Determination of the Performance of a Solar Tower Integrated with a Combined Cycle

The integration of a central receiver system (CRS) with a combined cycle (CC) has gained a great attention as a promising technology. The present work investigates a new configuration of a solar tower volumetric receiver integrated with CC. The obtained results show noticeable enhancements in the solar energy conversion and the power plant thermal efficiency and output. Indeed, CRS plays the role of a supplementary firing when the solar radiation is available, allowing the heat recovery steam generator (HRS G) to operate efficiently in the fired mode.