Design of a 25 MWe Solar Thermal Power Plant in Iran with Using Parabolic Trough Collectors and a Two-Tank Molten Salt Storage System

Abstract

Nowadays, parabolic trough solar thermal plants are prevalent around the world. In different areas concerning the amount of solar radiation, their standard size is approximately between 20 and 100 MWe. Certainly, the right size of the solar field is the first selection with regard to nominal electrical power. A vast area will be economically unreasonable whereas a small area will mainly cause the power plant to operate at the part-load condition. This paper presents an economic modeling of a solar parabolic trough plant, operating at 25 MWe in Yazd, Iran. The varying types of collector dimensions have been investigated; then, by selecting autumnal equinox (22 September) at 12:00 PM as the design point, thermal performance of the solar power plant has been featured annually, in all conditions. The total operating time of the power plant is about 1726 hours (1248 hours in full-load condition). In the end, the effect of thermal storage tanks has been analyzed to save extra solar heat and use it at nights in hot months. By implementing a storage system, the total operating time will be increased to 3169 hours (2785 in full-load condition). Moreover, 7974 GJ useful thermal energy can be obtained from the solar field and storage system.