Life-cycle assessment for BRRIMS solar power

This paper presents a life-cycle analysis for a new concept in solar thermal power generation. BRRIMS denotes Brayton-cycle, re-heated, recuperated, integrated, modular and storage-equipped. This concept envisages collection temperatures of around 250 °C, thermal storage in pebble beds, thermal-electric conversion in a piston-cylinder engine and air as the heat transfer fluid and working gas of the engine. The analysis applies to the manufacturing phase of the overall power plant and separately to the pebble bed thermal storage component. Three sustainability metrics are included - life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, cumulative energy demand and energy payback time. On these metrics, the BRRIMS concept has broadly similar results to a conventional parabolic trough plant with molten salt thermal storage.