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Design of a 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power Linear Fresnel Plant with Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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Design of a 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power Linear Fresnel Plant with Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Universal Journal of Mechanical Engineering 8(4): 216-226, 2020 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/ujme.2020.080407 Design of a 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power Linear Fresnel plant with Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Abdullah S. Albarqi, Alberto Boretti* College of Engineering, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia Received May 6, 2020; Revised May 15, 2020; Accepted June 23, 2020 Copyright ©2020 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Abstract Our world has witnessed a rapid increase in DC Direct current power generation as a result of the growth of population DNI Direct normal irradiance and economy. Currently, people depend on conventional GASTAT General Authority of Statistic fuel energy as the main source of power generation; HTF Heat transfer fluid however, conventional fuel is well known for its limitation LCOE Levelized cost of electricity and impact on the environment. Thus, it was necessary to LF Linear Fresnel invest in an alternative source of energy such the solar NREL National Renewable Energy Lab power. Much research and development for solar power PT Parabolic trough such as Concentrated solar power (CSP) have been SAM System Advisor Model implemented around the world, and it shows the capability ST Solar tower to compete with conventional fuel technology. This paper TES Thermal energy storage aims to study the feasibility of constructing 100 MW CSP PV Photovoltaics Linear Fresnel (LF) solar power in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In this study, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) System Advisor Model (SAM) was used to design, 1. Introduction simulate, and analyze the system. The system was designed In the last few decades, the world has witnessed a swift based on CSP LF technology with molten salt thermal change in demography and economy due to the rapid energy storage (TES), where TES supplies the power cycle development in the technology. Nowadays, many rural with the required thermal energy after sunset. The result areas became similar to urban areas in terms of electricity has revealed the system's capability to produce a good utilization and the use of communication technologies. As amount of solar power most of the year, reaching up to 38 a result of this change, the demand for energy has increased GWh during summer. The LF system shows a good all over the world [1]. Currently, conventional energy capacity factor (CF) exceeding 40%. The study shows that sources like fossil fuels, coal, and nuclear power are Saudi Arabia is a good place to install the CSP LF solar dominating the vast energy market. However, conventional plant. energy is well known for its limitation and massive impact Keywords Concentrated Solar Power, Thermal on human health and global emissions [2]. Thus, it was Energy Storage, Linear Fresnel, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia necessary to look for an environmentally friendly source of energy that is sustainable and renewable to insure having a continuous supply of energy to meet the increasing demands. Solar power is considered as one of the most promising Nomenclature and reliable sources of energy. Moreover, due to its abundance, solar power is seen as a sustainable and AC Alternating current renewable source of electrical power [3]. The sun energy is CF Capacity factor converted into electrical power either by direct conversion CSP Concentrating solar power of the sunlight into electricity using Photovoltaics (PV), or Universal Journal of Mechanical Engineering 8(4): 216-226, 2020 217 indirectly using concentrating solar power (CSP) [4]. In the a large scale due to its location on the global sunbelt. PV solar system, the solar cells made of semiconductor Figure 1 (from [9]) shows the intensity of the solar materials convert the sunlight into electrical DC. The irradiation around the world, and it shows that Saudi current can be used directly or converted into AC using an Arabia is among the highest receiver of the direct normal inverter or set of inverters for grid connection [5]. On the irradiance (DNI). other hand, the CSP system uses lenses or mirrors to track According to the GASTAT 2018 report [10], Saudi the sunlight and direct the massive amount of the solar Arabia has an average of 5,366 Wh/m² daily levels of DNI, thermal energy on a small area containing heat transfer exceeding the minimum threshold required for the CSP fluid (HTF) to generate superheated steam used in steam system (4,960 Wh/m²). Also, the DNI can reach up to 7,750 turbine power cycle [6], [7]. Wh/m² in a city like Tabuk in the northern region of Saudi Solar power technology has experienced rapid Arabia. Figure 2 is the map