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Title: Experimental Demonstration of a Latent Heat Storage System for Dispatchable Electricity

Conference ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5067116· OSTI ID:1487321
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  1. Colorado School of Mines
  2. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  3. Marlow Industries, Inc.
  4. Bucknell University
+ Show Author Affiliations

Modern electric grids that use intermittent renewables require energy storage to maintain reliability. Many potential solutions exist, but latent heat thermal energy storage shows particularly high potential for low cost grid scale energy storage. In this paper, we present the design and initial experimental results for a lab-scale prototype of a novel latent heat thermal storage system. This version of our prototype used 50 kg of aluminum-silicon alloy as a phase change material, and a novel valved thermosyphon concept to control heat flow from a thermal storage tank to thermoelectric generators for dispatchable electricity production. Our results validate the system: the thermal storage system was able to receive heat input, evenly distribute heat to and from the phase change material with small temperature gradients, and controllably dispatch heat to a heat engine for electricity generation on demand. With the basic principle of this technology demonstrated, our next step will be to evaluate and improve system efficiency.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1487321
Report Number(s):
NREL/CP-5H00-72963
Resource Relation:
Conference: Presented at SolarPACES 2017: International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems, 26-29 September 2017, Santiago, Chile
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (8)

Performance modeling and techno-economic analysis of a modular concentrated solar power tower with latent heat storage journal May 2018
Aluminum and silicon based phase change materials for high capacity thermal energy storage journal October 2015
Solar thermoelectricity via advanced latent heat storage
  • Olsen, M. L.; Rea, J.; Glatzmaier, G. C.
  • SOLARPACES 2015: International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4949133
conference January 2016
Solar thermoelectricity via advanced latent heat storage: A cost-effective small-scale CSP application
  • Glatzmaier, G. C.; Rea, J.; Olsen, M. L.
  • SOLARPACES 2016: International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4984362
conference January 2017
Techno-economic analysis of a small scale solar power tower at varied locations
  • Rea, Jonathan E.; Glatzmaier, Greg C.; Oshman, Christopher
  • SolarPACES 2017: International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5067070
conference January 2018
Design of a thermosyphon-based thermal valve for controlled high-temperature heat extraction journal November 2017
Conversion efficiency of skutterudite-based thermoelectric modules journal January 2014
Demonstration of a thermosyphon thermal valve for controlled extraction of stored solar thermal energy
  • Oshman, Christopher; Rea, Jon; Hardin, Corey
  • SolarPACES 2017: International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5067115
conference January 2018

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14 SOLAR ENERGY
25 ENERGY STORAGE
energy storage
latent heat
thermal storage