Renewable Energy 169 (2021) 1121e1133

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Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Performance evaluation of a co-production system of solar thermal

power generation and seawater desalination
Liyuan Yuan a, Qunzhi Zhu a, *, Tao Zhang a, Rui Duan a, Haitao Zhu b
a
College of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai University of Electric Power, 2103# Pingliang Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200090, PR China
b
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266042, PR China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Increasing power cycle efficiency is an important way to reduce the cost of the solar thermal power
Received 31 August 2020 generation. The power generation system using a supercritical carbon dioxide (s-CO2) Brayton cycle has
Received in revised form the advantages of high cycle efficiency, small equipment size and low corrosion. Then, low temperature
16 January 2021
waste heat generated by the s-CO2 Brayton cycle can be used as the low temperature heat source for
Accepted 18 January 2021
Available online 23 January 2021
multi-effect desalination. This paper discusses a s-CO2 Brayton cycle integrated with a multi-effect
seawater desalination system. The heat input of the s-CO2 Brayton cycle is from a central-tower solar
receiver. The residual heat of the s-CO2 Brayton cycle is the heat input of the multi-effect distillation
Keywords:
Supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle
system. The results show that the integration of multi-effect desalination system does not affect the s-
Multi-effect distillation CO2 Brayton cycle efficiency. With the increase of split ratio of the compressor, Brayton cycle efficiency
Solar thermal power increases and then decreases, and the water production decreases and then increases. With the increase
Cogeneration of turbine inlet temperature, Brayton cycle efficiency increases while freshwater production varies
insignificantly. After optimizing the design of the cogeneration system, solar thermal power efficiency is
24.04%, the cost of electricity generation can be reduced, the LCOE is 0.081$/kWh. by using the waste
heat generated from the power cycle. realized electricity-water cogeneration, the fresh water production
from 5-effect MED is 459m3/day, and the unit cost of freshwater UPC of 0.81$/m3.
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction single regenerator to obtain a regeneration s-CO2 cycle. However,

The shortage of fossil energy, the deterioration of ecological
environment and global warming are all the focus issues in the
world. Among the renewable energy sources, solar energy is
abundant, clean, and widely distributed. The development of solar
thermal power generation is a powerful way to alleviate the energy
problem [1], s-CO2Brayton cycle is an important approach to
enhance the efficiency of the solar thermal power generation,
greatly reducing solar power cost, improving its competitiveness
[2].The critical temperature of CO2 is 31.2
C, and the critical
pressure is 7.38 MPa. s-CO2 with high efficiency, high stability and
high safety is considered to be one of the promising power cycle
working fluid [3e6].
The supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle is an upcoming
power cycle. Sulzer [7] first proposed a simple s-CO2 Brayton cycle
in 1950. In order to improve cycle efficiency, Feher [8] added a
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhuqunzhi@shiep.edu.cn (Q. Zhu).
there existed a serious imbalance between the heat capacity of
fluids in two sides of the regenerator, leading to the pinch point
problem. Dostal et al. applied the s-CO2 Brayton cycle in advanced
nuclear reactors and conducted a systematic and detailed design of
major components and systems as well as multi-parameter opti-
mization under actual constraint. Performance of recompression
cycles is excellent in simplicity, compactness, cost and thermal ef-
ficiency. When turbine inlet temperature of s-CO2 Brayton cycle
reaches 550
C, cycle efficiency can reach about 45%. Compared to a
conventional steam Rankine cycle, the s-CO2 recompression cycle
can reduce the cost of electricity generation by 18%, Thus, s-CO2
Brayton cycle may become suitable for solar thermal power plant
considering its high efficiency and low cost power generation [9].
Bae et al. [10] adopted a 20 MWh reactor and found that s-CO2
Brayton cycle is suitable for power conversion system of a small-
size high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. Therefore, the applica-
tion of s-CO2 Brayton cycle has a large potential.
The use of concentrated solar power (CSP) to drive desalination
systems is considered to be a very viable and attractive option to

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.01.096
0960-1481/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
L. Yuan, Q. Zhu, T. Zhang et al. Renewable Energy 169 (2021) 1121e1133

