Browsing by Author "De Meyer, Oelof Abraham Jakobus"

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    Optimisation in plant operations for a 100 MW Central Receiver CSP plant with focus on the plant operating strategies.
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-03) De Meyer, Oelof Abraham Jakobus; Dinter, Frank; Govender, Saneshan; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As South Africa progresses towards a more diverse energy mix, it is essential to comprehend both the contribution and implications that renewable energy generating technologies have on the electric grid. Therefore, this dissertation emanated from Eskom’s directive aims to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the technical, financial, and operational aspects of running a plant that is built on concentrating solar central receiver technology. Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant operators across the globe predominantly adopt the Maximise Power Generation operating strategy. It is necessary to determine the means to optimise the plant operations as a varying operating strategy is envisioned for the plant. Therefore, this research investigated the effects of an array of varying operating strategies imposed upon the plant, which is an essential exercise to determine the possible role of CSP within the South African electric grid. Three boundary conditions determine the operations of a CSP plant: weather conditions; plant status; and operating strategy. After an extensive literature review, it is established that no publically available model is available to optimise the plant operations under the aforementioned conditions. Therefore, a simulation model was developed in the current research to optimise the plant under these boundary conditions. The basic design of Eskom’s 100 MW CSP project was used as the reference plant in developing the simulation model. Subsequently, the simulation results and performance curves of each subsystem within the plant, i.e. the heliostat field, receiver and power block, are validated against other commercially available simulation models. The operational logic is implemented in the validated model to objectively simulate the plant operations considering the specified boundary conditions. The developed simulation model successfully demonstrated through simulation the effects that (i) weather conditions, (ii) plant status and (iii) operating strategies have on both, the plant performance and operational capabilities of the central receiver technology. The advantages that this model offers over the other similar simulation models available in literature are as follows: provides a detailed, up to seven-day forecast, of the plant operations; implements time resolution of 15 minutes increasing the transients and results accuracy; provides user flexibility to specify the precise boundary conditions imposed on plant operations; offers capability of comparing various simulations or operating strategies by providing key performance and financial indicators. The dissertation and developed model offers Eskom and the system operator with the required tools to address the specific business needs, also identified by the Eskom Power Plant Engineering Institute (EPPEI) program. The resulting cost of generation, performance indicators and operational capabilities demonstrated are to assist in future Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) and national policy formulations.