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ECE 333 Green Electric Energy

Lecture 23
Concentrating Solar Thermal, Micro-Hydro, Biomass

Alejandro D. Dominguez-Garcia!
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering!
aledan@illinois.edu!
Concentrating Solar Power (CSP)

•  Convert sunlight into thermal energy to run a


heat engine and power a generator!
•  Efficiency is related to how hot the high-
temperature source can be made!
•  Three main types:!
–  Parabolic dish systems with Stirling engines!
–  Linear solar-trough systems!
–  Heliostats with power towers!
Solar Dish/Stirling Power Systems
•  Several mirrors approximate a
parabolic dish!
•  Dish tracks the sun and
concentrates the thermal
energy onto a receiver!
•  Heat is delivered to a Stirling
engine where it is converted
into mechanical energy! SAIC/STM dish/Stirling System

•  Average overall efficiencies around 20% while advanced


technology has reached nearly 30%!
•  Do not require a cooling water source so are ideal for
areas such as deserts where water is in short supply!
Photo Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/SAIC-STM_DIsh_Stirling_System_at_SRP_in_Phoenix_Arizona.JPG
Linear Parabolic Troughs
•  Consist of rows of parabolic-shaped mirrors!
•  Mirrors concentrate sunlight onto linear receivers at the
foci of the parabola!
•  Heat transfer fluid circulates through the receivers
delivering the energy to a steam turbine and generator!

Photo Source: http://technology4life.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/800px-parabolic_trough_solar_thermal_electric_power_plant_1.jpg


Linear Parabolic Troughs
354-MW SEGS, Mojave Desert

•  Combination with conventional


steam-cycle power plants
requires cooling water!
•  Enormous amounts of water
are required making them
difficult to place in desert areas!

•  One approach to reducing the need for cooling water is to use


an organic Rankine-cycle!
–  Uses organic fluid that condenses above-atmospheric pressure!
–  Air-cooled, fan-driven cooling towers!

Photo Source: http://images.forbes.com/media/2010/01/29/0129_solar-thermal-station-mojave-ca_485x340.jpg


Solar Central Receiver Systems
•  Computer controlled mirrors called heliostats bounce sunlight
onto receiver atop a tower!
•  Receiver is referred to as a power tower!
•  Solar One: 90-m tall, 10 MW!
–  1818 heliostats!
–  Thermal storage tank allowed power generation during poor solar conditions!

Photo Source: http://www.eere.energy.gov/de/csp.html


Solar Central Receiver – Solar Two
•  Used heliostats and tower
from Solar One, adding
new storage!
•  Rated at 10 MW!
•  Two-tank, molten-salt
thermal storage system!
–  Allowed full 10-MW output
for an extra three hours
after sunset!
•  Decommissioned in 1999!
•  Plans for Solar Tres to be located in Spain have been
proposed!
–  15 MW!
–  Even greater thermal storage – enough to provide 12 h on stored energy!
Photo Source: http://www.trec-uk.org.uk/csp.htm
New Solar Thermal in Nevada
•  On Sept 23 2009 BrightSource Energy announced an
agreement to built a 960 MW solar thermal power plant
55 miles northeast of Las Vegas, NV.!
•  Given the desert location they will use a dry-cooled
approach to reduce water usage, which still will be
about 67 million gallons per year (74,000 gallons per
MW; wet cooled designs use 2.6 million gallons per!
year per MW) (average per
person usage is about 100
gallons per day)!
Supplementing CSP
•  Hybrid Systems!
–  Conventional generation as a backup!
•  Thermal Energy Storage !
–  Effectively makes solar power dispatchable!
–  Parabolic troughs and power towers have storage
advantage over dish Stirling engines!
–  Storage can allow for effectively 100% solar
generation, negating need for fuel combustion as
backup!
–  Storage is still a largely unsolved issue!
Comparing CSP Systems
•  All use mirrored surfaces to concentrate sunlight
onto a receiver to run a heat engine!
•  All can be hybridized with auxiliary fuel sources!
•  Higher temperature -> higher efficiency!

Annual Measured Required “Suns” of


Efficiency! Acres/MW! concentration!
Dish Stirling! 21%! 4! 3000!

Parabolic 14%! 5! 100!


Troughs!
Solar Central 16%! 8! 1000!
Receiver!
1 sun = no concentration
Hydro Power (Most Widely Used
Renewable Resource)
•  Hydro power is the most widely used renewable
resource in the world. In 2006, US generated 2.9
quad from hydro (versus 2.6 quad in 1970). This
value is often given in billions of kWh or TWh =
289 TWh in 2006; this is about 3% of total energy,
about 9% of total electricity.!
•  Worldwide hydro dominates for some countries
(values in billion kWh for 2006): Canada (352,
59%), Brazil (345, 84%), Norway (118, 98%),
China (431, 16%), Worldwide (2998, 16.6%)!
•  South America is about 2/3 hydro (639.6/951.0) !
Largest Hydro US: Grand Coulee, WA

•  Largest hydro power station is US is on the


Columbia River in Washington State. It was opened
in 1942, and now has a total capacity of 6.8 GW!
–  Its hydraulic head is 380 feet; reservoir size is 125 sq
miles!

