Thermal energy storage for coal-fired power generation

Conference · Thu Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:6296547

Drost, M K; Somasundaram, S; Brown, D R; Antoniak, Z I

This paper presents an engineering and economic evaluation of using thermal energy storage (TES) with coal-fired conventional and combined cycle power plants. In the first case, conventional pulverized coal combustion equipment was assumed to continuously operate to heat molten nitrate salt which was then stored in a tank. During intermediate-load demand periods, hot salt was withdrawn from storage and used to generate steam for a Rankine steam power cycle. This allowed the coal-fired salt heater to be approximately one-third the size of a coal-fired boiler in a conventional cycling plant. The use of nitrate salt TES also reduced the levelized cost of power by between 5% and 24% depends on the operating schedule. The second case evaluate the use of thermal energy storage with an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant. In this concept, the nitrate salt was heated by a combination of the gas turbine exhaust and the hot fuel gas. The IGCC plant also contained a low-temperature storage unit that uses a mixture of oil and rock as the thermal storage medium. Thermal energy stored in the low-temperature TES was used to preheat the feedwater after it leaves the condenser and to produce process steam for other applications in the IGCC plant. This concept study also predicted a 5% to 20% reduction in levelized cost of power compared to other coal-fired alternatives. If significant escalation rates in the price of fuel were assumed, the concept could be competitive with natural-gas-fired intermediate-load power generation. A sensitivity analysis of using a direct-contact heat exchanger instead of the conventional finned-tube design showed a significant reduction in the installed capital cost. 3 refs., 2 figs., 6 tabs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/CE
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6296547
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-18826; CONF-901251--1; ON: DE91005049
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010404 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Gasification
014000 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Combustion
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
200107 -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Off-Peak Energy Storage-- (1980-)
25 ENERGY STORAGE
250600* -- Energy Storage-- Thermal
AVAILABILITY
CAPACITY
CAPITALIZED COST
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COAL
COAL GASIFICATION
COMBINED-CYCLE POWER PLANTS
COMBUSTION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPETITION
COST
COST ESTIMATION
DIAGRAMS
DIRECT CONTACT HEAT EXCHANGERS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENERGY SYSTEMS
EQUIPMENT
FEEDWATER HEATERS
FLOWSHEETS
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
GASIFICATION
HEAT EXCHANGERS
HEAT RATE
HEATERS
LOAD MANAGEMENT
MAINTENANCE
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MOLTEN SALTS
NATURAL GAS
NITRATES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
OPERATING COST
OXIDATION
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PEAK LOAD
PERFORMANCE
POWER PLANTS
POWER SYSTEMS
PULVERIZED FUELS
RANKINE CYCLE POWER SYSTEMS
SALTS
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
STEAM GENERATION
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE EQUIPMENT
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES