Sustainable design of a thermosolar electricity generation power plant in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Research towards renewable energy sources is of great relevance in the pursue of environmental impact reduction and to decrease the dependency on fossil fuels. In high solar irradiation locations, the use of Concentrating Solar Power technologies might be a good alternative in front of other power sources. This study presents how multi-criteria methods such as the weighted technical analysis are useful to select the best heat transfer fluid to be used in a relatively small Concentration Solar Power plant in the Burkina Faso. To do so it analyzes three aspects, the technical performance of thermal fluids, their environmental impact and their price, giving them different weights to confer more or less relevance according to the idiosyncrasy of the region. To do the technical analysis, this study simulates the heat gain and temperature increase of four heat transfer fluids while passing through a solar parabolic trough. The environmental impact factor is evaluated following the life cycle assessment methodology and the economic factor compares their price in the market. Results show that Dowtherm A is the best choice for Burkina Faso and Marlotherm is the worst, but these results change considerably if the comparison is done in the USA, where the environmental factor gains relevance in contrast to the economic factor.

Keywords: Concentrating solar power; Heat collecting elements; Heat transfer fluid; Life cycle assessment; Multi criteria selection; Parabolic trough systems.