In this study, the theoretical performance of a concentrating solar thermal electric system (CSTES) using a field of parabolic trough collectors (PTC) is investigated. The commercial software TRNSYS and the Solar Thermal Electric Components (STEC) library are used to model the overall system design and for simulations. The model was constructed using data from the literature for an existing 30-MW solar electric generating system (SEGS VI) using PTC&rsquo / s in Kramer Junction, California. The CSTES consists of a PTC loop that drives a Rankine cycle with superheat and reheat, 2-stage high and 5-stage low pressure turbines, 5-feedwater heaters and a dearator. As a first approximation, the model did not include significant storage or back-up heating. The model&rsquo / s predictions were benchmarked against published data for the system in California for a summer day. Good agreement between the model&rsquo / s predictions and published data were found, with errors usually less than 10%. Annual simulations were run using weather data for both California and Antalya, Turkey. The monthly outputs for the system in California and Antalya are compared both in terms of absolute monthly outputs and in terms of ratios of minimum to maximum monthly outputs. The system in Antalya is found to produce30 % less energy annually than the system in California. The ratio of the minimum (December) to maximum (July) monthly energy produced in Antalya is 0.04.

La responsabilité de notre activité dans les récentes et parfois brutales modifications climatiques est avérée. Maîtrise de la demande en énergie et énergies renouvelables apparaissent comme les deux solutions pour remédier à cette catastrophe. Dans ce travail, nous nous intéressons à la cogénération appliquée aux bâtiments résidentiels. Deux zones géographiques sont concernées, l'Afrique de l'Ouest et la France. Il n'existe pas de système de cogénération solaire de très faible puissance (< 10 kWe). La solution envisagée dans ce travail consiste à produire de la chaleur à environ 150 °C et un rendement supérieur à 50 %, de l'utiliser ensuite dans un ORC pour produire électricité et chaleur à basse température. Le système complet doit être résistant et à bas coût. Or pour atteindre ces performances, la concentration solaire est obligatoire. Une partie de ce travail consiste donc au développement d'un panneau à concentration solaire qui répond à ces deux contraintes thermiques, mais aussi au fait d'être robuste, fiable et facilement intégrable à l'enveloppe d'un bâtiment. Dans ce cadre, la technologie cylindro-parabolique a été retenue, adaptée et miniaturisée. En ce qui concerne la partie thermodynamique, le verrou technologique se trouve principalement dans le groupe turboalternateur. L'objet de la seconde partie de cette thèse consiste ainsi à la conception d'un organe de détente également robuste, nécessitant qu'une maintenance simplifiée et réalisable par les équipes de SIREA. La turbine Tesla, brevetée en 1913 par Nikola Tesla, devrait satisfaire à ce cahier des charges. Sa particularité est qu'à l'opposée des autres turbines, son rotor ne possède pas d'aubage, mais seulement des disques parallèles. Son fonctionnement est basé sur l'adhésion du fluide aux surfaces des disques. / The responsibility of our activity in the recent and sometimes brutal climate changes is recognized. Energy demand management and renewable energies appear as two solutions to overcome this disaster. In this work, we focus on combined heat and power applied to residential buildings. Two geographical areas are concerned, West Africa and France. For the moment, no system of very low power (< 10 kWe) solar cogeneration exists. In this work, considered solution consists to produce heat at 150 °C and with an efficiency greater than 50 %, then to use it in an ORC for producing electricity and low temperature heat. The whole system has to be resistant and low-cost. But to reach those performances with solar radiation, concentration is necessary. The first part of this thesis is to elaborate a solar concentrating panel which answer to these two thermal constraints. The new solar panel must be robust, reliable and easily integrable on the building envelope. In this context, parabolic trough is adopted, adapted and miniaturised. Regarding the thermodynamic part, technological lock is found mainly in the turbogenerator. The purpose of the second part of this thesis consists of the design of a an expansion equipement, requiring simplified maintenance and achievable by the team of Sirea. The Tesla turbine, patented in 1913 by Nikola Tesla, should satisfy this specification. Its characteristic is that the opposite other conventional turbines, the rotor is not bladed or vaned, only parallel disks. Fluid exerts shear stress on the disk surfaces resulting in a torque at the shaft.

