Industrial Heat and Power

Unique solar solution reduces energy costs, lowers carbon footprint and improves resiliency for industry

Many industries require large amounts of both electricity and heat for their processes and operations. New modular, scalable CSP technology from U.S.-based 247Solar provides both round-the-clock clean power and industrial grade-heat, with few if any CO2 or other emissions. This offers unique benefits for industry:

  • Improved economics:
    • Reduce existing energy costs
    • Earn revenue from carbon credits or offsets
    • Lock in energy costs for decades
  • Increased flexibility
    • Grid independence; can work as a standalone system
    • Reduce or eliminate demand charges
  • Reduced carbon footprint
    • Reduce existing emissions (thermal and electrical)
    • Enhance ESG credentials
  • 24/7 energy availability
    • Electricity: 400 kWe, scalable to 10s of MW
    • Heat: 600 kWth, scalable to 10s of MW
    • Heat temperatures available from 250-1000 ℃

247Solar’s flagship solution is the 247Solar Plant™.

The 247Solar Plant is the breakthrough integration of 4 advanced technologies:

  • 247Solar Heat2Power™ turbine
  • 247Solar Receiver™
  • A low-cost thermal energy storage system (TES)
  • Innovative heliostats

247Solar Heat2Power™ Turbine

The heart of the system is the 247Solar Heat2Power™ turbine, the first commercial turbine in the world that produces electricity from ambient pressure hot air without combustion or emissions. A key scientific advance that makes this unique turbine possible is the development of a super-high temperature 247Solar Heat Exchanger™ (247HX). 247Solar inserted this proprietary HX into the best-selling and most reliable small gas turbine in the world, the C200 by Capstone Green Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: CGRN).

The 247HX’s inlet air flow is atmospheric-pressure hot air (970 oC) from the 247Solar Receiver. The 247HX heats the turbine’s compressed hot air after it flows through the turbine’s recuperator to the required turbine inlet temperature, eliminating the need for a combustor. An in-line combustor inside the duct that delivers the hot air from the receiver provides for optional fuel combustion to guarantee 24/7 dispatchable power. Backup fuels can be any locally available liquid or gaseous fuel, including biofuels, hydrogen, natural gas or diesel.

Each 247Solar Plant includes two such turbines for a total power output under ISO conditions of 400 kWe at an electrical efficiency of 32%. The turbine requires just 4-8 hours of routine maintenance per year and requires no on-site operator.

The turbine also produces 600 kWth of industrial grade heat at a temperature of 250 oC. This Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system has wide applicability to industrial facilities. Examples include steam, hot water, materials drying, water purification, absorption chilling and others. An advanced version of this system can be configured to deliver hot air up to 650 oC for industrial use.


247Solar Receiver™

The second major advanced technology is the 247Solar Receiver™. It has no moving parts and receives sunlight that is reflected from the heliostat field. Under ISO conditions, it produces ~2.2 MWth of hot air at 970 oC.

During the day, some of the heat powers the two Heat2Power turbines and some is diverted to the 247Solar Thermal Storage System™. If required, the 247Solar Plant can be modified to have some or all of the hot air from the receiver directed to an industrial process. If the requirement is for hot air of less than 970 oC, ambient air can be mixed with it to bring the temperature down to the desired level.


Low-cost thermal energy storage system (TES)

The third major advanced technology is a TES from a third-party supplier.  The TES is a factory-built cargo container-sized system shipped to the site empty and then filled with a heat storage medium like sand, small pieces of ceramic, or iron slag. The TES typically operates between 600 oC and 1.200 oC.

During the day the portion of the hot air from the solar receiver not used by the turbines is diverted to the TES. It enters from the top at 970 oC and is discharged at the bottom at about 640 oC. The air then returns to the receiver for re-heating. At night, the exhaust air from the turbine enters at the bottom, comes out heated from the top, and flows to the turbine’s intake to produce power.

The size of the TES is tailored to the application and the system operates for 9 hours or more at full power. Heat loss depends on insulation levels and is 1-2% per day. Round trip efficiency is >95%.

There are no moving parts, O&M is minimal, and lifetime is measured in decades.


Innovative heliostats

The fourth major advanced technology are the heliostats, mirrors that track the sun to reflect sunlight into the solar receiver. The typical size of a field of heliostats for a 247Solar Plant is about two hectares, or 20.000 m2. The field size is finalized when an actual system solution is engineered.

The heliostats used by 247Solar at the first commercial scale demonstration of the 247Solar Plant in the USA have several unique design features that significantly reduce installation costs and improve siting flexibility:

  • They are mounted on piles driven into the ground, which avoids the cost of concrete foundations and also makes them suitable for deployment on uneven ground.
  • The tracking of each heliostat is controlled wirelessly.
  • Each heliostat is rotated using its own integrated solar cell and battery.

These features avoid the damage to the site that comes with pouring concrete foundations and digging trenches for wiring.


Round-the-clock clean electricity and heat

247Solar Plants operate 24/7, every hour of the year. A diagram of the complete system is shown below.

Source: Contact 247Solar.com to learn more.

SolarPACES Task IV meeting on 25/09/2017 in Santiago, Chile