An interim report on testing the molten salt pump and valve loops

Technical Report · Sun Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7030230· OSTI ID:7030230

Rush, E E; Chavez, J M; Matthews, C W ^[1]; Bator, P ^[2]

---

1. Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
2. Babcock and Wilcox Co., Barberton, OH (USA)

This interim report provides results of the molten salt pump and valve loop testing, lessons learned, and recommendations based on the test results to date. The molten salt pump and valve test loop is intended to demonstrate the effectiveness of full-scale hot and cold salt pumps and valves. The pump and valve testing consists of two pumped loops, one to simulate the hot side of the receiver (565{degree}C, referred to as the hot loop) and one for the cold side (285{degree}C, referred to as the cold loop). Each loop contains a pump and six representative valves scaled for a 60-MW{sub e} commercial solar power plant using molten salt heat transport fluid. The test loop is part of the Molten Salt Subsystem/Component Test Experiment (MSS/CTE), which is being conducted to reduce the technical risk of building and operating commercial solar central receiver plants. The project, managed by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) with Babcock and Wilcox (B W) as the prime contractor, is cost shared by DOE and six contractors. The hot loop has operated over 2400 hours in the fully automatic sequence mode. The last 500 hours have been through continuous 24-hour, 7-day operation. The hot pump operation hours simulate over 2 years of pump cycles. The cold loop has operated 12 hours in the manual mode; this is because of problems caused in the manufacturing of the pump and motor. 9 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/CE
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 7030230
• Report Number(s): SAND89-2964; ON: DE90013609
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140700* -- Solar Thermal Power Systems
42 ENGINEERING
420500 -- Engineering-- Materials Testing
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMMERCIALIZATION
CONTROL
CONTROL EQUIPMENT
CONTROL SYSTEMS
CORROSION
CSP
Concentrating Solar Power
DESIGN
ENERGY TRANSFER
EQUIPMENT
FABRICATION
FLOW REGULATORS
FLUID FLOW
HEAT TRANSFER
MAINTENANCE
MANUFACTURERS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS
MOLTEN SALTS
OPERATION
PACKAGING
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PIPES
POWER PLANTS
PUMPS
SALTS
SEALS
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS
SPECIFICATIONS
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
TEMPERATURE CONTROL
TESTING
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
VALVES
WEAR