Evaluation of Ceramic Heat Exchanger for Next-Generation Concentrated Solar Power

Technical Report · Mon Dec 07 04:00:00 EST 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1734612· OSTI ID:1734612

Santa Lucia, Christina ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

The U.S. Department of Energy has identified a third generation of concentrated solar power (Gen3 CSP) technologies to minimize cost of CSP produced electricity. By developing these technologies further, it is forecasted that Gen3 CSP will meet the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) SunShot target of 6 cents/kWh to compete with dominant, conventional nonrenewable energy sources (1). The focus for advancing CSP systems for Gen3 is to increase overall system efficiency. Thus, reevaluating second-generation systems, superheated steam-turbine power cycles, and implementing more advanced power cycles is essential. Specifically, it has been identified that a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) Brayton cycle can increase the net thermal-to-electric efficiency to over 50% for CSP power tower configurations (2). Compared to conventional superheated steam Rankine cycle systems, more extreme operating conditions are required and pose critical barriers to overcome in the field of materials and manufacturing for Gen3 CSP.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-07NA27344
• OSTI ID: 1734612
• Report Number(s): LLNL-TR--817426; 1027413
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
25 ENERGY STORAGE
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
42 ENGINEERING