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INTEGRATING CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER IN THERMOCHEMICAL BIOREFINERIES: IMPACT OF LOCATION ON PERFORMANCE

Abstract:

Lignocellulosic biomass is a promising carbon source with the potential to replace fossil sources in the generation of fuels, chemicals and other materials required by industry. Consequently, its conversion through superstructures called thermochemical biorefineries has been extensively studied. In recent years, the integration of other renewable sources has been addressed to supply the energy consumption of biorefineries and thus enhance their product generation yield. Concentrated solar thermal energy (CSTE) is one of the most interesting options due to its potential to provide a wide range of services such as high-temperature heat, steam, and electricity. This study explores the effect of the solar resource (i.e., direct normal irradiation (DNI)) on the integration suitability of each CSTE-derived service in biorefineries. For this purpose, four locations have been chosen according to their different yearly DNI, Calama (2739 kWh/m2), Seville (2050 kWh/m2), Quito (1651 kWh/m2) and Munich (1192 kWh/m2). The results indicate a strong specialization of each location towards a specific CSTE service, which is not significantly affected by DNI intra-annual variations. Although the level of thermal service relies on DNI availability, higher annual DNI does not always imply specialization for a high-quality application. An example is the Quito (Ecuador) dataset, which has a significantly lower annual DNI than other locations but still shows a higher suitability for hightemperature services (integration in endothermic reactors).