Thermo-economic optimization of hybrid solar Maisotsenko bottoming cycles using heliostat field collector: Comparative analysis

Hybridization is a newly proposed concept in which solar thermal energy provides a portion of the required thermal input instead of fossil fuels and natural gases. Storage and intermittency concerns regarding solar energy make hybridization a viable solution to increase renewable energy share in power generation. Maisotsenko gas turbine cycle is a recently proposed humid air turbine cycle which can be implemented as a bottoming cycle to a topping gas turbine cycle as Maisotsenko bottoming cycle. In this paper, Maisotsenko bottoming cycle power plant hybridization is thoroughly investigated using heliostat field collector. First, a thermo-economic optimization is carried out for a hybrid Maisotsenko bottoming cycle power plant in the United Arab Emirates. Furthermore, the optimization results for Maisotsenko bottoming cycle are evaluated against the acquired results for hybrid air bottoming cycle and conventional combined cycle. Finally, different levels of hybridization are considered for an already existing non-hybrid Maisotsenko bottoming cycle power plant by applying different thermo-economic assessment methods. Comparative analyses indicate that Maisotsenko bottoming cycle is a more economical alternative for bottoming cycle implementation as compared with the other investigated configurations with optimum levelized cost of electricity of 75.330 US$/MW h. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.