IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/orspec/v45y2023i1d10.1007_s00291-022-00688-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Combining simulation and optimization to derive operating policies for a concentrating solar power plant

Author

Listed:
  • Jesse G. Wales

    (Colorado School of Mines)

  • Alexander J. Zolan

    (Thermal Energy Systems)

  • William T. Hamilton

    (Thermal Energy Systems)

  • Alexandra M. Newman

    (Colorado School of Mines)

  • Michael J. Wagner

    (Thermal Energy Systems
    University of Wisconsin)

Abstract

Optimizing short-term decisions over a rolling horizon and/or using deterministic penalties to capture system stochasticity can lead to myopic policies that fail to consider unplanned events and their long-term adverse effects. We present a methodology that integrates an off-line optimization model with a simulation procedure to determine the profitability of different operating strategies; specifically, the latter is used to generate additional constraints for the former when failures occur according to system component operating lifetimes that (i) are subject to exogenous uncertainty, and (ii) may degrade more quickly under specific operating conditions. We use the feedback provided by the simulation model in a parametric analysis to obtain penalties that can be used in short-term operations scheduling to maximize the long-term revenues obtained by the optimization model. We apply this research to a concentrating solar power plant; our results show that the methodology can be used to choose an operating policy that balances maximizing profit while accounting for maintenance costs. Integrating the optimization model with a simulation procedure reveals that aggressive prices for cycling yield about 55% fewer startups and 30% fewer failures compared to using a more typical start-up operating strategy, and can save hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in repair costs over the lifetime of the plant.

