Modelling and validation of a transient heat recovery steam generator of the solar tower plant juelich

Abstract

Germany’s first and only solar tower power plant for experimental and demonstration purposes has been erected in the town of Jülich, North-Rhine-Westphalia. The central receiver plant, which has been designed with an open-volumetric receiver, supplies the grid with a nominal power of 1.5 MWe. Through the open-volumetric receiver ambient air is drawn in and due to the concentration high temperatures from 600°C to 800°C can be achieved. These temperatures are in a range to fire a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) that produces steam in a conventional water-steam-cycle. The presented work describes the development of a transient heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) in the simulation environment MATLAB/Simulink. The implemented simulation model has been validated by comparing the computed results with real performance data of the solar tower power plant Jülich. The results show that the model can describe the transient behaviour in a exact way. Additionally, the preciseness of the model could be validated by a deviation less than 9%. The developed HRSG model is integrated in a simulation tool that models the whole power plant. With this simulation tool the annual electricity production of different plant configurations at various sites can be computed as well as optimised plant operations investigated and developed.