The project focuses on the Concentrated Solar Power sector (CSP). A HTF (high temperature fluid) is a liquid used for heat transport and transfer in a solar thermal power plant. Nowadays, most of the power plants use synthetic oils as HTF that reach working temperatures up to 400ºC. However, high temperature cycles accelerate oil degradation and thus impurities appear. The appearance of impurities is a problem that affects the operation and the integrity of the current CSP power plants:
• Viscous impurities stick to the ducts and the heat exchange circuit obstructing the flow or causing cavitation that may cause several damages.
• Impurities reduce heat transfer efficiency due to fluid temperature drops and, therefore, affect the power production/storage of the plant.
• It is an obstacle for the development of the CSP technology that aims to reach higher power capacities through higher operating temperatures.
Therefore, an oil regeneration step has to be set in the CSP power generation process. Oil regeneration is a common operation in many industrial processes, however, there is no specific solution for CSP power plants that meets its efficiency and costs related needs without risking its profitability.
LOINTEK has developed its own high efficiency thermal oil regeneration technology, also designed for current CSP power plant configurations that would return a fluid purity up to 98% with minimum HTF loses. However, having knowledge as well of the existing constraints in the CSP industry related to increase C.I. and O&M costs of the plant, LOINTEK has taken its solution one step further by developing a compact & transportable high efficient thermal oil regeneration system, TRANSREGEN. The proposed solution is a “portable” thermal oil regeneration plant, integrated into a standard trailer driven by a truck. The portable feature will allow the CSP operator a new wide range of possibilities in the oil regeneration and waste management.
