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Solar Technology Developed for Current Electric Power Plants

Avi Kribus (Tel Aviv University)
Avi Kribus (Tel Aviv University)

Researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel have come up with a technology that integrates solar energy into current gas turbine power generating plants. Engineering professor Avi Kribus (pictured left) and graduate student Maya Livshits describe their work online in Solar Energy Journal; paid subscription required.

The process devised by Kribus and Livshits, called a steam-injection gas turbine, combines a conventional gas turbine for generating electric power with solar-produced steam. Natural gas is still burned to heat the air, but steam produced by solar energy is injected into process to power the turbine.

The solar-powered steam in the process is produced at about 200 degrees centigrade, half or less of the temperature of steam generated by current solar thermal power plants. The lower temperature of the steam can be produced with smaller, less expensive solar technologies, which also reduces the pressure on the power plant’s pipes and infrastructure. A low-cost, air-cooled condenser can recover and recycle water used in this process, where water supplies may be limited.

Because the steam-injection gas turbine is more compatible with current gas-turbine power plants and lower in cost than solar thermal technology, it offers a more immediate way of introducing solar energy into today’s power grids. While not a complete alternative to fossil fuels, say the authors, it can reduce natural gas use by 25-50 percent.

Read more: GE Technology Selected for First Gas/Wind/Solar Power Plant

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