei; Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Cyprus International University, Nicosia, North Cyprus via Mersin 10, Turkey ' Institute of Energy and Power Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan ' Institute of Energy and Power Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China

Abstract: The aim of the present research is to investigate the detailed exergo-environmental analysis of solar-assisted power and hydrogen production system in addition to the energetic and exergetic analysis. The proposed system consists of five sub-systems (heliostat field, solar tower, gas cycle, steam cycle and an electrolyser). Mathematical model is developed using engineering equation solver (EES) to investigate the integrated system according to the thermodynamic point of view and parametric study is conducted to access the impact of key parameters on the overall performance of the integrated system. The results reveal that thermal efficiency of the receiver is noticed to be 72%, whereas 42% is observed for the power cycle. The integrated first and second law efficiencies of power plant are 20.93% and 22.51%, accordingly. Exergo-environmental impact index decreases to 33.66% by increasing direct normal irradiation which is considered to be a favourable indicator for the environment.

Keywords: sCO₂; exergo-environmental; sustainability; heliostat; hydrogen.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2021.117603

International Journal of Exergy, 2021 Vol.36 No.1, pp.30 - 55

Received: 28 Aug 2020
Accepted: 21 Jan 2021
Published online: 15 Sep 2021 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article