Solar thermal power generation facility and method of starting up same

• US 9,482,210 B2
• Filed: 03/18/2013
• Issued: 11/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
• Inventors: Harada, Shoichi, Higashi, Kazuya, Sonoda, Takashi, Yamamoto, Keisuke, Iwasaki, Yoshifumi, Iwasaki, Tatsuya, Toyofuku, Sumio, Nishizawa, Kazuma
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hoang
• Application Number:
  US14/372,405
• Publication Number:
  US 20140360188A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,324 Days
• Field of Search: 606418-64115, 606/46, 606/57
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F02C 1/05 characterised by the type or source of heat, e.g. using nuclear or solar energy
• CPC Class Codes: F02C 7/275 Mechanical drives
• CPC Class Codes: F03G 6/045 by producing an updraft of heated gas or a downdraft of cooled gas, e.g. air driving an engine
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2260/606 Bypassing the fluid
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/46 Conversion of thermal power into mechanical power, e.g. Rankine, Stirling or solar thermal engines

Abstract

A solar thermal power generation facility is provided with turbine bypass piping (74) which makes some of compressed air from a compressor (10) bypass a turbine (20), a turbine bypass valve (75) which adjusts the flow rate of the compressed air flowing through the turbine bypass piping (74), and a control device (80) which controls the rotational torque of a turbine rotor (21) by opening the turbine bypass valve (75) before a rotor rotational speed reaches a rated rotational speed in a speeding-up process of the rotor rotational speed by a start-up device (60) and adjusting the flow rate of the compressed air that is made to bypass, by the turbine bypass valve (75). The control device (80) instantaneously fully closes the turbine bypass valve (75) at the time of incorporation in which a power generator (50) is connected to an electric power system (S).

Claims

1. A solar thermal power generation facility comprising:

a compressor which compresses a working medium, thereby producing a compressed medium;

a heat receiver which receives sunlight, thereby heating the compressed medium;

a turbine in which a turbine rotor is rotated by the compressed medium heated in the heat receiver;

a power generator which generales electricity by rotation of the turbine rotor;

a start-up device which rotates the turbine rotor at a time of start-up;

bypass means for making at least a portion of the compressed medium from the compressor bypass the turbine or the heat receiver; and

a control device which controls rotational torque of the turbine rotor by making the compressed medium bypass the turbine or the heat receiver by the bypass means before a rotor rotational speed reaches a rated rotational speed in a speeding-up process of the rotor rotational speed by the start-up device and adjusting a flow rate of the compressed medium which is made to bypass the turbine or the heat receiver,

wherein the control device makes the compressed medium not bypass the turbine or the heat receiver by the bypass means before the rotor rotational speed reaches a predetermined rotor rotational speed that is lower than the rated rotational speed in the speeding-up process, and makes the compressed medium bypass the turbine or the heat receiver after the rotor rotational speed reaches the predetermined rotor rotational speed, and

wherein the control device instantaneously reduces the flow rate of the compressed medium which is made to bypass the turbine or the heat receiver by the bypass means, at a time of incorporation in which the power generator is connected to an electric power system after the rotor rotational speed reaches the rated rotational speed.

2. The solar thermal power generation facility according to claim 1, wherein the control device makes the flow rate of the compressed medium which is made to bypass the turbine or the heat receiver by the bypass means be 0 at the time of the incorporation.

3. The solar thermal power generation facility according to claim 1, wherein the bypass means has a bypass flow rate adjustment valve which adjusts the flow rate of the compressed medium which is made to bypass the turbine or the heat receiver, and

the control device makes a valve opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve be fully closed at the time of the incorporation.

4. The solar thermal power generation facility according to claim 1, wherein the control device adjusts the flow rate of the compressed medium which is made to bypass the turbine or the heat receiver by the bypass means such that an actual rotor rotational speed approaches a predetermined rotor rotational speed pattern at the time of start-up until just before the incorporation.

5. The solar thermal power generation facility according to claim 4, wherein the control device stops assistance for rotation of the turbine rotor by the start-up device before the time of the incorporation.

