Concentrated solar power plant (CSP) with thermal energy storage can be operated as peak load shaving plant, which is one of the most economic solutions to the intermittency of renewable energy grid. The steam generation system (SGS) is the central hub between the heat transfer fluid and the working fluid of CSP, of which the dynamic characteristics need to be further investigated. The SGS of Solar Two power tower plant with the molten salt as both the heat transfer fluid and storage media is selected as the object. The mathematical model with lumped parameter method is developed to analyze its dynamic characteristics. Model validation is carried out and it shows that the proposed model can simulate the characteristics of SGS in an accurate manner. Five simulation tests were carried out under the disturbances that the molten salt solar tower power plant may encounter under various solar irradiation and output electrical load. Both the dynamic and static
Due to the change of direct normal irradiance (DNI) and the change of output power load, the receiver of the solar tower is in an unstable state in the actual operation. In this paper, a 100 MW external cylindric receiver is designed and modelled. The dynamic and comprehensive model is established for the receiver, including the thermal and mechanical equations. The temperature control strategy is applied to the receiver model. The validity of the control strategy is verified by disturbance experiments, including DNI, the inlet temperature of the heat transfer fluid (HTF), and the weather data on a cloudy day. The response characteristics of the receiver are demonstrated. Its thermal lag characteristics and restraining effect on the fluctuating environment are revealed. The dangerous occasion of the receiver during operation are detected, including the overheat of the local panel, and the dissociation point of the molten salt. Both the robustness and the deficiency of the control strategy of the receiver are pointed out. The research results will contribute to the control strategy formulation of the SPT (solar power tower) station.
A dynamic simulation model of a heliostat field and molten salt receiver system are developed on the STAR-90 simulation platform. In addition, a real-time simulation model coupling the above two models is built to study the photothermal conversion process of Delingha’s 50 MW solar power tower plant. The nonuniform and time-varying characteristics of the energy flux density on the receiver surface and the dynamic characteristics under different operating conditions are studied. The operational process of the receiver of a typical day is simulated. It was found that there was a strong positive correlation between the energy flux and DNI, and the maximum energy flux density on the surface of the heat absorbing tube panel moved from the first tube panel to the fourth in sequence from 12:00 to 18:00. At the same time, the energy flux density of the last four panels decreased gradually along the arrangement order of the panels. DNI, molten salt mass flow rate and inlet temperature step disturbance simulations are carried out, and the response curves of the molten salt outlet temperature and tube wall temperature are obtained. The conclusion of this paper has important guiding significance for the establishment of an operational strategy for photothermal coupling in a molten salt solar power tower plant.
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