Integrated supercritical co2 power cycle with concentrated solar power tower with 50mw power capacity

Abstract

As a part of the world's efforts to mitigate the impact of global warming via carbon neutrality plan by 2050, a novel supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycle is presented that is integrated with concentrated solar power (CSP) tower system and oxy combustor. The system capacity is 50MW and its by-product are pure drinking water and small amount of CO2 that can be exported for other commercial purposes. The integrated cycle (CONF3) is investigated in comparison to two other cycle configurations in which CONF1 cycle configuration solely depends on oxy combustorand CONF2 cycle configuration solely depends on CSP. Energy and exergy analyses are performed for all 3 cycle configurations and results were presented in a comparative study. Furthermore, the impact of the solar radiation on the cycle's receiver outlet temperature, thermal and exergy efficiencies are investigated. In addition, receiver outlet temperature impact on fuel, exportation of CO2 and Oxygen consumption is presented for the selected cycle configurations. The study concluded that CONF3 cycle configuration has a promising potential as it has achieved 42.4% of thermal efficiency and 82.77% of exergy efficiency while consuming 1.645 kg/s and 6.579 kg/s of fuel and oxygen, respectively. In addition, 3.621 kg/s of potable water was produced by the integrated CONF3 cycle as a byproduct to the electricity generation, which contributes to resolving the world's scarcity of potable water specially in remote areas. This novel concept of the integrated sCO2 and CSP system is considered as a major step towards transformation to a full free carbon emission energy production. The present study also suggested future research directions that include investigating more promising integrated sCO2 and CSP systems; performing levelized cost of electricity and optimization analysis; and investigating more efficient air separation units, turbines, compressors, and heat exchangers.