Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of a dish-Stirling Concentrating Solar Power Plant in the Mediterranean area

Environmental impacts of solar thermal power plants used in industrial supply chains

“…6 shows that thirteen studies used solar thermal plants with temperatures above 400 • C while eight studies had thermal output temperatures of 200-400 • C. A higher proportion of the studies had thermal output temperatures above 400 • C and this could be attributed to it being the most required temperature range for industry. The solar thermal technology with the lowest thermal output temperature was the parabolic-trough at 212.7 • C while the solar dish plant had the highest thermal output temperature of 720 • C [39,43]. This might be due to the solar dish technology having a higher thermal efficiency resulting in higher output temperatures than parabolic trough.…”

“…Only one study each calculated the GHG emissions of a linear Fresnel and a solar dish plant, therefore their average GHG emissions could not be computed. Backes et al [43] reported that the GHG emissions of a solar dish plant was 35 g CO 2 eq/ kWh and Hang et al [37] found that the linear Fresnel plant produced 31 g CO 2 eq/kWh. PT plants are the most mature and developed of the solar thermal technologies which may contribute to them having lower GHG emissions than solar tower plants.…”

Development of Neural Network Prediction Models for the Energy Producibility of a Parabolic Dish: A Comparison with the Analytical Approach

“…The reference system has a paraboloidal collector consisting of an assembly of 54 mirrors with a high reflection coefficient; each mirror is characterised by a sandwich structure and a double curvature calibrated in order to concentrate the incident DNI on a fixed point corresponding to the small aperture of the cavity receiver. Subsequently, the Stirling engine and the electric generator convert the thermal energy into mechanical power and then electricity [34]. The power conversion unit (see zoom in Figure 1), including the receiver, the Stirling engine, and the electric generator, is placed at the focal point of the paraboloidal collector by a tripod.…”

“…The curves drawn in Figure 2 were produced using th well-known database of thermodynamic properties provided by [35]. Moreover, the perfect alignment between the focal axis of the collector and the direc tion of the sun's rays is ensured by a biaxial solar tracking system throughout the day [34]…”

“…The sum mer period typically features rather high temperatures, sometimes even reaching 45 °C Throughout most of the year, hot south-easterly winds, known as Sirocco winds, occu sporadically. Usually, the Sirocco winds bring with them a large amount of dust or sand from the North African coast, which tends to adhere to the external surfaces, strongly Moreover, the perfect alignment between the focal axis of the collector and the direction of the sun's rays is ensured by a biaxial solar tracking system throughout the day [34].…”