Thermodynamic analysis of an idealised solar tower thermal power plant

In the real solar tower thermal power system, it is widely acknowledged that the thermodynamic irreversibility, such as convective and radiative loss on tower receiver, and thermal resistance in heat exchangers, is unavoidable. With above factors in mind, this paper presents an ideal model of the solar tower thermal power system to analyze the influence of various parameters on thermal and exergy conversion efficiencies, including receiver working temperature, concentration ratio, endoreversible heat engine efficiency and so forth. And therefore the variation of maximum thermal conversion efficiency in terms of concentration ratio and endoreversible heat engine efficiency could be theoretically obtained. The results indicate that raising the receiver working temperature could initially increase both thermal and exergy conversion efficiencies until an optimum temperature is reached. The optimum temperature would also increase with the concentration ratio. Additionally, the concentration ratio has a positive effect on the thermal conversion efficiency: increasing the concentration ratio could raise the conversion efficiency until the concentration ratio is extremely high, after which there will be a slow drop. Lastly, the endoreversible engine efficiency also has significant influence on the thermal conversion efficiency, it will increase the thermal conversion efficiency until it reaches the maximum and optimum value, and then the conversion efficiency will drop dramatically. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.