Nomenclature REC receiver

HE heat exchanger
HTR high temperature regenerator
symbols LTR low temperature regenerator
Am heliostat area(m2) C main compressor
EEt generating capacity RC re-compressor
f plant availability TURB turbine
hth enthalpy of molten salt in the tower heat receiver (kJ/ DNI direct normal irradiance(W/m2)
kg) LT-MED low-temperature multi-effect desalination
hHS enthalpy of heating steam (kJ/kg) EVAP1, EVAP2 multi effect evaporator 1,2 …
hV enthalpy of vapor(kJ/kg) SEPA gas-liquid separation
hB enthalpy of brine(kJ/kg) BPE boiling point elevation
hF enthalpy of feed seawater(kJ/kg) GOR desalted water gain ratio
hW enthalpy of water(kJ/kg) PRWH waste heat performance ratio
hcond enthalpy of feed seawater(kJ/kg) sr split ratio
I cold source loss (kW) EF evaporator number
mth mass flow rate of molten salt in the tower heat LCOE levelized cost of electricity
receiver. (kg/s) UPC unit production costs
mF mass flow rate of feed seawater(kg/s) TCC total cost calculation
mB mass flow rate of brine(kg/s) CAPEX capital expenditure
mV mass flow rate of vapor(kg/s) OPEX operating expense
m1 freshwater production (m3/day) CRF capital recovery factor
mHS mass flow rate of heating steam(m3/day)
Nm heliostats number Greek symbols
Qfield heat transfer rate(kW) hfield heliostat field efficiency
Qth output heat flux of the heliostat field(kW) hth tower heat receiver efficiency
Qr supercritical carbon dioxide fluid absorbs heat(kW) h Brayton cycle efficiency
qm s-CO2 mass flow rate (kg/s) helec solar thermal power efficiency
r discount rate hm molten salt transmission efficiency
WC1 input power of the re-compressor(kW) hG generator efficiency
WC2 input power of the compressor(kW) Dhref reference enthalpy of distillation
W1 output power of the turbine(kW)
Wnet net output work of the Brayton cycle(kW) subscripts
W capacity of the solar thermal power plant 1,2,3…13 stream point
XF salt concentration of feed seawater F feed seawater
XB salt concentration of brine B brine
V vapor, secondary steam
Abbreviations HS heating steam
s-CO2 supercritical carbon dioxide

sustainably supply the energy in demand. The high-temperature
heat supplied by the CSP power plant can generate electricity
through a power cycle, or serves as the heat source of a seawater
desalination system [11]. In order to find a solution to the water
shortage, the seawater desalination system driven by renewable
energy is expected to provide an economical and sustainable way to
produce fresh water [12]. Solar powered seawater desalination can
be divided into direct and indirect types [13]. Direct solar desali-
nation system is mainly applied to small scale production systems,
such as solar distiller. Indirect desalination system is consistant of
two subsystems, a solar collector and a desalination plant [14].
many studies have been done on cogeneration with solar power
tower Rankine cycles. Kasra et al. [15] compared thermodynamic
performance of three hybrid solar tower seawater desalination
plants. Reverse osmosis (RO), multi-effect desalination (MED) and
thermal vapor compression multi-effect distillation (TVC-MED)
units were integrated into the Rankine cycle module respectively.
Kasra [16] also designed a steam regenerative Rankine cycle with
condensation and extraction to meet the thermal energy re-
quirements of absorption cooling and multi-effect distillation or
thermal vapor compression multi-effect distillation. Fantz et al. [17]
described the coupling of a MED device to a Clausius-Rankine cycle
driven by a central solar receiving system. A steady state model of
the seawater desalination plant was established, and the relation-
ship between the output ratio of the seawater desalination plant
and the temperature of heating steam, the specific flowrate of
seawater and the specific heat exchanger surface was deduced.
Yuan et al. [18] combined an LT-MED seawater desalination system
with a 600 MW coal-fired generating unit to achieve peak output
regulation and to improve dispatching capacity. Wang et al. [19]
proposed a 100% renewable energy supply system, which was
based on wind turbines and integrated the concentrated solar po-
wer generation (CSP) device and seawater desalination device.
Chung et al. [20] used cost-based comparison parameters to eval-
uate the performance of nine different options for generating
electricity and desalinated seawater in Kuwait. Delgado et al. [21]
combined two seawater desalination technologies with a 5 MW
solar thermal power plant: multi-effect distillation (MED) and
reverse osmosis (RO). Kouta et al. [22] applied the entropy, exergy,
and cost analysis of a solar cogeneration system consisting of a s-
CO2 Brayton cycle and a multi effect evaporation - thermal vapor
compressor (MEE-TVC) desalination system.
This paper investigates a cogeneration system based on a s-CO2
Brayton tower solar thermal system integrated with a low-

