Optimal sizing of parabolic solar concentrators for steam production and power generation

Hot utilities, such as high pressure steam, are widely used in industry and are usually produced by burning fossil fuels in boilers. Due to the growing demand for renewable energy sources, an alternative to the use of boilers is the use of solar concentrators. These devices concentrate solar radiation through properly positioned mirrors and can be used to generate heat. In this work, a cycle was modeled using a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) for the generation of superheated high pressure steam at 270 °C from the return water of the heating system at 90 °C. The optimal diameter of approximately 3 was calculated for a steam production of 7200 kW using an optimization model that considered pumping costs and piping area, with a payback time of 1.8 years for the power generation investment. (author)