Solar Hybrid Combined Cycle Performance Prediction Influence of Gas Turbine Model and Spool Arrangements

A modeling procedure was developed to simulate design and off-design operation of hybrid solar gas turbines in a combined cycle (CC) configuration. The system includes a heliostat field, a receiver, and a commercial gas turbine (GT) interfaced with a conventional steam Rankine cycle. Solar power input is integrated in the GT combustor by natural gas. Advanced commercial software tools were combined together to get design and off-design performance prediction: TRNSYS^® was used to model the solar field and the receiver while the gas turbine and steam cycle simulations were performed by means of Thermoflex^®. Three GT models were considered, in the 35–45 MW range: a single shaft engine (Siemens SGT-800) and two two-shaft engines (the heavy-duty GT Siemens SGT-750 and the aero derivative GE LM6000 PF). This was in order to assess the influence of different GT spool arrangements and control strategies on GT solarization. The simulation method provided an accurate modeling of the daily solar hybrid CC behavior to be compared against the standard CC. The effects of solarization were estimated in terms of electric power and efficiency reduction, fossil fuel savings, and solar energy-to-electricity conversion efficiency.