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L. Yuan, Q. Zhu, T. Zhang et al.
temperature multi-effect desalination (LT-MED) unit, realizing
eintegrated electricity-water cogeneration. The power generation
is based on a s-CO2 Brayton cycle, whose energy input comes from a
tower solar thermal system. The exhaust heat of the s-CO2 Brayton
cycle is used to drive the LT-MED. From the thermodynamic and
economic point of view, models are built on an industrial process
simulation software, the main factors of the Brayton cycle efficiency
and productivity of freshwater are analyzed, and design optimiza-
tion of the cogeneration systems is performed.
2. Principle of the s-CO2 Brayton cycle integrated with LT-
MED system
The s-CO2 Brayton cycle integrated with the low-temperature
multi-effect desalination system can be divided into a tower solar
collector system, a s-CO2 Brayton cycle power generation system
and a low-temperature multi-effect desalination system, as shown
in Fig. 1.
Sunlight is reflected by heliostats to receivers/collectors which
are located at the top of a tower. Molten salt is heated when flowing
through the heat receiver and the heated molten salt exchanges
heat with the supercritical carbon dioxide through the heat
exchanger (HE). The s-CO2 fluid drives the steam turbine to
generate electricity and then passes through the high temperature
Fig. 1. The s-CO2 Brayton cycle integrated with low-temperature multi-effect desalination system.
1123
Renewable Energy 169 (2021) 1121e1133
regenerator (HTR) and the low temperature regenerator (LTR) in
turn. In order to avoid the “pinch point” problem of the regenerator,
the recompression s-CO2 shunt Brayton cycle is adopted [9]. The s-
CO2 is divided into two streams by the splitter, the first stream of
the s-CO2 fluid cools down in the cooler, goes into the main
compressor (C), the cooler heat is released as a low temperature
multi-effect desalination apparatus required for the heat source,
and then passes through the low-temperature regenerator. The
second stream directly goes into the re-compressor (RC) to boost
the pressure. These two streams mix together and enter into the
high-temperature regenerator absorbing the heat released from the
molten salt. The waste heat of Brayton cycle is used to heat cold
water at 25
C, the heated water serves as the heat source of the
low-temperature multi-effect desalination system. The feed water
is heated to the boiling point in the first-effect evaporator, and the
vapor is separated into a secondary steam and brine by the gas-
liquid separator. The brine goes into the second effect evaporator
and continues to heat and evaporate. The secondary steam and
brine enter into the second effect evaporator. The secondary steam
condensates in the second effect evaporator, the heat released
serves as the heating sources. The brine is heated to vapor and the
generated vapor is separated into steam and brine. The same pro-
cedure is repeated in the next effect evaporator.
L. Yuan, Q. Zhu, T. Zhang et al. Renewable Energy 169 (2021) 1121e1133

3. Simulation analysis of the s-CO2 recompression Brayton (5) In the process of seawater desalination, the boiling point
cycle elevation does not rise more than 1
C, so the superheating
temperature is very small [24]. Thus, the boiling point
3.1. System modeling elevation (BPE) is negligible.

A theoretical model of the s-CO2 recompression Brayton cycle

system is established by using the Aspen Plus software. The system 3.2. Analysis of mass, energy and economy
includes a compressor, turbine, low temperature regenerator, high
temperature regenerator, cooler, heat exchanger. The operating The heliostats are distributed around the solar receiver tower
modules of each part of the system are shown in Table 1. The system and reflect sun light to the receiver at the top of the tower. The
modeling flowchart is shown in Fig. 2. Properties of s-CO2 are ob- output heat flux of the heliostat field is Qfield:
tained from the NIST Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Trans-
port Properties (REFPROP) database, the s-CO2 recompression Qfield ¼ Am ,Nm ,DNI,hfield (1)
Brayton cycle in this paper mainly choose the HYSPR state equation.
In the system simulation, the following assumptions are made: hfield is the efficiency of the heliostat field, the absorbed heat of
molten salt in the solar receiver is Qth:
(1) Compression and expansion of the compressor and turbine
Qth ¼ Qfield ,hth (2)
are adiabatic process;
(2) The system state is steady-state;

(3) There is no pressure drop related to the flow resistant. Qth ¼ mth , hth;in  hth;out (3)

In the low-temperature multi-effect desalination system,

seawater enters the first-effect evaporator and external heating
source is needed to bring the seawater to boiling in the first-effect
evaporator. The seawater is headed to the saturation temperature
to generate steam. Secondary steam and concentrated brine are
obtained by a gas-liquid separator. The secondary steam condenses
into fresh water and the heat released during condensation is used
in the second-effect evaporator. The remaining brine in the first-
effect evaporator feeds into the second-effect evaporator, because
of the inter-effect pressure difference. The same procedure is
repeated in the following effect. Finally, the seawater comes out
from the final-effect evaporator in the form of strong brine.
Models of three-effect, four-effect, and five-effect evaporation of
sea water downstream systems are established. Low-temperature
multi-effect evaporation system includes an evaporator,
condenser, separator, mixer, pressure regulating valve, and the
operating modules of each part of the system are shown in Table 2.
Properties of water and secondary steam are obtained from the
NIST Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties
(REFPROP) database and reference [23], The multi-effect desalina-
tion system choose the ELEC-NRTL property method based on the
inorganic electrolyte system.
In order to simplify the MED process, the following assumptions
are made:
hth is the efficiency of the receiver, part of the solar radiation is
dissipated due to convection, radiation, and the reflection loss [25].
hth,in is the inlet enthalpy of molten salt in the receiver, hth,out is the
outlet enthalpy of molten salt in the receiver.
Since solar energy is intermittent in order to improve system
stability and continuity, dual heat storage tanks are used in the
system.
Assuming there is no heat loss in the heat transfer process be-
tween the molten salt and the supercritical carbon dioxide, su-
percritical carbon dioxide fluid absorbs heat,Qr;sco2
Qth ¼ Qr;sco2 (4)
Since efficiency of a simple regenerated Brayton cycle is limited
by the pinch point problem, this paper uses a recompression
Brayton cycle. Fig. 3 show the configuration of a s-CO2 recom-
pression Brayton cycle.
Energy balance equation of the high temperature regenerator is:
h2  h3 ¼ h12  h11 (5)
Energy balance equation of the low temperature regenerator is:
h3  h4 ¼ srðh8  h7 Þ (6)
WC1 is the input power of the re-compressor:

WC1 ¼ ð1  srÞ,qm ðh10  h9 Þ (7)

(1) The system is in a steady state;
(2) The pressure drop and heat dissipation loss in the trans- WC2 is the input power of the compressor:
mission pipeline and condensing pipeline are negligible;
(3) The pressure of the condensation process is constant; WC2 ¼ sr,qm ðh7  h6 Þ (8)
(4) The external loss of each effect evaporation is negligible;
where sr is the split ratio, which is defined as the ratio of the mass
flowrate of the working medium into the main compressor to the

Table 1
Operation modules.

