System performance estimation for a solar tower power plant

The objective of this paper is to develop a program to investigate 1MWe solar thermal power plant(STPP). In order to design the actual system with various conditions, the program development to predict the performance of system is essential. This program is coded by using commercial software, Visual Basic 6.0. The STPP system is generally classified into a power plant system and a solar system. The former consists of models suitable for Rankine cycle component which are categorized as components for a steam turbine, a condenser, pumps and the other utility components (deaerator or feed-water heater). The latter consists of heliostats, a receiver, storage tanks and a solar tower. Because each component of this STPP system may have different efficiencies according to the operating conditions and the geometric structures, users should feed data for each component into a simulation program. The cycle analysis is based on the steady-state energy conservation (1(st) and 2(nd) laws) formulated thermodynamic properties (pressure, temperature and enthalpy). On the other hand, the solar system analysis is based on the heat transfer and the geometry of the components. Based on this program, the basic design information for STPP system is obtained.