skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: A Cost-Performance Analysis of a Sodium Heat Engine for Distributed Concentrating Solar Power

Abstract

We present that a sodium thermal electrochemical converter (Na-TEC) generates electricity directly from heat through isothermal expansion of sodium ions across a beta"-alumina solid-electrolyte. This heat engine has been considered for use with conventional concentrating solar power (CSP) systems before. However, unlike previous single-stage devices, the improved design uses two stages with an interstage reheat, allowing more economical and efficient conversion up to 29% at a hot side temperature of 850 °C. Herein, a cost-performance analysis for this improved design assesses opportunities for distributed-CSP in the context of micro-combined heat and power systems. A high-level techno-economic analysis (TEA) is presented that explores four scenarios where a Na-TEC is used as the heat engine for a distributed-CSP system. Overnight capital cost and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) are estimated for a system lifetime of 30 years, revealing that overnight capital costs in a range from $3.57 to $17.71 per We are feasible, which equate to LCOEs from 6.9 to 17.2 cents kWhe-1. This analysis makes a significant contribution by concurrently quantifying the efficiency and unit costs for a range of multistage configurations, and demonstrating that a Na-TEC may be a promising alternative to Stirling engines for distributed-CSP systems at residential scalemore » of 1–5 kWe.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office; National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI Identifier:
1608463
Grant/Contract Number:  
EE0007110; DGE‐1650044
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Advanced Sustainable Systems
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 4; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 2366-7486
Publisher:
Wiley
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY; 30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION; 42 ENGINEERING; thermally regenerative electrochemical system (TRES); alkali-metal thermal electric converter (AMTEC); beta"-alumina solid-electrolyte (BASE); thermo- electro-chemical conversion; combined heat and power; concentrating solar power; water; thermodynamic power cycles; cogeneration; Rankine cycle; Brayton cycle; thermal desalination; CSP; cost

Citation Formats

Gunawan, Andrey, Singh, Abhishek K., Simmons, Richard A., Haynes, Megan W., Limia, Alexander, Ha, Jong Min, Kottke, Peter A., Fedorov, Andrei G., Lee, Seung Woo, and Yee, Shannon K. A Cost-Performance Analysis of a Sodium Heat Engine for Distributed Concentrating Solar Power. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.1002/adsu.201900104.
Gunawan, Andrey, Singh, Abhishek K., Simmons, Richard A., Haynes, Megan W., Limia, Alexander, Ha, Jong Min, Kottke, Peter A., Fedorov, Andrei G., Lee, Seung Woo, & Yee, Shannon K. A Cost-Performance Analysis of a Sodium Heat Engine for Distributed Concentrating Solar Power. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/adsu.201900104
Gunawan, Andrey, Singh, Abhishek K., Simmons, Richard A., Haynes, Megan W., Limia, Alexander, Ha, Jong Min, Kottke, Peter A., Fedorov, Andrei G., Lee, Seung Woo, and Yee, Shannon K. 2020. "A Cost-Performance Analysis of a Sodium Heat Engine for Distributed Concentrating Solar Power". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/adsu.201900104. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1608463.
@article{osti_1608463,
title = {A Cost-Performance Analysis of a Sodium Heat Engine for Distributed Concentrating Solar Power},
author = {Gunawan, Andrey and Singh, Abhishek K. and Simmons, Richard A. and Haynes, Megan W. and Limia, Alexander and Ha, Jong Min and Kottke, Peter A. and Fedorov, Andrei G. and Lee, Seung Woo and Yee, Shannon K.},
abstractNote = {We present that a sodium thermal electrochemical converter (Na-TEC) generates electricity directly from heat through isothermal expansion of sodium ions across a beta"-alumina solid-electrolyte. This heat engine has been considered for use with conventional concentrating solar power (CSP) systems before. However, unlike previous single-stage devices, the improved design uses two stages with an interstage reheat, allowing more economical and efficient conversion up to 29% at a hot side temperature of 850 °C. Herein, a cost-performance analysis for this improved design assesses opportunities for distributed-CSP in the context of micro-combined heat and power systems. A high-level techno-economic analysis (TEA) is presented that explores four scenarios where a Na-TEC is used as the heat engine for a distributed-CSP system. Overnight capital cost and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) are estimated for a system lifetime of 30 years, revealing that overnight capital costs in a range from $3.57 to $17.71 per We are feasible, which equate to LCOEs from 6.9 to 17.2 cents kWhe-1. This analysis makes a significant contribution by concurrently quantifying the efficiency and unit costs for a range of multistage configurations, and demonstrating that a Na-TEC may be a promising alternative to Stirling engines for distributed-CSP systems at residential scale of 1–5 kWe.},
doi = {10.1002/adsu.201900104},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1608463}, journal = {Advanced Sustainable Systems},
issn = {2366-7486},
number = 6,
volume = 4,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Feb 19 00:00:00 EST 2020},
month = {Wed Feb 19 00:00:00 EST 2020}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 1 work
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Solar thermal CSP technology: Solar thermal CSP technology
journal, August 2013


Thermal energy storage for solar power production: Thermal energy storage for solar power production
journal, June 2012


Micro-combined heat and power systems (micro-CHP) based on renewable energy sources
journal, December 2017


Dish Stirling Advanced Latent Storage Feasibility
journal, January 2014


A parabolic dish/AMTEC solar thermal power system and its performance evaluation
journal, February 2010


Thermal energy grid storage using multi-junction photovoltaics
journal, January 2019


$ per W metrics for thermoelectric power generation: beyond ZT
journal, January 2013


Solar Energy on Demand: A Review on High Temperature Thermochemical Heat Storage Systems and Materials
journal, March 2019


The Marginal Costs of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
journal, January 1999


Concentrating Solar Power
journal, August 2015


Techno-Economics of Cogeneration Approaches for Combined Power and Desalination From Concentrated Solar Power
journal, January 2019


Thermal Reduction of Iron Oxide under Reduced Pressure and Implications on Thermal Conversion Efficiency for Solar Thermochemical Fuel Production
journal, June 2015


Dish Stirling technology: A 100 MW solar power plant using hydrogen for Algeria
journal, April 2011


Thermal modeling and efficiency of a dual-stage sodium heat engine
journal, December 2018


A dual-stage sodium thermal electrochemical converter (Na-TEC)
journal, December 2017


A review of micro combined heat and power systems for residential applications
journal, October 2016


Optimal sizing of array and inverter for grid-connected photovoltaic systems
journal, December 2006


Thermoelectric Energy Conversion with Solid Electrolytes
journal, September 1983


Micro combined heat and power (MCHP) technologies and applications
journal, December 2013


Influence of the thermal energy storage on the profitability of micro-CHP systems for residential building applications
journal, September 2012


The WACC Fallacy: The Real Effects of Using a Unique Discount Rate: The WACC Fallacy
journal, May 2015