of solar resource for Saudi development over the past few decades, which led to Arabia from [11] improving its efficiency and cost. This led to increasing the Moreover, Saudi Arabia has a wide landscape with annual growth rate for the last ten years by 48% [8]. year-round clear skies which make it an excellent location Currently, the global capacity of solar power has reached for solar power generation [12]. Though, some challenges up to 400 GW, and it counts for around 7% of worldwide are existing in some areas in Saudi Arabia due to their electricity production. Soon, the number of solar power geomorphological features. One of the main challenges plants around the world is expected to rapidly increase due that would affect the performance of the solar power to the higher demand for electricity, the low cost of solar system in Saudi Arabia is dust and sand. The accumulated power, and the concerns global effect coming from burning dust over the solar panels or collectors affects the amount the conventional fuel. of converted solar energy which requires regular cleaning to recover the design efficiency of the solar system. The elevated temperature is another problem that affects the solar system performance especially for the PV system [12]. However, the high temperature can be an advantage in the case of the CSP system. Such challenges can be reduced by adapting the glasshouses technology to minimize the effect of the dust. Also, adapting the CSP technology can be a good choice for Saudi Arabia due to the advantage of the high temperature. Currently, Saudi Arabia has a very low utilization of solar power comparing to the leading countries such as the USA, China, or Spain. As per [10], the amount of electricity produced by solar power in Saudi Arabia was Figure 1. Global direct normal irradiation [9]. Credit Solargis less than 0.004% of the total electrical capacity in 2018. However, with Saudi’s new vision 2030, Saudi Arabia plans to expand the solar power utilization to reach 10% of total energy production by 2023 [10]. The CSP system is built based on the Rankine cycle principle. The main component of the CSP power cycle is the solar filed and the Rankine steam turbine cycle, and in some applications, the thermal energy storage (TES) is used [7]. The typical process of a CSP system is shown in [13]. Although the CSP is counted for less than 2% of the total electrical capacity produced by solar power, the CSP has an advantage over the PV system due to the capability to store energy using a TES technology. The TES systems usually operated with oil or molten salt as HTF to store generated thermal energy and dispatch it during the night. This advantage of the TES system makes the CSP more competitive with the conventional power system such as fossil fuels and nuclear power. Figure 2. Direct normal radiation for Saudi Arabia [11]. Credit Solargis CSP technologies are widely used in many countries around the world. And the main four proven CSP Saudi Arabia has the potential to produce solar power on technologies are the parabolic trough (PT), solar tower 218 Design of a 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power Linear Fresnel plant with Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (ST), linear Fresnel (LF), and solar dish. Compared to the and financial parameters [18]. As the solar power plant CSP technologies, the LF is seen as a promising performance depends upon the site parameters, SAM offers technology due to low investment cost, less land required, access for thousands of weather files through the National low Levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), low-cost Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) and another collector and easer maintenance, [13], [14] and [15]. The international free database. The weather file contains CSP LF uses a set of reflecting mirrors to direct the year-round hourly data that allow SAM to do annual sunlight to the receiver. Compared to the PT, the LF has simulation consisting of a series of steady-state hourly fewer absorber connections which reduce the heat losses. regression calculation. The detailed calculation allows Also, the control of the heat flux in LF is easier than the one SAM to capture the transient effects during the start-up and for ST due to the distance between the reflectors and shutdown, and the thermal inertial associated with the receiver [15]. system which will help the users to adjust the system Figure 3 shows the relation between the reflecting response during the warmup and cool down stages [17]. In mirrors and the receiver tube. The reflectors are oriented in general, the model is considered fast, flexible and accurate transversal and longitudinal plane’s angles to direct the tools for most conventional CSP power cycles [18]. sunlight toward the receiver tube. Like other CSP systems, SAM’s molten salt LF model In this paper, we analyze CSP LF with molten-salt represents all indirect solar subsystems such as the solar thermal storage by using the System Advisory Model filed, steam Rankine power cycles, heat rejection system, (SAM) code.
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