Air-stable, earth-abundant molten chlorides and corrosion-resistant containment for chemically-robust, high-temperature thermal energy storage for concentrated solar power

Caldwell, Adam S.; Itskos, Grigorios; Sandhage, Kenneth H.

doi:10.1016/j.mattod.2021.02.015

Air-stable, earth-abundant molten chlorides and corrosion-resistant containment for chemically-robust, high-temperature thermal energy storage for concentrated solar power

Journal Article · Wed Mar 24 04:00:00 EDT 2021 · Materials Today

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2021.02.015· OSTI ID:1891322

Caldwell, Adam S. ^[1]; Itskos, Grigorios ^[2]; Sandhage, Kenneth H. ^[2]

Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Purdue University
Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

A dramatic reduction in man-made CO₂ emissions could be achieved if the cost of electricity generated from concentrated solar power (CSP) plants could become competitive with fossil-fuel-derived electricity. The solar heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency of CSP plants may be significantly increased (and the associated electricity cost decreased) by operating CSP turbines with inlet temperatures ≥750 °C instead of ≤550 °C, and by using thermal energy storage (TES) at ≥750 °C to allow for rapidly dispatchable and/or continuous electricity production. Unfortunately, earth-abundant MgCl₂-KCl-based liquids currently being considered as low-cost media for large-scale, high-temperature TES are susceptible to oxidation in ambient air, with associated undesired changes in liquid composition and enhanced corrosion of metal alloys in pipes and tanks containing such liquids. In this paper, alternative high-temperature, earth-abundant molten chlorides that are resistant to oxidation in ambient air are identified via thermodynamic calculations. Here, the oxidation resistance, and corrosion-resistant containment, of such molten chlorides at 750 °C are then demonstrated. Such an air-tolerant strategy, involving chemically-robust, low-cost TES media paired with effective containment materials, provides a critical advance towards the higher-temperature operation of, and lower-cost electricity generation from, CSP plants.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0008532

OSTI ID:: 1891322

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1788105

Journal Information:: Materials Today, Journal Name: Materials Today Vol. 46; ISSN 1369-7021

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (21)

