Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of an innovative CSP air-cooled system and conventional condensers

Purpose In this paper, a first prototype of the innovative modularair-cooled condenser (MACC) proposed under the EUfundedMACCSol research project (Development and verificationof a novel modular air cooled condenser for enhancedconcentrated solar power generation) is compared with awater-cooled condenser (WCC) and an air-cooled condenser(ACC) in a reference concentrated solar power (CSP) plant.The aim is to evaluate the complete environmental profile ofeach cooling option and to highlight the differences in terms ofimpacts.Methods The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology isbeing used in order to evaluate the life cycle impacts of thethree condensers. Firstly, the life cycle impacts are evaluatedthrough the most used methods International Panel on ClimateChange (IPCC) 2007 and Ecoindicator 99, using the SimaPro7.3 software. Secondly, the Ecological Scarcity 2006 approachis used, since it takes into account the main issue ofCSP plants: freshwater consumption.Results and discussion Results show that the impact of theMACC is comparable with the ACC one and, in particular,it results quite lower according to all the methods used. Evaluatingthe severity of local impact through the EcologicalScarcity 2006 method, since the site of operation of thecondensers is characterized by medium water stress conditions,the WCC is the cooling option with the highest impact.The best cooling solution, instead, is represented by theMACC: its impact, in fact, results halved compared toWCC. The impact of MACC results significantly affectedby the transport activity; therefore, the choice of the transportmodes represents a key issue to optimize its life cycle impact.Conclusions The LCA analysis carried out definitely showsthat the MACC condenser represents a valid alternative to theconventional cooling solutions in regions suitable for CSPplants. In particular, the environmental benefits achievablewith the MACC result more evident with the increase of thedirect normal irradiance (DNI). The transport activity planningresulted a key issue to further optimize the MACC lifecycle impact.