Model Modeling the process of Brayton cycle

Compressor, Re-Compressor Compr-Modeling compressor, Isentropic using ASME method, the efficiency is 89%. The mechanical efficiency is
99%
Turbine Compr-Modeling turbine, Isentropic using ASME method,the efficiency is 90%. The mechanical efficiency is 99%
low temperature regenerator, high temperature HeatX-Modeling, types of heat exchanger, design outlet temperature difference
regenerator
Heat exchanger, Cooler HeatX-Modeling, types of heat exchanger, design outlet temperature of s-CO2
Splitter FSplit-Modeling
Mixer (Mixer) Mixer-Modeling

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L. Yuan, Q. Zhu, T. Zhang et al. Renewable Energy 169 (2021) 1121e1133

Fig. 2. The modeling flowchart.

Table 2
Operation modules.

Model Modeling the process of MED

Evaporator HeatX-Modeling, types of heat exchanger

Condenser HeatX-Modeling, types of heat exchanger
Separator Flash2 -Modeling, the gas and liquid separation
Pressure regulating valve Valve -Modeling, a device for regulating the inlet seawater pressure of the evaporator

total mass flow rate of the working medium. Wnet is the net output work of the Brayton cycle:
qm is the mass flow rate, h10 is enthalpy of s-CO2 at the re-
compressor outlet, h9 is enthalpy of s-CO2 at the re-compressor Wnet ¼ W1  WC1  WC2 (11)
inlet, h7 is enthalpy of s-CO2 at the compressor outlet, and h6 is
enthalpy of s-CO2 at the compressor inlet. h is the power cycle efficiency:
W1 is the output power of the turbine:
Wnet
h¼ (12)
W1 ¼ qm ,ðh1  h2 Þ (9) Qr

Qr is the absorbed heat of the s-CO2 Brayton cycle: I is the cold source loss:

Qr ¼ qm ,ðh1  h12 Þ (10) I ¼ sr,qm ,ðh4  h6 Þ (13)

h1 is enthalpy of s-CO2 at the turbine inlet, h2 is enthalpy of s-CO2 at h4 is enthalpy of s-CO2 at the cooler outlet, h6 is enthalpy of s-CO2 at
the turbine outlet. h12 is enthalpy of s-CO2 at the high-temperature the low-temperature regenerator outlet.
regenerator outlet. helec is efficiency of solar thermal power plant:
1125
L. Yuan, Q. Zhu, T. Zhang et al. Renewable Energy 169 (2021) 1121e1133

Fig. 3. Schematics of configuration of a s-CO2 recompression Brayton cycle.

helec ¼ hfield ,hth ,hm ,h,hG (14)

hm is the efficiency of molten salt transmission. Assumed that no

molten salt heat loss during transmission. hG is the generator ef-
ficiency, W is capacity of the solar thermal power plant:

W ¼ Am ,Nm ,DNI,helec (15)

As seawater evaporates, its temperature and concentration in-
crease, leading to a higher boiling point. If the boiling point of
seawater increases, it is necessary to provide more heat to the
system so that the temperature of the seawater reaches its boiling
point [26]. When steam is generated, the operating pressure of the
evaporation equipment needs to be reduced to offset the boiling
point rise, so as to ensure the desalination performance of the
system. On the one hand, the temperature difference between two Fig. 4. The ith-effect evaporator.
effects determines the temperature difference of cold and hot
flows. On the other hand, it limits the evaporator efficiency of the
system. The feed temperature determines the subcooling degree of
the feed seawater. BPE ¼ lX 2 þ sX (19)
The principle of the ith-effect evaporator is shown in Fig. 4:
The mass conservation of the feed water, secondary steam and
brine of the ith-effect evaporator is: l ¼ 4:584  104 T 2 þ 2:823  101 T þ 17:95 (20)

mF;i ¼ mB;i þ mV;i (16)

s ¼ 1:536  104 T 2 þ 5:267  102 T þ 6:56 (21)
The salt concentration balance of the ith-effect evaporator:
In the process of seawater desalination, the boiling point
elevation does not rise more than 1
C [23].
mF;i ,XF;i ¼ mB;i ,XB;i (17) hF is enthalpy of feed seawater:
The ith-effect evaporation side energy balance of the ith-effect 
evaporator: hF ¼ hw  X a1 þ a2 X þ a3 X 2 þ a4 X 3 þ a5 T þ a6 T 2 þ a7 T 3