Photo Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Coulee_Dam


Lighting Africa, What Could be
Coming: Grand Inga, DR Congo
•  Total electric consumption in all of Africa for 2006
is 547 Twh, less than Canada (594). Also, taking
out South Africa (228) and Egypt (109) the value is
only 257 TWh for more than 800 million people, a
value of about 321 kWh per capita, an average
consumption of 37 watts.!
–  Note, this value includes industrial, commercial and
residential consumption!
–  Total electric capacity in Africa (excepting South Africa
and Egypt) is less than 60 GW, about 1/3 of which is
hydro!
–  Yet Africa has hydro electric capacity of 100ʼs of GW!
Lighting Africa, What Could be
Coming: Grand Inga, DR Congo
•  Hydro at the Inga dams in Congo (on Congo River)
currently have a capacity of 1.8 GW, but the location has a
potential of more than 40 GW, with energy production of up
to 370 TWh! World Bank pledged their support on 9/11/09
for project that could cost $80 billion.!
Micro-Hydro

•  Large-scale hydro: 30 MW and higher!


•  Small-scale: between 100 kW and 30 MW!
•  Micro-hydro: smaller than 100 kW!
•  Simplest systems are
known as run-of-the-river!
–  Donʼt include a dam!
•  Energy from water comes
in three forms:!
–  Potential!
–  Pressure!
–  Kinetic!
Micro-Hydro Energy

Potential Energy

z
Pressure

Kinetic Energy
Theoretically Available Power

•  Need to convert units to get power in kW!


•  Since the conversion factors are always the same,
we can simplify (4.4) to get:!

•  (4.5) Gives rise to an interesting relationship:!


–  Power output is the same for a system with high head,
low flow and a system with low head, high flow!
–  A site with high head and lower flow rates means a
smaller diameter piping leading to smaller and less
expensive turbines!
Friction Head Loss From Pipes
•  Gross head: does not include pipe losses!
–  HG = z [feet]!
•  Net head: gross head minus head loss in piping (HN)!
•  Losses: HL=HG-HN [feet]!
Useful Conversions for Water
Table 4.5, pg 196 of Masters
American! SI!
1 ft3! 7.4805 gal! 0.02832 m3!
1 ft/ second! 0.6818 mph! 0.3048 m/s!
1 ft3/second! 448.8 gpm! 0.02832 m3/s!
Water density! 62.428 lb/ft3! 1000 kg/m3!
1 psi! 2.307 ft of water! 6896 N/m2!
1 kW! 737.56 ft-lb/s! 1000 N-m/s!

Use this to find the potential power available


given a head, HN, and a flow rate, Q!
Optimal Flow Rate
•  The change in head due to losses can be optimized for
maximum power delivery!
–  This can help choose the best pipe size since flow rate is a function of the
pipe characteristics (friction, diameter)!
•  Change in head loss due to friction can be approximated as:!

•  Power delivered will be net head times flow (with constant, c, to


account for units):!

•  Maximum power can be found by setting the derivative to zero:!


Optimal Flow Rate Continued
•  Theoretical maximum power is delivered when pipe losses are
one third of the gross head:!

low loss, low P


P(W) high loss, low P

Q (gpm)
Turbine Design - 3 Approaches

1. Impulse turbines !
!- most common for micro-hydro systems!
!- capture kinetic energy of high-speed jets!
!- high head, low flow !
2. Reaction turbines !
!- pressure difference of blades creates a torque!
!- low head, high flow!
3. Waterwheel !
!- slow-moving but powerful!
!- slow rotational rates make them a poor match for
!the high speeds needed for electric power
!generation!
Impulse Turbines: Pelton Wheel
•  The original impulse turbine by Lester Pelton!
•  Water squirts out of nozzles onto sets of
buckets attached to the rotating wheel!
•  Nozzles convert pressure head to kinetic energy!
•  Efficiencies are typically in the range of 70-90%!
Biomass for Electricity
•  Use energy stored in plant material!
–  Plants energy comes from the sun!
–  Captured and stored during photosynthesis!
•  14 GW around the world, half in US!
•  2/3 of biomass in US is cogeneration!
•  Fuel is essentially waste!
–  Low-cost, no-cost or even negative-cost!
•  High transportation costs!
•  Efficiencies are typically less than 20%!
–  Leads to expensive electricity (around 9¢/kWh)!
Burn Biomass Alongside Coal (Co-firing)
•  Modified conventional steam-cycle plants!
•  Increases efficiency compared to a strict
biomass-burning plant!
•  Economical way to utilize biomass in relatively
efficient plants!
•  Reduces overall emissions!
Gas Turbines and Biomass
•  Cannot run directly on biomass without causing
damage!
•  Gasify the fuel first and clean the gas before
combustion!
•  Work has already been done to create coal-
integrated gasifier/gas turbine (CIG/GT)
systems!
•  These efforts can be adapted for biomass-
integrated gasifier/gas turbine (BIG/GT)
systems!
–  In fact, biomass is easier to gasify than coal!
Biomass plant in Robbins, IL

•  GE is converting the plant to generate power from


3ʼʼ wood chips made from scrap lumber!
•  Photos from PES field trip last year!
Biomass plant in Robbins, IL
Videos about Plug-in Hybrids
•  Charging Ahead: The Case for Plug-in Hybrid
Cars Part 1!
•  Charging Ahead: The Case for Plug-in Hybrid
Cars Part 2!

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