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Title: Thermal Analysis of Insulation Design for a Thermal Energy Storage Silo Containment for Long-Duration Electricity Storage

Abstract

Greater renewable energy penetration requires increasing energy storage capacity. Long-duration energy storage (LDES) will be required to balance intermittent renewable energy supply with daily, weekly, and even seasonal supply changes. At these timescales, traditional electrochemical batteries become uneconomical. Solid-particle thermal energy storage (TES) is a viable solution to this issue. Solid particles can achieve higher temperatures (>1,100°C) than the molten salt used in traditional concentrated solar power (CSP) TES systems. Higher temperatures yield higher power cycle thermal-electrical conversion efficiencies. However, at these higher temperatures, greater heat loss, and insulation material cost could negate the efficiency benefits. In this work, the insulation design of a full-size 3D containment silo capable of storing 5.51 GWht for the purpose of LDES for grid electricity was thermally analyzed. Proposed operating conditions were simulated using transient FEA methods. After 5 days (120 h) of storage, <3% thermal energy loss was achieved at a design storage temperature of 1,200°C. Material thermal limits were considered and met. Sensitivity of the storage system's performance to operational, climate, and temporal changes were also studied. These changes had minimal impacts on the thermal efficiency of the system but did have meaningful implications for other aspects of the insulation design.

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
OSTI Identifier:
1633468
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1660092
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5500-76766
Journal ID: ISSN 2296-598X; 99
Grant/Contract Number:  
18/CJ000/07/05; AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Frontiers in Energy Research
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Frontiers in Energy Research Journal Volume: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 2296-598X
Publisher:
Frontiers Research Foundation
Country of Publication:
Switzerland
Language:
English
Subject:
25 ENERGY STORAGE; thermal energy storage; long-duration electricity storage; particle thermal energy storage; renewable energy; FEA

Citation Formats

Gifford, Jeffrey, Ma, Zhiwen, and Davenport, Patrick. Thermal Analysis of Insulation Design for a Thermal Energy Storage Silo Containment for Long-Duration Electricity Storage. Switzerland: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.3389/fenrg.2020.00099.
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Gifford, Jeffrey, Ma, Zhiwen, & Davenport, Patrick. Thermal Analysis of Insulation Design for a Thermal Energy Storage Silo Containment for Long-Duration Electricity Storage. Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2020.00099
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Gifford, Jeffrey, Ma, Zhiwen, and Davenport, Patrick. Tue . "Thermal Analysis of Insulation Design for a Thermal Energy Storage Silo Containment for Long-Duration Electricity Storage". Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2020.00099.
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@article{osti_1633468,
title = {Thermal Analysis of Insulation Design for a Thermal Energy Storage Silo Containment for Long-Duration Electricity Storage},
author = {Gifford, Jeffrey and Ma, Zhiwen and Davenport, Patrick},
abstractNote = {Greater renewable energy penetration requires increasing energy storage capacity. Long-duration energy storage (LDES) will be required to balance intermittent renewable energy supply with daily, weekly, and even seasonal supply changes. At these timescales, traditional electrochemical batteries become uneconomical. Solid-particle thermal energy storage (TES) is a viable solution to this issue. Solid particles can achieve higher temperatures (>1,100°C) than the molten salt used in traditional concentrated solar power (CSP) TES systems. Higher temperatures yield higher power cycle thermal-electrical conversion efficiencies. However, at these higher temperatures, greater heat loss, and insulation material cost could negate the efficiency benefits. In this work, the insulation design of a full-size 3D containment silo capable of storing 5.51 GWht for the purpose of LDES for grid electricity was thermally analyzed. Proposed operating conditions were simulated using transient FEA methods. After 5 days (120 h) of storage, <3% thermal energy loss was achieved at a design storage temperature of 1,200°C. Material thermal limits were considered and met. Sensitivity of the storage system's performance to operational, climate, and temporal changes were also studied. These changes had minimal impacts on the thermal efficiency of the system but did have meaningful implications for other aspects of the insulation design.},
doi = {10.3389/fenrg.2020.00099},
journal = {Frontiers in Energy Research},
number = ,
volume = 8,
place = {Switzerland},
year = {Tue Jun 16 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Tue Jun 16 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}
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Journal Article:
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2020.00099
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Cited by: 12 works
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Works referenced in this record:

Numerical modeling and optimization of an insulation system for underground thermal energy storage
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