 þa8 XT þ a9 X 2 T þ a10 XT 2
mHS;i hHS;i;in  hHS;i;out ¼ mV;i hV;i þ mB;i hB;i  mF;i hF;i (18)
(22)
hv is enthalpy of secondary steam.
Boiling point elevation (BPE) is: hW is enthalpy of water:
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L. Yuan, Q. Zhu, T. Zhang et al. Renewable Energy 169 (2021) 1121e1133

year for 365 days.

hw ¼ 141:355 þ 4202:07T  0:535T 2 þ 0:004T 3 (23)

0 kg/kg  X  0.12 kg/kg (X is the concentration of seawater); 3.3. Model validation

a1 ¼ 2:438  104 ; a2 ¼ 3:152  105 ; a3 ¼ 2:803  106 ; a4 In order to verify the established model of the supercritical
carbon dioxide Brayton cycle, results of the simulation results are
7 3 1
¼ 1:446  10 ; a5 ¼ 7:826  10 ; a6 ¼ 4:417  10 ; a7 compared with those from the literature [9,32]. Parameters and
¼ 2:139  101 ; a8 ¼ 1:991  104 ; a9 ¼ 2:778  104 ; a10 results for each model are shown in Table 3.
The input parameters of Case 1 are the same as in Dostal’s work
¼ 9:728  104 [9]. The cycle efficiency is 45.87%. Compared to the results in
Dostal’s work (cycle efficiency is 45.27%), the difference is 0.5%
m1 is freshwater production of MED process: (1.3%, relatively). The input parameters of Case 2 are the same as in
Shintaro’s work [29]. The cycle efficiency is 42.4% for Case 2.
Xn
mv，i ,3600,24 Compared to the results in Shintaro’s work (cycle efficiency is
m1 ¼ i¼1 (24)
42.4%), the difference is 1.2% (2.8%, relatively). It can be inferred that
1000
the established model in this paper is reliable has high accuracy.
Gained output ratio (GOR) is defined as the ratio of freshwater In order to verify the multi-effect desalination models, the
production to the flow rate of the driving steam, mHS. model is used to analyze a commercial four-effect desalination unit
with a capacity of 10000 t/d According to the literature data the
m1
GOR ¼ (25) commercial unit ‘s total freshwater production is 422.114 t/h and
mhs
gained output ratio is 8.85 [33]. According to the model of this
In the application of low temperature waste heat, waste heat paper, the total freshwater production model is 407.022 t/h and
performance ratio (PRWH) can be better assess the value of waste gained output ratio is 8.53. Calculation results with this model
heat than GOR [27], therefore proposed waste heat performance SIDEM actual value producing substantially consistent, taking into
ratio (PRWH): account the data of the commercial system is averaged value in
field and some factors as boiling point elevation are ignored in the
m1 ,href established model in this paper, it can be conclude that the model
PRWH ¼
 (26)
mHS hHS;in  hcond;in established in this paper has a high accuracy.

The LCOE is defined as the ratio of the average total cost to build 4. Results and discussion
and operate a plant over its lifetime divided by the total energy
production of the plant over that lifetime, and is expressed by the 4.1. Effects of major parameters of the s-CO2 Brayton cycle
following equation for the case in this study [28],

Xn Binary molten salt (60%NaNO3þ40%KNO3) is widely used in CSP

It þ Mt
t
plants. The freezing temperature of the binary salt is 220
C and the
t¼1 ð1 þ rÞ
LCOE ¼ X (27) highest working temperature is 595
C. Since solar energy is
n Et intermittent, in order to improve stability and continuity of the
t¼1 ð1 t
þ rÞ comprehensive cogeneration system, the double-tank heat storage
is adopted. In the heat exchange system between the molten salt
where It is investment expenditures in the year t; Mt is operations and s-CO2 fluid, the inlet and outlet temperatures of the molten salt
and maintenance expenditures in the year t; Et is electricity gen- are 575
C and 395
C, respectively [34,35]. Table 4 shows design
eration in the year t; r is discount rate; and n is life of the system. parameters of the s-CO2 Brayton cycle. Effects of the split ratio,
Through the regression analysis of the capital cost data of MED compressor outlet pressure, and turbine inlet temperature on the
plants, a function between the total cost calculation and water yield Brayton cycle efficiency and freshwater production are analyzed.
can be obtained [29],
4.1.1. Effects of split ratio
TCC ¼ 3054,D0:9751
t (28)
As shown in Fig. 5, with the split ratio increasing from 0.3 to 0.9,
the s-CO2 Brayton cycle efficiency first increases and then de-
where TCC is the Total Capital Cost of the desalination plant and Dt
creases. The optimal split ratio is about 0.7, depending on the
is the total production rate of a conventional plant in m3/day.
maximum pressure. When the split ratio is relatively small, then
CRF is the capital recovery factor, a factor which enables the
the power consumption of the compressor is large and the cycle
calculation of a single amortising value for an amount that is to be
efficiency is low. As the split ratio increases, mass flow rate in the
fully amortised within n years, CRF is determined by Ref. [30]:
compressor is reduced, temperature at the LTR outlet decreases,
rð1 þ rÞn
CRF ¼ (29) Table 3
ð1 þ rÞn  1 Parameters and results for several s-CO2 Brayton cycle.

