inmis-energy.com/ - Solar Thermal

6.1. Overview

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ADVANTAGES OF SOLAR THERMAL POWER

In contrast to photovoltaics where solar radiation is converted directly into electricity, solar thermal power plants are based on the conversion of solar energy into heat which subsequently drives a heat cycle for generating electricity.

Solar thermal plants entail significant advantages when compared to photovoltaics, the most important of which being the capability for heat energy storage, higher efficiency and increased electricity production.

Despite decades of heavy investment in several different technological approaches, electricity storage is still far from being commercially viable and photovoltaic plants remain effectively limited to daytime operation. On the contrary storing heat is both simpler and more economic, and modern solar thermal power plants commonly integrate several hours of energy storage.

TURBODEN ORC IN SOLAR THERMAL APPLICATIONS

Turboden units convert the heat collected by solar collectors into electricity through an efficient thermodynamic cycle based on the evaporation of a high molecular mass organic fluid to drive the turbine instead of the conventional high pressure steam.

Turboden's ORC units in solar thermal applications demonstrate high operational flexibility which allows efficient adaptation to the variability of solar radiation. Furthermore Turboden ORC based solar thermal power plants can easily be hybridized by adding biomass as a second source of heat, and by using thermal oil both as a heat transfer and heat storage medium.

Turboden ORC units combined with Concentrating Solar Power systems can be cost-effective in the range between 200 kW and 15 MW electric.

For an overview of Turboden ORC advantages in solar thermal applications click here

TARGET MARKET

The several different system designs of Concentrating Solar Power collectors currently available, effectively address all market segments ranging from small scale, residential projects and up to industrial and utility scale projects .

Turboden ORC are particularly suitable for industrial scale projects from 1 to 10 MWel.

6.2. Turboden ORC advantages

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TURBODEN ORC ADVANTAGES IN SOLAR THERMAL APPLICATIONS

The ORC technology entails several distinguishing features which translate into significant technical and operational advantages in solar thermal applications.

› Electrical efficiency up to 26%	› Remote Control operation No operator needed on site
› Capability to adapt to load variation easily and quickly	› Low O&M requirements
› Partial load operation down to 10% of the nominal load	› Ease of hybridization with biomass or heat recovery plants
› Direct air condenser. No water consumption	› Possibility to couple to low cost/medium scale
› Synchronous or asynchronous generation	› Mineral/synthetic oils or saturated steam as heat transfer fluids

6.3. Turboden units

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AVAILABLE ORC MODELS

Turboden produces a wide range of ORC modules effectively offering several options which can suit the varying requirements of solar thermal projects.

ORC type	Depending on the characteristics of the solar collectors Turboden HRS or HR units can be configured for optimal results in solar thermal applications
ORC capacity	Turboden turbogenerators electric power output generally ranges between 200 kW and 15 MW
Heat source	All ORC units can be fed by thermal oil, saturated vapor, or superheated water

Please select from the images below or the side menu, the ORC type suitable for your solar thermal application

Or for smaller size applications the new 200/300kW Turboden units.

For information on custom Turboden units click here

6.3.1. HRS units

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TURBODEN HRS UNITS | High efficiency electricity generation

Turboden has developed new models of HRS ORC units capable of delivering high electrical efficiency, with sizes ranging from 600 kW and reaching up to 11 MW for a single unit.

Turboden’s standard HRS of 1MW (12HRS) and 2.5MW (24HRS) have electric efficiency of around 24% while units larger size (>5MW) HRS units can reach an electric efficiency of up to 27%.

HRS models can operate both in dissipative condition, maximizing the electrical output, and in cogeneration mode, with the ability to provide heat with water temperature up to 60° C while adjusting for seasonal thermal load and maximizing the utilization of the biomass.

