ADVANTAGES | FLEXIBILITY & AUTOMATION 

Turboden's ORC units in solar thermal applications demonstrate high operational flexibility which allows efficient adaptation to the variability of solar radiation.

Turboden ORC units demonstrate an excellent behavior in variable flow and temperature conditions maintaining 90% of the cycle efficiency at 50% load and can operate even at 10% of the nominal load. 

Furthermore, Turboden ORC plants are designed for automatic and continuous operation and can be operated even by unskilled personnel with weekly operation requirements as low as 3-5 hours (else unattended).

Start up is quick and simple minimizing system inertia and maximizing electricity production. 

Capability to adapt to load variation easily and quickly                              Automatically adapt cycle at ambient temperature variations 

ADVANTAGES | HYBRIDIZATION & STORAGE

Turboden ORC based solar thermal power plants can easily be hybridized by adding biomass or heat recovery as a second source of heat, while thermal oil can be used both as heat transfer and heat storage medium. 

Turboden's hybrid power plant in Italecementi's cement plant in Morocco is a prime example of ORC's hybridization capabilities.   

In Ait Baha hybrid plant waste heat from the cement factory is combined with heat from a 6,159 m2 solar field to power a 2 MWe ORC turbine. The plant further integrates 12 hours of storage capacity with pebble stone.

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

 ADVANTAGES | HEAT TRANSFER FLUIDS FLEXIBILITY

Depending on the specific characteristics of each solar thermal application, thermal oil (mineral or synthetic) or saturated steam can be employed as the heat transfer fluid. 

Thermal oil		Saturated steam
Thermal oil at 250-300°C feeds HR units (20%nel)		Saturated steam at ~20 barA can feed HR units (20%nel)
Thermal oil at 250-300° feeds HRS units (24% nel)		Saturated steam at ~60-70 barA can feed HRS units (25%nel)