Micro Gas Turbine Design for Small Scale Hybrid Solar Power Plants

Abstract

Hybrid solar micro gasturbines are a promising technology for supplying controllable lowcarbon electricity in offgrid regions. A thermoeconomic model of three different hybrid micro gasturbine power plant layouts has been developed, allowing their environmental and economic performance to be analyzed. In terms of receiver design, it was shown that the pressure drop is a key criterion. However, for recuperated layouts, the combined pressure drop of the recuperator and receiver is more important. In terms of both electricity costs and carbon emissions, the internallyfired recuperated micro gasturbine was shown to be the most promising solution of the three configurations evaluated. Compared to competing diesel generators, the electricity costs from hybrid solar units are between 10% and 43% lower, while specific CO2 emissions are reduced by 20–35%.