HRL Technology Group Pty Ltd ABN 89 609 887 327 info@hrl.com.au hrl.com.au

Melbourne Level One Unit 4 677 Springvale Road Mulgrave VIC 3170 Phone +61 3 9565 9888 Fax +61 3 9565 9879

Victorian Regional OfficeGippsland Enterprise Centre 50 Northways RoadChurchill VIC 3842

Phone +61 3 5132 1500 Fax +61 3 5132 1580

Queensland Unit 2 33-37 Rosedale Street Coopers Plains QLD 4108Phone +61 7 3423 4300Fax +61 7 3345 5937 1

Optim

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hrl:

Optimisingperformanceofintegratedsolarcombined-cyclepowerplantsProvidingexpertdesignandanalysisservicestoproponentsoroperatorsofintegratedsolarcombined-cyclepowerplants

Challenges

Proponentsandoperatorsofsolarintegratedplantsfacecomplexchallengesindeterminingandoptimisingtheperformanceoftheirplants.Location,time-of-day,weatheranddesignofthesolarcollectorsystemhaveanimpactonplantperformance.

Asolarplant’seffectivenessinimprovingaconventionalpowerplant’sefficiencyalsodependsonhowthetwoplantsareconnected.Supplyingsolar-heatedsteamatlowtemperatureswillachieveverylittleincreaseinoutput.Supplyingsteamathighertemperatures,whilemoreeffective,canreducethesolarcollector’sefficiencyandincreaseitscost.Thechallengeisdeterminingtheuniqueoptimumarrangementforaparticularinstallation.

Solutions

HRL'sProcessDesignTeamprovidesexpertdesignservicestothoseproposingnewintegratedsolarthermalpowerplants.Theteamalsoprovidesexpertanalyticalservicestooperatorsofintegratedsolarplant.TheteamdrawsonmanyyearsofexperienceinusingtheThermoflowsuiteofsoftwaretodesignandanalyseconventionalandgasturbinecombinedcyclepowerplants.Theseskillscanalsobedrawnontomodelpowerplantsthatincludesolarthermalcollectorsystems.

TheThermoflowprogramstheHRLteamusesinitsexpertdesignandmodelledservicesforconventionalandgasturbinecombined-cyclepowerplantsincludeSteamPro,SteamMaster,GTProandGTMaster.SuchdesignscanbeimportedintoaThermoFlexmodelcontainingsolarcollectorandthermalstoragemodels.Withinthemodellingsoftware,solardevicescanbeconnectedtoapowerplantmodelandtodetermineoverallperformanceunderawiderangeofconditions.Ifrequired,modelscanbedesignedusingonlyThermoflex.

Afieldofparabolictroughsolarcollectors

Benefits

Inprovidingclientswithexpertdesignandanalysisservices–forassessingconventionalandgasturbineplantswith,orwithout,solarcollectors–HRLTechnologyGroup’sProcessDesignTeamprovidesnumerousbenefitsincluding:• expertservicesfromexperiencedpersonnel• fastdesignandanalysisservices• accurate,authoritativeandindependentdesignand

analysisservices• plantoperationresultsthatcanbecombinedwithEEO

(EnergyEfficiencyOpportunitiesprogram)andgreenhousecreditsassessmenttoproduceaccuratefinancialmodelling

• quickevaluationoftheimpactofaddingsolarcollectorsystemstopowerplants

• assessingplantperformanceusingbiomassfuels.

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Modellingagasturbinecombinedcycleplantcoupledtoasolarthermalsteamgeneratorcapableofproducingpartiallysuperheatedhighpressuresteam

Theparabolictroughsolar-fieldheatsathermaloilwhichispumpedthroughaseriesshellandtubeheatexchangerswhichpreheatfeedwater,generatesteam,andsuperheatsteam.Thethermaloiltemperaturesarelimitedtoabout400°Ctherebyrequiringfinalsuperheatingofthesteamintheheatrecoverysteamgenerator(HRSG).ThesolargeneratorreceivespartiallypreheatedfeedwaterfromtheHRSG,andreturnssuperheatedsteamwhichismixedwithhighpressure(HP)steamexitingthefirstsuperheater(HPS0).Themixtureissuperheatedtofinalsteamturbinethrottleconditionsofapproximately550°C.

Modellingsuggeststhesolarfieldcancontributeapproximately6.5percentoftotalplantpoweraddingsome3.9percentagepointstoplantefficiency.Themodestimprovementscomewithlittleimpactonthecombinedcycleoperation.Solarsystemsmakingagreatercontributionaddcomplexitytoplantdesignandtoplantoperationinnon-solarmode.Inadditiontocalculatingplantperformance,themodellingalsoprovidesanestimateofplantcost.

Modellingasolarcollectorwiththermalstorageintegratedwithaconventionalsteamplant

Afieldofparabolictroughsolarcollectorsisusedtoheatthermaloilwhichisthenstoredinathermallystratifiedtank.A‘solarboiler’generatessteambycoolingthermaloil,drawnfromthestoragetank,inaseriesoftubeandshellheatexchangers.ThesteamfeedsaRankinecyclepowerplant.

Thetank’sperformanceismodelledusingsourcesandsinks.Thesolarfieldisfedfromasourceat295°Crepresentingthecoldbottomofthetank.Heatedoilfromthesolarfieldisfedintoasinkformedinthetopofthetank.Hotliquidforthesteamgeneratorisdrawnfromthetopofthetankandcoolthermaloilisreturnedtothebottomofthetank.

Themodel,inconjunctionwithanE-LINKworkbook,isusedtoanalysesystemoperationoverdailycyclesthroughouttheyear.Themodellingalsoprovesanestimateofthecosttoconstructtheplant.

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Thecompany’sNATAAccreditedLaboratoriesnumberis 561.

HRLTechnologyGroup’sISO9001QualityManagementiscertifiedbyBSIundercertificateFS605116

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