Case 1 Case 2
where r is discount rate. The effect of the inflation rate is ignored in
Maximum circulating temperature (
C) 550 480
the cost calculation, Unit Production Cost (UPC) of water is [31]:
Lowest circulating temperature (
C) 32 35
Main compressor efficiency 89% 88%
TCCW ,CRF þ OPEX
UPC ¼ (30) Re-compressor efficiency 89% 88%
356f Dt Turbine efficiency 90% 93%
Maximum circulating pressure (MPa) 20 20
where OPEX refers to the operating expense incurred in the first Cycle efficiency 45.27% [9] 42.4% [32]
45.87% 41.19%
year of operation. where f is the utilization rate of factory, take a
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L. Yuan, Q. Zhu, T. Zhang et al. Renewable Energy 169 (2021) 1121e1133

Table 4
Design parameters of the Brayton cycle.

Parameter Value

Compressor inlet temperature (
C) 32

Compressor inlet pressure (MPa) 7.55
Compressor efficiency 0.89
Turbine efficiency 0.9
s-CO2 mass flow rate (kg/s) 100
Regenerator efficiency 0.96

Fig. 6. Variation of cold source loss and freshwater yield with split ratio (THS ¼ 65
C,
EF ¼ 5 effects).

cycle efficiency first increases and then decreases. With the

maximum cycle pressure increasing, the efficiency is basically un-
changed in the split ratio around, the optimal split ratio is about 0.7.
As shown in Fig. 8, with the increase of the maximum cycle pres-
sure, increased production of fresh water increases. Since outlet
temperature of the main compressor is increased, fluid at the inlet
and outlet of the low-temperature regenerator is reduced, the
outlet temperature of the low-temperature regenerator is
increased, and therefore the cold source loss increases, resulting in
the increase of freshwater production.

Fig. 5. Variation of the cycle efficiency with maximum pressure and split ratio.
4.1.3. Effects of maximum temperature
As shown in Figs. 9 and 10, in the case of the maximum cycle
and the total power consumption of the main compressor and the pressure of 25 MPa, with increasing turbine inlet temperature, the
re-compressor decreases. At this case, the increasing of the net turbine output power increases, therefore the efficiency of the s-
power is faster than that of the heat absorbed by the cycle, so the CO2 Brayton cycle increase accordingly. When the turbine inlet
cycle efficiency increases. When the split ratio is greater than the temperature is 550
C, the cycle efficiency is 45.92%; when the
optimal split ratio, the LTR outlet temperature is constant; the turbine inlet temperature is 700
C, the cycle efficiency can reach at
increasing of the net power is slower than that of the circulating 52.43%. On the other hand, the optimal split ratio is almost the
heat absorbed by the cycle, so the cycle efficiency decreases. same regardless of the turbine inlet temperature, the outlet tem-
When the maximum pressure of the s-CO2 Brayton cycle in- perature of the low-temperature regenerator is basically the same.
creases from 22 MPa to 31 MPa, the minimum split ratio increases.
The reason is as follows. When the compression ratio increases, the
outlet temperature of the turbine is reduced and the outlet tem-
perature of the main compressor increases. Therefore, the enthalpy
drop of the low-temperature heat exchanger is reduced and the
minimum split ratio increases.
As shown in Fig. 6, when the split ratio is relatively small, the
outlet temperature of the low-temperature regenerator is high, and
the cooling source loss of the cooler is high. With the increase of the
split ratio, the outlet temperature of the low-temperature regen-
erator decreases, leading to the decrease of the cooling source loss
of the cooler. When the split ratio is large, the outlet temperature of
the low-temperature regenerator stays the same, while the cooling
source loss becomes larger.
The heat released by the cooler is used as the heat source for the
low-temperature multi-effect desalination plant. The change of
freshwater yield is very similar to that of the cooler’s heat release.
Therefore, with the increase of the split ratio, the freshwater yield
decreases first and then increases.

4.1.2. Effects of maximum pressure

The influence of maximum pressure on the s-CO2 Brayton cycle
is shown in Fig. 7, with the split ratio increasing, the s-CO2 Brayton Fig. 7. Variation of the cycle efficiency with maximum pressure.

