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Title: High efficiency thermal storage system for solar plants (HELSOLAR). Final report

Abstract

The project objective was to develop a high temperature Thermal Storage System (TES) based on graphite and able to provide both economical and technical advantages with respect to existing solutions contributing to increase the share of Concentrated Solar Plants (CSP). One of the main disadvantages of most of the renewable energy systems is their dependence to instantaneous irradiation and, thus, lack of predictability. CSP plants with thermal storage have proved to offer a good solution to this problem although still at an elevated price. The identification of alternative concepts able to work more efficiently would help to speed up the convergence of CSP towards grid parity. One way to reduce costs is to work in a range of temperatures higher than those allowed by the actual molten salt systems, currently the benchmark for TES in CSP. This requires the use of alternative energy storage materials such as graphite, as well as the utilization of Heat Transfer Fluids (HTF) other than molten salts or organic oils. The main technical challenges identified are derived from the high temperatures and significant high pressures, which pose risks such as potential graphite and insulation oxidation, creep, fatigue, corrosion and stress-corrosion in the pipes, leakages inmore » the joints, high blower drivers’ electrical power consumption, thermal compatibility or relative deformations of the different materials. At the end, the main challenge of the project, is to identify a technical solution able to overcome all these problems but still at a competitive cost when compared to already existing thermal storage solutions. Special attention is given to all these issues during this project.« less

Authors:
; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
SENER Engineering and Systems, Inc., San Francisco, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Graftech International Holdings (United States); Praxair (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
OSTI Identifier:
1068058
Report Number(s):
DOE_EE0003592_HEL-SR-PR-0027_Final Report
DOE Contract Number:  
EE0003592
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY; HELSOLAR, Thermal Storage System for Solar Plants

Citation Formats

Villarroel, Eduardo, Fernandez-Pello, Carlos, Lenartz, Jeff, and Parysek, Karen. High efficiency thermal storage system for solar plants (HELSOLAR). Final report. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. doi:10.2172/1068058.
Villarroel, Eduardo, Fernandez-Pello, Carlos, Lenartz, Jeff, & Parysek, Karen. High efficiency thermal storage system for solar plants (HELSOLAR). Final report. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1068058
Villarroel, Eduardo, Fernandez-Pello, Carlos, Lenartz, Jeff, and Parysek, Karen. 2013. "High efficiency thermal storage system for solar plants (HELSOLAR). Final report". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1068058. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1068058.
@article{osti_1068058,
title = {High efficiency thermal storage system for solar plants (HELSOLAR). Final report},
author = {Villarroel, Eduardo and Fernandez-Pello, Carlos and Lenartz, Jeff and Parysek, Karen},
abstractNote = {The project objective was to develop a high temperature Thermal Storage System (TES) based on graphite and able to provide both economical and technical advantages with respect to existing solutions contributing to increase the share of Concentrated Solar Plants (CSP). One of the main disadvantages of most of the renewable energy systems is their dependence to instantaneous irradiation and, thus, lack of predictability. CSP plants with thermal storage have proved to offer a good solution to this problem although still at an elevated price. The identification of alternative concepts able to work more efficiently would help to speed up the convergence of CSP towards grid parity. One way to reduce costs is to work in a range of temperatures higher than those allowed by the actual molten salt systems, currently the benchmark for TES in CSP. This requires the use of alternative energy storage materials such as graphite, as well as the utilization of Heat Transfer Fluids (HTF) other than molten salts or organic oils. The main technical challenges identified are derived from the high temperatures and significant high pressures, which pose risks such as potential graphite and insulation oxidation, creep, fatigue, corrosion and stress-corrosion in the pipes, leakages in the joints, high blower drivers’ electrical power consumption, thermal compatibility or relative deformations of the different materials. At the end, the main challenge of the project, is to identify a technical solution able to overcome all these problems but still at a competitive cost when compared to already existing thermal storage solutions. Special attention is given to all these issues during this project.},
doi = {10.2172/1068058},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1068058}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Feb 27 00:00:00 EST 2013},
month = {Wed Feb 27 00:00:00 EST 2013}
}