Title: Efficiency improvement of a steam power plant through solar repowering

Authors: Gholamreza Ahmadi; Davood Toghraie; Omid Ali Akbari

Addresses: Young Researchers and Elite Club, Khomeinishahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomeinishahr, 8418148499, Iran ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khomeinishahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, 8418148499, Iran ' Young Researchers and Elite Club, Khomeinishahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomeinishahr, 8418148499, Iran

Abstract: Currently, fossil fuel power plants generate about 93.2% of Iran's electricity network. Negative growth of average efficiency of thermal power plants in the past years necessitates investment and research in order to increase their efficiency. In this paper, the use of solar thermal energy for parallel feed water heating repowering of Isfahan Mohammad Montazeri power plant units is evaluated. To this end, seven separate plans are proposed. At the time of replacing all high-pressure feed water heaters with solar collectors, net energy and exergy efficiencies increased by 9.5% compared to the simple cycle reaching 35.21% and 36.85%, respectively.

Keywords: Mohammad Montazeri power plant; solar feed water heating; CO2; carbon dioxide; carbon emissions; exergy efficiency; CHP systems; efficiency improvement; steam power plants; solar repowering; Iran; solar power; solar energy; power plant efficiency; solar collectors; energy efficiency; exergy efficiency.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2017.083015

International Journal of Exergy, 2017 Vol.22 No.2, pp.158 - 182

Received: 24 Apr 2016
Accepted: 13 Oct 2016
Published online: 17 Mar 2017 *

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