Development and application of a multi-domain dynamic model for direct steam generation solar power plant

A. Rousset (1) , R. Baviere (2) , Valéry Vuillerme (3)

1 INES - Institut National de L'Energie Solaire
2 LITEN - Laboratoire d'Innovation pour les Technologies des Energies Nouvelles et les nanomatériaux
3 DTCH - Département Technique Conversion et Hydrogène

Direct Steam Generation (DSG) concentrated solar plants are promising but complex power systems. This latter feature originates both from the variety of physical phenomena and the dynamic nature of the boundary conditions at play during plant operation. A representative yet computationally efficient numerical simulator is a valuable tool to assist engineers in the proper design, control and operation of such specific water-steam cycle. The present communication reports on the development of a multi-domain dynamic model representing a DSG plant. To do so, we followed a code-coupling approach and relied on the domain-decomposition paradigm. More specifically, we built three sub-models respectively in the thermal-hydraulic, the optical and the control-command domains and coupled them through an in-house co-simulation platform called PEGASE. We used the CATHARE system code to solve the thermal-hydraulic problem and the more generalist DYMOLA software to model the convective and radiative heat exchanges within the solar receiver. As an example, we then applicate the simulator to elaborate an efficient controller for the steam separator level.

Keywords: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP); Direct Steam Generation (DSG); dynamic modelling; co- simulation; two-phase flow; control-command 

Domains: Thermics [physics.class-ph]; Engineering Sciences [physics]; Fluids mechanics [physics.class-ph]; Systems and Control [cs.SY]

A. Rousset, R. Baviere, Valéry Vuillerme. Development and application of a multi-domain dynamic model for direct steam generation solar power plant. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 2018, 51 (2), pp.777-782. ⟨10.1016/j.ifacol.2018.04.008⟩. ⟨cea-02528280⟩