1128
L. Yuan, Q. Zhu, T. Zhang et al.
Fig. 8. Variation of the freshwater yield with maximum pressure (THS ¼ 65
C, EF ¼ 5
effects).
Fig. 9. Variation of the cycle efficiency with maximum temperature and split ratio.
Hence, with the increase in turbine inlet temperature, the fresh-
water production of the MED system remains basically unchanged.
4.2. Effects of MED parameters
Table 5 is the main simulation parameters of the MED system. To
explore the changes of fresh water production of the MED system,
models of a three-effect system, four-effect system, and five-effect
system are built, respectively. Effects of the feed seawater tem-
perature, driving steam temperature, the number of evaporation
effect on the production of fresh water, gained output ratio, and
waste heat performance ratio PRWH are investigated.
4.2.1. Effects of temperature of the driving heat source
The waste heat of s-CO2 is use to heat cold water in the cooler.
The temperature of water is increased from 25
C to 65
C, 70
C,
75
C, respectively. As the number of the evaporation effect in-
creases, production of fresh water increases.
Under the same number of the evaporation effects, the yield of
fresh water decreases with the inlet temperature of the driving heat
1129
Renewable Energy 169 (2021) 1121e1133
Fig. 10. Variation of the freshwater yield with maximum temperature (THS ¼ 65
C,
EF ¼ 5 effects).
source, as shown in Fig. 11. If the inlet temperature of the driving
heat source is increased, in the cooler, the mass flow rate of the
heating steam decreases, thus reducing freshwater production.
Nevertheless, as the inlet temperature of the driving heat source
increases, the gained output ratio is boosted slightly, as shown in
Fig. 12 as the latent heat of vaporization decreases, the amount of
secondary steam produced is reduced. however, the boiling point of
the seawater increases as the heating steam temperature increases,
and the secondary steam production increases. As the number of
evaporation effect increases, the accumulation amount of fresh
water increases.
4.2.2. Effects of feed seawater temperature
Taking into account seasonal changes of sea water temperature,
simulations of different feed water temperature are carried out and
the results are shown in Fig. 13 and Fig. 14. With the inlet water
temperature changes, variations of the freshwater yield and waste
heat performance ratio of the system are obviously. Since under-
cooling decreases with the feed water temperature, the higher the
inlet temperature of the feed water the less heat is required for
evaporation in the first effect. Therefore, more secondary steam can
be generated, thus increasing the production of fresh water.
For a 5-effect desalination system, when feed seawater tem-
perature increases from 20
C to 28
C, the waste heat performance
ratio increases from 0.91 to 1.103, freshwater yield increases from
464 m3/d to 502.8 m3/d, respectively. A high waste heat perfor-
mance ratio means enthalpy difference of the low-temperature
heat source can be used effectively.
4.3. Economic analysis
In the optimization of the integrated electricity-water co-gen-
eration system, the unit cost of Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE)
and Unit Production Costs (UPC) of water are applied as the
objective function. Table 6 shows the monthly averaged direct
normal irradiation for Yanbu, Saudi Arabia (Latitude: 24
080
N,Longitude:38
30 E),the design point DNI is selected as 850 W/m2
[36]. The heliostat field, tower, and receiver dimensions are opti-
mized in SAM [37], Table 7 shows the input parameter for the solar
field. The total number of heliostats required is 1367, the CSP plants
uses nitrate salt (60% NaNO3 þ 40% KNO3) and the highest working
temperature is 595
C.
L. Yuan, Q. Zhu, T. Zhang et al. Renewable Energy 169 (2021) 1121e1133

Table 5
The main parameters of the MED system.

Parameter Value

Seawater inlet concentration 3%

Outlet brine concentration 6%
Temperature difference between effects 4
C
Seawater inlet temperature 20
C
Top brine temperature (TBT) 70
C

Fig. 13. Variation of the freshwater yield with the evaporation effect and feed seawater
temperature.

Fig. 11. Variation of the fresh water yield with the number of evaporation effect and
driving heat source inlet temperature.

Fig. 14. Variation of the GOR with the evaporation effect and feed seawater
temperature.

Table 6
Monthly averaged direct normal irradiation for Yanbu.

Month DNI kWh/(m3/day) irradiation time

h

January 6.91 10.8

February 7.63 11.3
Fig. 12. Variation of the GOR with the number of evaporation effect and driving heat March 7.78 12
source inlet temperature. April 8.17 12.7
May 7.83 13.3
June 9.03 13.6
July 8.59 13.5
The compressor inlet, compressor outlet pressure and split ratio
August 7.99 12.9
are optimized to maximize the circulation efficiency. The optimal September 7.77 12.3
parameters of the s-CO2 Brayton cycle system are, the turbine inlet October 7.35 11.6
temperature of 550
C, compressor outlet pressure of 24.79 MPa, November 7.17 10.9
split ratio of 0.69. Using these parameters, the Brayton cycle effi- December 6.68 10.6
ciency is 46.94%, the solar thermal power plant efficiency is 24.02%,
the cycle parameters are shown in Table 8 and Table 9.
1130
L. Yuan, Q. Zhu, T. Zhang et al. Renewable Energy 169 (2021) 1121e1133

Table 7 Table 9
The input parameter for the solar field. Design parameters for the MED system.

Parameter Value the number of evaporation effect 1 2 3 4 5

Design point DNI 850 W/m2 Heat source temperature (
C) 65 61 57 53 49

Solar multiple 2.4 Evaporating temperature (
C) 61.9 58.6 55.5 52.5 48.1
Heliostat dimension 12.5*12.5m2 Outlet brine concentration 6% 6.11% 6.07% 6.1% 6.13%
Number of heliostats 1367 Fresh water accumulation (m3/day) 0 116.83 231.58 346.79 459.03
Tower height 82.2m.
Receiver size 7.64m
Total optical effciency 0.5985
Total land area 317acres Table 10
Economic parameters.

