Solar Supercritical Organic Rankine Cycle Pilot Plant for Power and Industrial Heat

Granite Power logo
다운로드 (743 KB)

Executive Summary

Granite power, Wallsend, NSW, Australia
Granite power, Wallsend, NSW, Australia

Granite Power is a geothermal company that has developed GRANEX®, a patented direct supercritical fluid heat transfer technology for the efficient, economic, and zero carbon emission generation of electricity from low grade geothermal sources using the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). This technology is typically used with recovered waste heat (RWH), solar-thermal sources, conventional geothermal sources, and engineered geothermal systems to generate electricity.

The construction of a pilot plant to demonstrate the use of the GRANEX technology with a solar parabolic trough linear concentrated receiver system was partially funded through a grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Rated at 150 kW thermal, the receiver system consists of six 1,800 mm by 35 m parabolic concentrating troughs. The GRANEX fluid is heated by pumping it directly through the troughs, and without changing states is passed to a turbo generator. Designed in conjunction with the University of Newcastle, this generator spins at speeds of up to 70,000 RPM to produce 30 kW of electrical power for the power grid. Waste heat is passed through a heat exchanger to heat the water for a local swimming pool, allowing it to stay open for more of the year. During peak solar periods, energy can also be transferred to an insulated oil-filled thermal storage vessel. The energy stored there is sufficient to keep generating power for up to 90 minutes during periods of no sun or after sunset.

Process overview
Process overview

Given that this pilot plant operates at high temperatures and pressure levels, and is located next to a school and a public swimming pool, it was essential to have a control system that would be able to safely control the process while allowing researchers to change the configuration and test conditions without having to stop the process. An added requirement was for the researchers to have local and remote access to all process data. To meet these needs, Granite Power turned to a Yokogawa FAST/TOOLS supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) solution.

Its functions include a data historian that allows the development team to compare results from the entire testing period and evaluate modifications that will guarantee future users the highest possible ROI by maximizing the efficiency of this process. A Yokogawa HXS10 solar tracking controller was utilized to keep the solar array aligned with the sun and to monitor environmental parameters, and a single Yokogawa STARDOM controller was used for the overall control of both the solar array and all key system equipment such as the turbo expander/generator.

Granite Power also uses a collaboration center that incorporates live video feeds to demonstrate this system to other researchers around the world.

Solar parabolic trough
Solar parabolic trough

The Challenges and the Solutions

The two members of the Granite Power development team, Sean McCracken and Matt Patterson, had limited funds and were looking for partners who could assist with hardware and had the expertise and willingness to work with them during the engineering phase to address a number of unknown variables. In selecting Yokogawa, Granite Power gained a partner that had the local engineering expertise needed to understand the challenges and was able to supply a flexible, cost effective, and workable control solution.

The development team worked very closely with the Yokogawa engineering team, drawing on the core competencies of both companies to develop solutions for the unexpected challenges that were encountered during the project. The Yokogawa engineers developed an interface between the solar power system and this facility's turbo generator and BOP facilities. Yokogawa's power station engineering experts also worked to optimize the operations of the custom-designed turbo generator.

The use of a single STARDOM controller for the integrated control of the solar field, balance of plant (BOP) facilities, and turbo generator enabled significant savings in both space and cost. The FAST/TOOLS SCADA provided an all-in-one monitoring, alarm, data historian, trending, and reporting solution, and enabled easy remote access for offsite use.

The FAST/TOOLS software could be installed on the notebook PCs used by the development team, eliminating the need for costly dedicated servers. As an added benefit, this enhanced security by making it possible to remove all proprietary information from the site.

Main SCADA screen
Main SCADA screen

Customer Satisfaction

With its advanced capabilities, the integrated Yokogawa control solution provides an ideal and highly flexible solution that can easily be customized as the plant evolves. Sean McCracken, project manager, said, "The FAST/TOOLS STARDOM solution was perfect for our plant with plenty of growth potential. Although we only a demonstration plant, the control is as complicated as a large plant with the added challenge of managing a boiler that is effectively turned off and on by the passing of clouds. The development of the control and management of the plant was streamlined with FAST/TOOLS helps analyse our data and quantify the performance of the novel power plant.

Matt Patterson, project engineer said "The combination of the STARDOM Controller and FAST/TOOLS has proved powerful and flexible for our requirements. Even for novices like us, we easily configured Fast/Tools for our monitoring, alarm, data historian and trending. The STARDOM controller has had more than enough capacity for us to automate our plant, which as a solar thermal power plant starts and stops at least once per day with many off design control requirements. The Yokogawa solution has allowed us to complete our research within tough budget and time constraints and has left a legacy that will be the back bone of further research and commercial ventures in coming years.

Turbo generator
Turbo generator

GRANEX heat transfer test bed
GRANEX® heat transfer test bed

업종

  • 전력

    1970년대 중반, Yokogawa는 EBS 전기 제어 시스템 (EBS Electric Control System)의 출시와 함께 전력 사업에 진출했습니다. 그 이후로 Yokogawa는 전 세계 고객에게 최상의 서비스와 솔루션을 제공하기 위한 기술과 역량의 개발을 꾸준히 지속해 왔습니다.

    Yokogawa는 역동적인 글로벌 전력 시장에서 더욱 적극적인 역할을 수행하기 위해 글로벌 전력 솔루션 네트워크를 운영했습니다. 이로 인해 Yokogawa 내에서 보다 긴밀한 팀워크가 가능해져서 글로벌 리소스와 업계 노하우를 하나로 모았습니다. Yokogawa의 전력 산업 전문가들은 각 고객에게 정교한 요구 사항에 가장 적합한 솔루션을 제공하기 위해 협력합니다.

    See More
  • 태양광 발전

    태양은 무한의 청정에너지원이며 인간은 이를 여러 가지 방법으로 오랫동안 사용해 왔습니다. 오늘날, 태양광 발전은 태양 열에너지의 대규모 활용을 위한 가장 효율적이고 비용 대비 고효율 수단 중 하나이기 때문에 상당한 관심의 대상입니다. Yokogawa는 전 세계적으로 1,300개 이상의 발전소 프로젝트 실행을 통해 습득한 경험 및 태양광 발전을 지원하는 지식과 전문 인력을 보유하고 있으므로 태양광 발전소를 효율적이고 안전하게 운영하는 것을 지원하고 있습니다.

    See More

Related Products & Solutions

  • FAST/TOOLS

    FAST(Flexible Advanced System Techniques) 프로젝트로 시작된 FAST/TOOLS는 포괄적인 완전 통합형 SCADA 애플리케이션 제품군입니다. 강력하고 유연한 FAST/TOOLS는 50포인트 단위공정에서 수천 마일이상 확장되는 수백만 포인트 규모의 offshore 생산 및 Pipeline 시스템에 이르는 설비를 제공합니다.

    See More
  • HXS10-SolStation

    The HXS10 combines the best of Yokogawa's measurement and control technologies. The measurement system is inherited from Yokogawa's recorders that are used in mission critical applications throughout the world; while the control engine comes from Yokogawa's highly reliable loop controllers that have been proven and refined for over 30 years.

    HXS10           Application Specific Controller

    HXSS10         Setting software for HXS

    HXSS90         Proprietary cable for HXS

    See More
  • Process Control PLC/RTU

    프로세스 공장에서 원격 위치에 이르기까지 당사의 공정제어 PLC 및 원격 터미널 장치 (RTU)는 사용자가 운영의 우수성을 극대화하도록 돕습니다.

    See More

Top