Press release -
SCARABEUS: innovation in concentrated solar power reduces electricity costs
Milan, July 2024 – An innovative power cycle improving the conversion efficiency of heat into electricity, significantly reducing costs. This is the outcome of the Horizon 2020 SCARABEUS project, coordinated by Politecnico di Milano and launched in April 2019, which has successfully achieved its objectives and is officially concluded.
The key innovation of the project is the development of an innovative working fluid based on carbon dioxide mixed with specific additives, which (i) improves the efficiency of the thermodynamic cycle and (ii) allows condensation at high temperatures up to 60°C, making the cycle suitable for CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) applications.
"SCARABEUS has enabled the reduction of electricity costs from concentrated solar power plants below €90/MWh, compared to the current technologies' €120/MWh," states Giampaolo Manzolini, project coordinator and professor at the Department of Energy of Politecnico di Milano. "We achieved these results improving the power cycles' efficiency by 10% and developing innovative components at reduced costs."
The new fluid was tested in a 200 kW test rig at the Vienna Technische Universität. Experiments confirmed its performance potential and demonstrated the superior performance of the heat exchangers developed within the project, paving the way for a more competitive future for thermodynamic solar power.
The project, in addition to the Politecnico di Milano, involved the Universidad de Sevilla, City - University of London, the Vienna Technische Universität, and the Università di Brescia, as well as companies Baker Hughes, Coxabengoa, Kelvion, and Quantis.
Topics
- Engineering
Politecnico di Milano is a scientific-technological university which trains engineers, architects and industrial designers.
The University has always focused on the quality and innovation of its teaching and research, developing a fruitful relationship with business and productive world by means of experimental research and technological transfer.
Research has always been linked to didactics and it is a priority commitment which has allowed Politecnico Milano to achieve high quality results at an international level as to join the university to the business world. Research constitutes a parallel path to that formed by cooperation and alliances with the industrial system.
Knowing the world in which you are going to work is a vital requirement for training students. By referring back to the needs of the industrial world and public administration, research is facilitated in following new paths and dealing with the need for constant and rapid innovation. The alliance with the industrial world, in many cases favored by Fondazione Politecnico and by consortiums to which Politecnico belong, allows the university to follow the vocation of the territories in which it operates and to be a stimulus for their development.
The challenge which is being met today projects this tradition which is strongly rooted in the territory beyond the borders of the country, in a relationship which is developing first of all at the European level with the objective of contributing to the creation of a single professional training market. Politecnico takes part in several research, sites and training projects collaborating with the most qualified European universities. Politecnico's contribution is increasingly being extended to other countries: from North America to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe. Today the drive to internationalization sees Politecnico Milano taking part into the European and world network of leading technical universities and it offers several courses beside many which are entirely taught in English.