Parameter Value
The investment and maintenance costs of each unit of the CSP Discount rate(r) 8%
plant, desalination system shown in Table 10 are from SAM soft- Years of operation (n) 25years
ware and [38]. It is assumed that the discount rate is 8% [31] and the Solar field costs [39] 313 $/m2
Solar field maintenance cost [39] 3%
operating life of the water-electricity co-generation system is set to Turbo generator [39] 968 $/kW
25 years. the LCOE is 0.081$/kWh. MED maintenance cost [40] 4%.
For the MED desalination system, the fresh water production Plant availability(f) [29] 95%
from 3-effect MED is 273 m3/day, and the unit cost of freshwater
UPC of 0.71$/m3; the fresh water production from 4-effect MED is
347 m3/day, and the unit cost of freshwater UPC of 0.74$/m3; the Table 11
fresh water production from 5-effect MED is 459m3/day, and the LCOE comparison of CSP.
unit cost of freshwater UPC of 0.81$/m3. As the number of evapo- Ref Collector Technology Cycle Details LCOE ($/MWh)
ration effects decreases, the capital cost decreases, but the fresh

[41] Par.Trough Organic Rankine; 145 C 166.59e194.35
water production decreases. [42] Par.Trough Rankine; 286e550
C 75.5e128.8
A regular solar thermal power plant applying the Rankine cycle [43] Par.Trough Rankine; 450e500
C 99e142
has a thermal efficiency of about 14% [36]. Solar power plant based [44] Power Tower Rankine; 565
C 78e150
on the Rankine cycle integrated with a multi-effect desalination [45] Power Tower Combine (Air) 124e234
[46] Power Tower Rankine; 300e565
C 150e180
system could reduce the efficiency of the Rankine cycle, and lose
part of electricity generation [16,17].
Table 11 shows the LOCE of several different solar thermal po-
wer generation technologies,if a solar thermal power plant based (1) The results show that the integrating of a s-CO2 Brayton cycle
on the s-CO2 Brayton cycle, the solar thermal power plant efficiency and a multi-effect desalination does not affect the efficiency
is 24.02%, the cost of electricity generation can be reduced. is in- of the Brayton cycle. The efficiency of the s-CO2 Brayton cycle
tegrated with a multi-effect desalination system, realized thermal power plant can be improved, while reducing the
electricity-water cogeneration, by using the waste heat generated cost of electricity generation.
from the power cycle. (2) With the turbine inlet temperature increasing from 550
C to
700
C, the efficiency of the s-CO2 Brayton cycle can increase
by 6.51% at the optimal split ratio while the water yield of the
5. Conclusion MED system remains unchanged.
(3) When the maximum pressure of the s-CO2 Brayton cycle
This paper has carried out a detailed analysis on a s-CO2 Brayton increases from 22 MPa to 31 MPa, the efficiency of the s-CO2
Cycle based solar thermal power plant integrated with a low- Brayton cycle can increase by 0.49% while the water yield
temperature multi-effect desalination (LT-MED) system, realizing increases greatly. The water yield increased from 512 m3/day
electricity-water cogeneration. Analytical models of a s-CO2 to 566 m3/day.
recompression Brayton cycle and a multi-effect seawater desali- (4) When the inlet temperature of the driving heat source in-
nation system have been established, and power generation and creases, the yield of fresh water decrease. If the number of
freshwater production have been investigated. The following con- the evaporation efficiency increases, the gained output ratio
clusions can be drawn. becomes larger.

Table 8
Design parameters for the Brayton cycle.

state points Temperature Pressure s-CO2 mass flow rate (kg/s) Entropy (kJ$kg⁻1$K⁻1)
(
C) (MPa)

1 550 24.79 186.6 2.695

2 410.84 7.55 186.6 2.722
3 217.33 7.55 186.6 2.3446
4 83.59 7.55 128.754 1.9485
5 83.59 7.55 128.754 1.9485
6 35 7.55 128.754 1.6377
7 79.59 24.79 128.754 1.4275
8 212.98 24.79 128.754 2.0204
9 83.59 7.55 57.846 1.9625
10 217.36 24.79 57.846 2.0331
11 214.34 24.79 186.6 2.0244
12 382.51 24.79 186.6 2.4112

1131
L. Yuan, Q. Zhu, T. Zhang et al.
(5) With the increase of inlet temperature of feed seawater, the
waste heat performance ratio increases and the freshwater
yield increases significantly.
Author contributions section
Liyuan Yuan performed the data analysis and prepared the
manuscript. Qunzhi Zhu contributed significantly to the conception
of the study and manuscript preparation. Tao Zhang contributed to
analysis and manuscript preparation. Rui Duan and Haitao Zhu
helped perform the analysis with constructive discussions.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgment
This paper is partly supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (51576119) and Science and Technology
Commission of Shanghai Municipality (18020501000).
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