Thermodynamic analysis of a solar aided coal-fired power plant

The combination of traditional coal-fired power plant and solar aided system is analysed in this paper based on a case study of a typical 330MW subcritical power unit. Three different types of combination schemes are proposed and calculated with detailed modelling. It is found that the upper limit of solar aided system capacity would be limited by SCR gas temperature, reheat temperature etc. which could vary between 12.5-35MW. The thermoeconomic performance increase in the sequence of preheat, main steam generation, reheat based on the average heat transfer temperature. Under different load, the coal consumption rate would decrease by about 5t/h. Considering the effect of DNI and actual load change curve, coal rate would decrease by 2.13% with solar aided system.