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Steady-State Plant Model to Predict Hydroden Levels in Power Plant Components

Conference ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4984332· OSTI ID:1372041

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Acciona Energy North America developed a full-plant steady-state computational model that estimates levels of hydrogen in parabolic trough power plant components. The model estimated dissolved hydrogen concentrations in the circulating heat transfer fluid (HTF), and corresponding partial pressures within each component. Additionally for collector field receivers, the model estimated hydrogen pressure in the receiver annuli. The model was developed to estimate long-term equilibrium hydrogen levels in power plant components, and to predict the benefit of hydrogen mitigation strategies for commercial power plants. Specifically, the model predicted reductions in hydrogen levels within the circulating HTF that result from purging hydrogen from the power plant expansion tanks at a specified target rate. Our model predicted hydrogen partial pressures from 8.3 mbar to 9.6 mbar in the power plant components when no mitigation treatment was employed at the expansion tanks. Hydrogen pressures in the receiver annuli were 8.3 to 8.4 mbar. When hydrogen partial pressure was reduced to 0.001 mbar in the expansion tanks, hydrogen pressures in the receiver annuli fell to a range of 0.001 mbar to 0.02 mbar. When hydrogen partial pressure was reduced to 0.3 mbar in the expansion tanks, hydrogen pressures in the receiver annuli fell to a range of 0.25 mbar to 0.28 mbar. Our results show that controlling hydrogen partial pressure in the expansion tanks allows us to reduce and maintain hydrogen pressures in the receiver annuli to any practical level.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1372041
Report Number(s):
NREL/CP-5500-66771
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (3)

Hydrogen permeation behaviour in austenitic stainless steels journal July 1989
Techno-economic analysis of receiver replacement scenarios in a parabolic trough field
  • Röger, Marc; Lüpfert, Eckhard; Caron, Simon
  • SOLARPACES 2015: International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4949082
conference January 2016
Heat Conduction of Inert Gas-Hydrogen Mixtures in Parabolic Trough Receivers
  • Burkholder, Frank; Brandemuehl, Michael; Kutscher, Chuck
  • ASME 2008 2nd International Conference on Energy Sustainability collocated with the Heat Transfer, Fluids Engineering, and 3rd Energy Nanotechnology Conferences, ASME 2008 2nd International Conference on Energy Sustainability, Volume 2 https://doi.org/10.1115/ES2008-54176
conference June 2009

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