An Innovative Gas Turbine Plant for Parabolic Trough Concentrated Solar Power Plants

Abstract

Concentrated Solar Power Plants (CSP) technology
using Parabolic Trough (PT) has the capability to give, in the
mean future, a strong contribution to the electrical energy
generation. In the long term, inside a new framework of
relationships concerning energy production, many aspects would
justify a significant contribution to the phase out of fossil sources
use.
The paper concerns about a theoretical modeling aimed at
improving the performances of CSP which approaches the
energy generation from a system point of view. Thanks to it, the
attention is focused on the use of gases as heat transfer fluid
inside the solar receivers.
The success of this concept is related to the possibility to
increase the fluid temperature above the actual maximum values:
this requires the prediction of receiver efficiency, done on a
physically consistent way by the model.
An innovative integration between the solar field and an
original gas turbine power plant modified in order to maximize
thermal energy conversion, is presented.