Optimal design and operation of A-frame systems for solar power plants

This work presents the optimization of the design and operation of a dry cooling system for concentrated solar power facilities. A two-step procedure is developed based on mathematical optimization to determine, first, the optimal geometry of the A-frame including sizing, number of fans and blade geometry, and unit parameters such as pipe length, configuration and number and second, the operation of the system over a year for minimum energy consumption. The geometry problem is formulated as a MINLP solved using a tailor-made branch and bound algorithm for proper initialization of the complex NLP problem. The second problem consists of a multi-period MINLP framework including a simplified unit model. The geometry suggested allows reducing the energy required by proper pipe configuration and number consuming around 4% of the energy produced by the CSP plant that serves. It is a promising result that can be affected by plant layout and ground availability.