Suggested Citation

  • Jesse G. Wales & Alexander J. Zolan & William T. Hamilton & Alexandra M. Newman & Michael J. Wagner, 2023. "Combining simulation and optimization to derive operating policies for a concentrating solar power plant," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 45(1), pages 119-150, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:orspec:v:45:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s00291-022-00688-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s00291-022-00688-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00291-022-00688-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00291-022-00688-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stoppato, A. & Mirandola, A. & Meneghetti, G. & Lo Casto, E., 2012. "On the operation strategy of steam power plants working at variable load: Technical and economic issues," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 228-236.
    2. Julia L. Higle & Suvrajeet Sen, 1991. "Stochastic Decomposition: An Algorithm for Two-Stage Linear Programs with Recourse," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 650-669, August.
    3. Zare, V., 2016. "Exergoeconomic analysis with reliability and availability considerations of a nuclear energy-based combined cycle power plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 187-196.
    4. Olafsson, Sigurdur & Li, Xiaonan & Wu, Shuning, 2008. "Operations research and data mining," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 187(3), pages 1429-1448, June.
    5. Tică, Adrian & Guéguen, Hervé & Dumur, Didier & Faille, Damien & Davelaar, Frans, 2012. "Design of a combined cycle power plant model for optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 256-265.
    6. Wagner, Michael J. & Newman, Alexandra M. & Hamilton, William T. & Braun, Robert J., 2017. "Optimized dispatch in a first-principles concentrating solar power production model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 959-971.
    7. Santos, Maria Izabel & Uturbey, Wadaed, 2018. "A practical model for energy dispatch in cogeneration plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 144-159.
    8. Mirandola, A. & Stoppato, A. & Lo Casto, E., 2010. "Evaluation of the effects of the operation strategy of a steam power plant on the residual life of its devices," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 1024-1032.
    9. Zuoyu Liu & Weimin Zheng & Feng Qi & Lei Wang & Bo Zou & Fushuan Wen & You Xue, 2018. "Optimal Dispatch of a Virtual Power Plant Considering Demand Response and Carbon Trading," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-19, June.
    10. Rogelio Peón Menéndez & Juan Á. Martínez & Miguel J. Prieto & Lourdes Á. Barcia & Juan M. Martín Sánchez, 2014. "A Novel Modeling of Molten-Salt Heat Storage Systems in Thermal Solar Power Plants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-20, October.
    11. Keatley, P. & Shibli, A. & Hewitt, N.J., 2013. "Estimating power plant start costs in cyclic operation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 550-557.
    12. Frangopoulos, Christos A. & Dimopoulos, George G., 2004. "Effect of reliability considerations on the optimal synthesis, design and operation of a cogeneration system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 309-329.
    13. Dragos Florin Ciocan & Vivek Farias, 2012. "Model Predictive Control for Dynamic Resource Allocation," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 37(3), pages 501-525, August.
    14. Oguzhan Alagoz & Heather Hsu & Andrew J. Schaefer & Mark S. Roberts, 2010. "Markov Decision Processes: A Tool for Sequential Decision Making under Uncertainty," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 30(4), pages 474-483, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rusin, Andrzej & Bieniek, Michał & Lipka, Marian, 2016. "Assessment of the rise in the turbine operation risk due to increased cyclicity of the power unit operation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 394-403.
    2. Łukowicz, Henryk & Rusin, Andrzej, 2018. "The impact of the control method of cyclic operation on the power unit efficiency and life," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 565-574.
    3. Martyna Tomala & Andrzej Rusin & Adam Wojaczek, 2020. "Risk-Based Planning of Diagnostic Testing of Turbines Operating with Increased Flexibility," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-16, July.
    4. Vazquez, Luis & Blanco, Jesús María & Ramis, Rolando & Peña, Francisco & Diaz, David, 2015. "Robust methodology for steady state measurements estimation based framework for a reliable long term thermal power plant operation performance monitoring," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P1), pages 923-944.
    5. González-Gómez, P.A. & Gómez-Hernández, J. & Ruiz, C. & Santana, D., 2022. "Can solar tower plants withstand the operational flexibility of combined cycle plants?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    6. Zhang, Hengliang & Xie, Danmei & Yu, Yanzhi & Yu, Liangying, 2016. "Online optimal control schemes of inlet steam temperature during startup of steam turbines considering low cycle fatigue," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 117(P1), pages 105-115.
    7. Badur, Janusz & Ziółkowski, Paweł & Sławiński, Daniel & Kornet, Sebastian, 2015. "An approach for estimation of water wall degradation within pulverized-coal boilers," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(P1), pages 142-152.
    8. Miguel J. Prieto & Juan Á. Martínez & Rogelio Peón & Lourdes Á. Barcia & Fernando Nuño, 2017. "On the Convenience of Using Simulation Models to Optimize the Control Strategy of Molten-Salt Heat Storage Systems in Solar Thermal Power Plants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.
    9. M. Jenabi & S. M. T. Fatemi Ghomi & S. A. Torabi & Moeen Sammak Jalali, 2022. "An accelerated Benders decomposition algorithm for stochastic power system expansion planning using sample average approximation," OPSEARCH, Springer;Operational Research Society of India, vol. 59(4), pages 1304-1336, December.
    10. Eike Nohdurft & Elisa Long & Stefan Spinler, 2017. "Was Angelina Jolie Right? Optimizing Cancer Prevention Strategies Among BRCA Mutation Carriers," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 14(3), pages 139-169, September.
    11. Luis Montero & Antonio Bello & Javier Reneses, 2022. "A Review on the Unit Commitment Problem: Approaches, Techniques, and Resolution Methods," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-40, February.
    12. Emblemsvåg, Jan, 2022. "Wind energy is not sustainable when balanced by fossil energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    13. Andrzej Rusin & Martyna Tomala & Henryk Łukowicz & Grzegorz Nowak & Wojciech Kosman, 2021. "On-Line Control of Stresses in the Power Unit Pressure Elements Taking Account of Variable Heat Transfer Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-21, August.
    14. Sami Najafi-Asadolahi & Kristin Fridgeirsdottir, 2014. "Cost-per-Click Pricing for Display Advertising," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 16(4), pages 482-497, October.
    15. Mark Gilchrist & Deana Lehmann Mooers & Glenn Skrubbeltrang & Francine Vachon, 2012. "Knowledge Discovery in Databases for Competitive Advantage," Journal of Management and Strategy, Journal of Management and Strategy, Sciedu Press, vol. 3(2), pages 2-15, April.
    16. Hoz, Jordi de la & Martín, Helena & Montalà, Montserrat & Matas, José & Guzman, Ramon, 2018. "Assessing the 2014 retroactive regulatory framework applied to the concentrating solar power systems in Spain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1377-1399.
    17. D. Kuhn, 2009. "Convergent Bounds for Stochastic Programs with Expected Value Constraints," Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 597-618, June.
    18. Saif Benjaafar & Daniel Jiang & Xiang Li & Xiaobo Li, 2022. "Dynamic Inventory Repositioning in On-Demand Rental Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(11), pages 7861-7878, November.
    19. Vasallo, Manuel Jesús & Cojocaru, Emilian Gelu & Gegúndez, Manuel Emilio & Marín, Diego, 2021. "Application of data-based solar field models to optimal generation scheduling in concentrating solar power plants," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 1130-1149.
    20. Vorushylo, Inna & Keatley, Patrick & Shah, Nikhilkumar & Green, Richard & Hewitt, Neil, 2018. "How heat pumps and thermal energy storage can be used to manage wind power: A study of Ireland," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 539-549.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:orspec:v:45:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s00291-022-00688-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.