Optimal Control of an Endoreversible Solar Power Plant

Abstract

AbstractWhile in the classic Curzon–Ahlborn and Novikov engines the temperatures of the heat baths are kept fixed or follow a deterministic time function, it is the aim of this work to study the impact of fluctuating heat bath temperatures. As an example serves a solar power plant, where the stochastically varying cloud cover leads to fluctuations in the temperature of the hot heat bath. This solar thermal power plant is modeled as a stochastic endoreversible system. On the basis of this model the maximum expected work output of the power plant and the corresponding optimal control policy is derived. For the considered system it is found that the maximum expected work output changes with the reversion speed of the hot temperature depending on the relation of the starting hot temperature and the temperature of the power plant’s receiver. Additionally, it is found that the maximum expected work output increases with the hot temperature’s fluctuation strength.