Potential assessment of using dry cooling mode in two different solar thermal power plants.

Most of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants are usually installed in desert regions where water resource availability is a critical limitation due to the lack of water required for the exploitation of these systems in these regions. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the techno-economic competitiveness of deploying both modes of cooling (wet and dry) in two different parabolic trough solar thermal power plants integrated with thermal energy storage and fuel backup system; the first one is using thermic oil, while the other is working using molten salt. The obtained results show that the dry cooling mode can decrease the yields of the two power plants down to 8.7 % and 9.3 % for oil and salt configurations respectively. On the other hand, the levelized cost of electricity can increase by using this cooling option up to 9.3 % for oil plant, and 10.0 % for salt one. However, the main advantage of using dry cooling option is reducing water consumption which has been decreased by more than 94 % for both plants. The application of our methodology to other two sites worldwide, confirms the viability of the obtained results. The importance of this results is to show the effect of working fluids on the cooling system of solar power plants

Computational Docking Study of Calanolides as Potential Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease

Despite the nationwide effort provided to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, we have yet to approve a specific antiviral treatment against the SARS-CoV-2. We have studied the molecular interactions between two anti-HIV-1 natural drugs, +(-) calanolide A and -(-) calanolide B, and the active site of 3CLpro through a computational docking method. Our promising results show that the two compounds of this study are potential inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro through strong binding to its catalytic dyad. Considering its progress in clinical trials as an anti-HIV-1 treatment, we suggest that +(-) calanolide A is a good candidate for the treatment of COVID-19

4E (Energy-Exergy-Economic-Environmental) performances assessment of different configurations of power cycles

Steam power plants are alimented by different sources of energy including fossil fuels or renewable ones such as solar thermal, biomass or geothermal. Thus, thermodynamic, economic and environmental analyses of different steam power cycles are highly required for identification and choice of the most effective and viable layout to be adopted in the installation. Consequently, the main aim of the present paper is to compare five different configurations of power cycles in terms of energy and exergy efficiencies, fuel and cooling water consumptions, CO2 emissions rate, as well as investment and operating costs, and net present value (NPV). The obtained results present relevant differences; the energy and exergy efficiencies of the fifth configuration similar to the one of Achouat power station are the highest with 41.9% and 39.5% respectively. On the other hand, this configuration shows better environmental performances represented by CO2 emission (46.12 kg/s), and water consumption for cooling (7.42 m3/s). Economically, there is a clear convergence in the NPV values for configurations with Reheating and Regeneration processes. Moreover, the fourth configuration is the best in terms of net present value (NPV) of 103.1(M€)

4E (Energy-Exergy-Economic-Environmental) performances assessment of different configurations of power cycles

Steam power plants are alimented by different sources of energy including fossil fuels or renewable ones such as solar thermal, biomass or geothermal. Thus, thermodynamic, economic and environmental analyses of different steam power cycles are highly required for identification and choice of the most effective and viable layout to be adopted in the installation. Consequently, the main aim of the present paper is to compare five different configurations of power cycles in terms of energy and exergy efficiencies, fuel and cooling water consumptions, CO2 emissions rate, as well as investment and operating costs, and net present value (NPV). The obtained results present relevant differences; the energy and exergy efficiencies of the fifth configuration similar to the one of Achouat power station are the highest with 41.9% and 39.5% respectively. On the other hand, this configuration shows better environmental performances represented by CO2 emission (46.12 kg/s), and water consumption for cooling (7.42 m3/s). Economically, there is a clear convergence in the NPV values for configurations with Reheating and Regeneration processes. Moreover, the fourth configuration is the best in terms of net present value (NPV) of 103.1(M€). Keywords: 4E, Configuration, Power cycle, Performance, Steam power plan