A Combined Cooling Heating and Power System Integrating With a Solar Thermochemical Process

A combined cooling heating and power system integrating a solar thermochemical process of solar energy and clean fuel with double-axis parabolic trough collectors and a micro gas turbine is proposed in this paper. Double-axis parabolic trough collectors generate mid-and-low temperature solar thermal energy, which provides heat for methanol decomposition into syngas of CO and H2 in the solar receivers/reactors. This syngas combusts in the micro gas turbine and cooling, heating and power are output in the distributed energy system. The reaction rate of the methanol decomposition and the temperature distribution along the tube in the solar thermochemical process are investigated. Furthermore, the energy analysis and exergy analysis of the proposed system are studied. Results show that the primary thermal efficiency and the electricity efficiency are 74.74% and 32.34%, respectively. The promising results indicate an efficient way to utilize solar energy and clean fuel. © 2018, Science Press. All right reserved.