LARGE SIZE HRS UNITS | Solar Thermal Applications | Data sheet

ORC models	50 HRS - 110 HRS
ORC capacity	5 MWe - 11 MWe

Click on data sheet to enlarge

STANDARD SIZE HRS UNITS | Solar Thermal Applications | Data sheet

ORC models	12 HRS - 32 HRS
ORC capacity	1.0 MWe - 3.2 MWe

Click on data sheet to enlarge

6.3.2. HR units

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STANDARD HR UNITS | Data sheet

The electric power output of standard sized Turboden units for solar thermal applications generally ranges between 600 kW and 10 MW electric.

ORC models	6 HR - 100 HR
ORC capacity	0.6 MWe - 10 MWe

Click on data sheet to enlarge

CUSTOM UNITS

Apart from standard sizes and applications, Turboden designs and manufactures customized units for special heat recovery applications or sizes (down to 200kW and up to 15 MW).

Some examples of custom made Turboden units used in Heat Recovery applications include:

› Low temperature heat recovery units	Turboden supplied an ORC unit in Belgium to recover heat from pressurized water boiler in waste incinerator. Thanks to Turboden ORC it has been possible to maximize the potential of the incinerator (project info )
› Oil extraction	An innovative project in Russia to recover heat from the associated gas coming from Oil Extraction through controlled combustion (instead of flaring) a heat recovery ORC unit was coupled with five MTU engines, 2 MWe each (project info )
› Electric Arc Furnace	One of the latest Turboden innovative projects is a new 3 MW ORC unit, that uses part of the saturated steam produced by recovering heat of the exhaust gasses from the EAF in Germany (project info )
› Cement plants	› 4 MW ORC in Romania (project info ) › 2 MW unit in Morocco (project info ) › 5 MW module in Slovakia (project info )

6.3.3. 200/300kW ORC modules

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200 | 300kW UNITS | Data sheet

ORC models	2 - 3 Dual Mode
ORC capacity	200 kW - 300 kW

Click to enlarge

6.4. Selected references

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2.0 MW HYBRID SOLAR THERMAL WITH STORAGE

Plant type	Hybrid \| Heat recovery from waste heat of cement factory \| Solar collectors with pebble stone thermal storage
Location	Ait Baha \| Morocco
Customer	Italcementi Group
Solar field area	Aperture area: 6,159 m²
Nr. of string	3
String length	215 m
DNI	2,400 kWh/m² year
Storage capacity	18 HR 12 hours
ORC electric power	2 MWe
Turboden unit	Turboden 18 HR
Thermal power	4 MWth

ONGOING PROJECTS

ONGOING PROJECT| 1

› ORC fed directly by saturated steam from solar field

› No thermal storage

Process description

Solar field produces biphase steam with quality about 0.5 (1). The steam flows into a thermal buffer equipped with recirculation system to feed the ORC with saturated steam (2) and to recirculate the liquid part back to the solar field (4).

In such configuration, the energy production for a 10,000 m2 absorbing surface (per MWel) plant can amount up to 1,900 equivalent hours in a site where the DNI is about 2,000 [kWh/m2 _year]

ONGOING PROJECT | 2

› ORC fed by thermal oil

› Thermal oil both as Heat Transfer Fluid and as storage medium

› Fresnel or small medium parabolic troughs solar collectors

› Two tanks direct thermal storage system

Process description

Turboden HRS units fed with thermal oil at about 300°C (point 2). Thermal oil back to the solar field at about 200°C (point 4)

In such configuration, the energy production for a 10,000–15,000 m2/MWel absorbing surface plant with a 1 equivalent hour thermal storage can amount up to 2,400 equivalent hours in a site where the DNI is about 2,000 [kWh/m2_year]

ONGOING PROJECT | 3

› ORC fed by thermal oil

› Thermal storage with molten salt

Process description

A non-pressurized, non-harmful synthetic oil is used in the solar field, working from 200°C (point 4) to 330°C (point 1)

Molten salt ternary mixture with a low freezing point is employed in the two tanks indirect high capacity thermal storage system.

In such configuration, the energy production for a 20,000–25,000 m2/MWel absorbing surface plant equipped with a 10–12 equivalent hours thermal storage, can amount up to 6,000 equivalent hours in a site where the DNI is about 2,000 [kWh/m2_year]