Corrosion behavior of metallic alloys in molten chloride salts for thermal energy storage in concentrated solar power plants: A review Ding, Wenjin; Bonk, Alexander; Bauer, Thomas Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering, Vol. 12, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-018-1720-0	journal	September 2018
Potential for concentrating solar power to provide baseload and dispatchable power Pfenninger, Stefan; Gauché, Paul; Lilliestam, Johan Nature Climate Change, Vol. 4, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2276	journal	June 2014
Über binäre Systeme aus Halogeniden II): Das Verhalten von NaCI, KCI, RbCI, NaJ und KJ zu den entsprechenden Magnesiumhalogeniden Klemn, Wilhelm; Beyersdorfer, Kurt; Oryschkewitsch, Jareslau Zeitschrift für anorganische Chemie, Vol. 256, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1002/zaac.622560105	journal	March 1948
The magnesium chloride-potassium chloride phase diagram Perry, G. S.; Fletcher, H. Journal of Phase Equilibria, Vol. 14, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02667805	journal	April 1993
Revision of the enthalpies and gibbs energies of formation of calcium oxide and magnesium oxide Gourishankar, K. V.; Ranjbar, M. Karaminezhad; Pierre, G. R. St. Journal of Phase Equilibria, Vol. 14, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02669141	journal	October 1993
Thermodynamic properties of some binary fused chloride mixtures obtained from e.m.f. measurements Egan, J. J.; Bracker, J. The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9614(74)90201-8	journal	January 1974
Material aspects of Solar Salt for sensible heat storage Bauer, Thomas; Pfleger, Nicole; Breidenbach, Nils Applied Energy, Vol. 111 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.04.072	journal	November 2013
Heat transfer fluids for concentrating solar power systems – A review Vignarooban, K.; Xu, Xinhai; Arvay, A. Applied Energy, Vol. 146 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.01.125	journal	May 2015
Thermal energy storage using chloride salts and their eutectics Myers, Philip D.; Goswami, D. Yogi Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 109 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.07.046	journal	October 2016
Grid flexibility and storage required to achieve very high penetration of variable renewable electricity Denholm, Paul; Hand, Maureen Energy Policy, Vol. 39, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2011.01.019	journal	March 2011
Oxidation of nickel and transport properties of nickel oxide Mrowec, S.; Grzesik, Z. Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Vol. 65, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpcs.2004.03.011	journal	October 2004
Sensible energy storage options for concentrating solar power plants operating above 600 °C Mohan, Gowtham; Venkataraman, Mahesh B.; Coventry, Joe Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 107 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.01.062	journal	June 2019
Basic properties of eutectic chloride salts NaCl-KCl-ZnCl2 and NaCl-KCl-MgCl2 as HTFs and thermal storage media measured using simultaneous DSC-TGA Xu, Xiankun; Dehghani, Ghazal; Ning, Juexiao Solar Energy, Vol. 162 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.01.067	journal	March 2018
Hot corrosion behavior of commercial alloys in thermal energy storage material of molten MgCl2/KCl/NaCl under inert atmosphere Ding, Wenjin; Shi, Hao; Xiu, Yanlei Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 184 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2018.04.025	journal	September 2018
Molten chloride salts for next generation concentrated solar power plants: Mitigation strategies against corrosion of structural materials Ding, Wenjin; Shi, Hao; Jianu, Adrian Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 193 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2018.12.020	journal	May 2019
Concentrating Solar Power Weinstein, Lee A.; Loomis, James; Bhatia, Bikram Chemical Reviews, Vol. 115, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00397	journal	August 2015
Purification strategy and effect of impurities on corrosivity of dehydrated carnallite for thermal solar applications Zhao, Youyang; Klammer, Noah; Vidal, Judith RSC Advances, Vol. 9, Issue 71 https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RA09352D	journal	January 2019
Thermodynamic Evaluation and Optimization of the LiCl-NaCl-KCl-RbCl-CsCl-MgCl ₂ -CaCl ₂ -SrCl ₂ System Using The Modified Quasichemical Model Chartrand, Patrice; Pelton, Arthur D. Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly, Vol. 39, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1179/cmq.2000.39.4.405	journal	January 2000
Phase Diagram of the System LaCl3-CaCl2-NaCl Igarashi, K.; Ohtani, H.; Mochinaga, J. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung A, Vol. 42, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1515/zna-1987-1212	journal	December 1987
Determination of the Solidus Curve by a Tracer Technique. The System CaCl2-NaCl. Seltveit, A.; Flood, H.; Haraldsen, Haakon Acta Chemica Scandinavica, Vol. 12 https://doi.org/10.3891/acta.chem.scand.12-1030	journal	January 1958
The Phase Diagrams of the Systems NaCl-MgCl2 and KCl-MgCl2. Grjotheim, Kai; Holm, Jan Lützow; Røtnes, Mikal Acta Chemica Scandinavica, Vol. 26 https://doi.org/10.3891/acta.chem.scand.26-3802	journal	January 1972

Similar Records

Mitigation of Molten Salt Corrosion

Technical Report · Sat Apr 30 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · OSTI ID:1891879

Corrosion resistance of alumina forming alloys against molten chlorides for energy production. II: Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy under thermal cycling conditions

Journal Article · Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells · OSTI ID:1353423

Heat transfer/storage fluids and systems that utilize such fluids

Patent · Tue Apr 05 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · OSTI ID:1892789

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
25 ENERGY STORAGE
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
air stable
concentrated solar power
high-temperature corrosion resistance
molten chlorides
thermal energy storage
thermodynamic calculations

Air-stable, earth-abundant molten chlorides and corrosion-resistant containment for chemically-robust, high-temperature thermal energy storage for concentrated solar power

Citation Formats

References (21)

Similar Records

Related Subjects