SIMULATION SOLAR ELECTRICAL GENERATION POWER PLANT BY USING PARABOLIC TROUGH IN BASRA CITY

A simulation for a solar thermal electric generating system with parabolic trough collectors in Basra city is presented. This system consists of three parts: solar collector fields to heating the working fluid, a storage system to store the thermal energy, and power conversion system to convert the thermal energy to electrical. The simulation is presented for all parts. The energy conversion of solar radiation into thermal power along the absorber tube of the parabolic collector is studied. The coupling between the collector and the thermodynamic cycle is made up by heat exchangers, yielding the characteristic temperatures of the cycle. The conventional Rankine cycle is used as the thermodynamic cycle, whereby the electric power is calculated. All calculations are performed according to Basra climate’s conditions for 21st of each month in 2007.Engineering Equation solver (EES) software is used in this simulation. Good agreements are obtained when comparing the results of the collector outlet temperatures and gross power of the current model with experimental data belonging to the Solar Electric Generating Systems (SEGS) installed in the Mojave Desert in southern California, whose solar field is composed by parabolic trough collectors. The analytical model developed combines precision and flexibility, making it an attractive tool for simulation and design of solar power stations in Basra city.