Modelling and simulation of phase change material latent heat storages applied to a solar-powered Organic Rankine Cycle

A case study on the application of the LHS technology is also presented. The operation of a solar power plant associated with a latent heat thermal storage and an ORC unit is simulated under dynamic (time-varying) solar radiation conditions with the software TRNSYS. The performance of the proposed plant is simulated over a one week period, and the results show that the system is able to provide power in 78.5% of the time, with weekly averaged efficiencies of 13.4% for the ORC unit, and of 3.9% for the whole plant (from solar radiation to net power delivered by the ORC expander).