6. The solar thermal power generation facility according to claim 1, wherein the start-up device has an electric motor which rotates the turbine rotor at the time of start-up, and a torque ratio conversion mechanism which changes the ratio of torque that is transmitted from an input shaft to an output shaft,

the input shaft of the torque ratio conversion mechanism is connected to an output shaft of the electric motor,

the output shaft of the torque ratio conversion mechanism is connected to the turbine rotor, and

the control device outputs a control command corresponding to a target value of the torque ratio according to the lapse of time to the torque ratio conversion mechanism at the time of start-up, thereby increasing rotational torque which is transmitted from the start-up device to the turbine rotor, and thus speeding up the rotor rotational speed.

7. The solar thermal power generation facility according to claim 1, wherein the start-up device has the power generator which functions as an electric motor that rotates the turbine rotor at the time of start-up, and a rotational speed conversion mechanism which changes a rotational speed of the power generator by controlling electric power that is supplied to the power generator, and

the control device outputs a control command according to a target value of the rotational speed of the power generator according to the lapse of time to the rotational speed conversion mechanism at the time of start-up, thereby speeding up the rotor rotational speed by the start-up device.

8. The solar thermal power generation facility according to claim 1, wherein the bypass means makes the compressed medium bypass the turbine or the heat receiver on the further upstream side with respect to the heat receiver.

9. The solar thermal power generation facility according to claim 1, wherein the bypass means has turbine bypass piping which leads at least a portion of the compressed medium compressed in the compressor from the further upstream side with respect to the turbine to an exhaust side of the turbine, and a turbine bypass valve which adjusts the flow rate of the compressed medium flowing through the turbine bypass piping, and

the control device adjusts a valve opening degree of the turbine bypass valve.

10. The solar thermal power generation facility according to claim 1, wherein the bypass means has heat receiver bypass piping which makes at least a portion of the compressed medium compressed in the compressor bypass the heat receiver from the further upstream side with respect to the heat receiver, thereby leading the compressed medium to the further downstream side with respect to the heat receiver and to the further upstream side with respect to the turbine, and a heat receiver bypass valve which adjusts the flow rate of the compressed medium flowing through the heat receiver bypass piping, and

the control device adjusts a valve opening degree of the heat receiver bypass valve.

11. The solar thermal power generation facility according to claim 1, wherein the bypass means has blow-off piping which releases at least a portion of the compressed medium compressed in the compressor from the further upstream side with respect to the heat receiver to the atmosphere, and a blow-off valve which adjusts the flow rate of the compressed medium flowing out from the blow-off piping to the atmosphere, and

the control device adjusts a valve opening degree of the blow-off valve.

12. A method of starting up a solar thermal power generation facility that includes a compressor which compresses a working medium, thereby producing a compressed medium, a heat receiver which receives sunlight, thereby heating the compressed medium, a turbine in which a turbine rotor is rotated by the compressed medium heated in the heat receiver, a power generator which generates electricity by rotation of the turbine rotor, and a start-up device which rotates the turbine rotor at a time of start-up, the method comprising:

a speeding-up process of speeding up a rotational speed of the turbine rotor in the start-up device;

an incorporation procedure control process of controlling rotational torque of the turbine rotor until a time of incorporation in which the power generator is connected to an electric power system, by making at least a portion of the compressed medium from the compressor bypass the turbine or the heat receiver before the rotational speed of the turbine rotor reaches a rated rotational speed in the speeding-up process and adjusting a flow rate of the compressed medium which is made to bypass the turbine or the heat receiver; and

a process of making the compressed medium not bypass the turbine or the heat receiver before the rotor rotational speed reaches a predetermined rotor rotational speed that is lower than the rated rotational speed in the speeding-up process,

wherein the incorporation procedure control process is carried out after the rotor rotational speed reaches the predetermined rotor rotational speed in the speeding-up process, and

wherein in the incorporation procedure control process, the flow rate of the compressed medium which is made to bypass the turbine or the heat receiver is instantaneously reduced at the time of the incorporation.

13. The method of starting up a solar thermal power generation facility according to claim 12, wherein in the incorporation procedure control process, the flow rate of the compressed medium which is made to bypass the turbine or the heat receiver is made to be 0 at the time of the incorporation.