The objective of this thesis was to investigate the potential for introducing a concentrating solar thermal (CST) central receiver plant system based on flexible heliostats - HelioPods - to provide high-temperature process heat in industrial applications. A CST plant system was designed in MATLAB, optically simulated for three design days in the ray-tracing software Tonatiuh and further analyzed in MATLAB by interpolating the results for each hour of the year. A case study was made on introducing a CST plant system based on HelioPods in a South African manganese sinter plant. The study included an investigation of the profitability of up- and downsizing the heliostat field annually with fluctuating heat demand. A circular heliostat field was modelled for the chosen location. The final field had a radius of 53 meters with the receiver located 60% from the field centre. The storage size was 16 demand hours and 17 plants were required. The results showed that 88% of the annual heat demand could be covered by solar heat in the design year. The marketing approach used for the following years was that the heat demand covered by solar heat should never be below the share at the first year, despite the predicted fluctuations in demand. Thus, a minimum solar share of 88% was used as a strategy for annual up- and downsizing of the fields throughout the investigated period of 25 years. That resulted in a field radius differing between 52 and 55 meters. The payback period of the final system was 4.35 years, the NPV was 54.33 MUSD over a period of 25 years and the LCOH was 35.39 USD/MWht. However, it was found that the profitability of the system was sensitive to the different scenarios for predicted future diesel prices, this since the pricing of the solar heat was set to 90% of the diesel price. The results in this thesis show that a CST plant system based on HelioPods is a suitable solution to supply high-temperature process heat to industrial applications. It also shows that the HelioPods can unlock potential for flexibility with changing production patterns in the industry of implementation. The results from the study can be used also for other industries with similar temperature range and heat demand. Thus, it could be argued that the implementation of a HelioPod based CST plant system also can be suitable for other industries located in high-DNI areas with dependency on conventional fuels and steady production throughout the whole day. / Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka potentialen för implementering av koncentrerad termisk solvärme (CST) från ett soltorn med ett heliostatfält baserat på flexibla heliostater - HelioPods – för att generera högtempererad processvärme för industriell tillämpning. Ett CST-system designades i MATLAB, simulerades för tre designdagar i det optiska ray-tracingprogrammet Tonatiuh och analyserades sedan åter i MATLAB genom att interpolera de genererade resultaten för årets alla timmar. En fallstudie av ett CST-system baserat på HelioPods i ett sydafrikanskt sinterverk för mangan genomfördes därefter. Studien innehöll en undersökning av lönsamheten av årlig ökning och minskning av heliostatfältet vid fluktuerande värmebehov. Ett cirkulärt heliostatfält modellerades för den valda platsen. Det slutgiltiga fältet hade en radie om 53 meter med mottagaren placerad 60% från fältets mittpunkt. Storleken på lagringsfaciliteten var 16 timmar av full tillförsel och antalet verk uppgick till 17. Resultaten visade att 88% av det årliga värmebehovet kunde förses med solvärme under designåret. Marknadsstrategin för de resterande åren var att den procentuella andelen solvärme aldrig skulle vara lägre än under designåret, oberoende av fluktuationer i värmebehovet på grund av ändrad produktion. Således sattes 88% solvärme som ett minimikrav och utgjorde strategin för den årliga ökningen och minskningen av fältet för den undersökta perioden av 25 år. Det resulterade i en fältradie mellan 52 och 55 meter. Återbetalningstiden för det slutgiltiga fältet var 4.35 år, nuvärdesberäkningen av det framtida kassaflödet var 54.22 miljoner USD över en 25-årsperiod och produktionskostnaden för värme (LCOH) var 35.39 USD/MWht. Dock var systemets lönsamhet känslig för de olika prognoser av framtida dieselpriser som undersöktes, detta eftersom priset för solvärme sattes till 90% av dieselpriset. Resultaten i denna uppsats visar att ett CST-system baserat på HelioPods är en lämplig lösning för att generera högtempererad processvärme för industriell tillämpning. De visar även att HelioPods kan öka potentialen för flexibilitet vid förändringar i produktionsmönstret i vederbörande industri. Resultaten kan även användas i andra industrier med likartade temperaturer och värmebehov. Hävdas kan således att implementation av ett CST-system kan vara lämpligt även för andra industrier belägna i områden med högt DNI som är beroende på konventionella energikällor och har jämn produktion dygnet runt.