Thermal Performance Evaluation of Two Thermal Energy Storage Tank Design Concepts for Use with a Solid Particle Receiver-Based Solar Power Tower

Energies

Abdelrahman El-Leathy³  Sheldon Jeter²  Hany Al-Ansary³  Said Abdel-Khalik²  Jonathan Roop²  Matthew Golob²  Syed Danish¹  Abdulaziz Alrished³  Eldwin Djajadiwinata³  Zeyad Al-Suhaibani³ 

[1] Sustainable Energy Technologies Center, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia; E-Mail:;George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; E-Mails:;Mechanical Engineering Department, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia; E-Mails:

关键词: central receiver;    high temperature insulation;    thermal energy storage;    sand;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en7128201

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

This paper presents the results of an extensive study of two thermal energy storage (TES) systems. The goal of the research is to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity. A small-scale TES system was first built. The inner to outer layers were made of firebrick (FB), autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) and reinforced concrete brick (CB). The experiments were conducted at temperatures of up to 1000 °C for sustained periods of time. AAC was found to be prone to cracking at temperatures exceeding 900 °C; as a result, AAC was eliminated from the second TES system. The second, larger-scale TES system was subsequently built of multiple layers of readily available materials, namely, insulating firebrick (IFB), perlite concrete (PC), expansion joint (EJ), and CB. All of the surfaces were instrumented with thermocouples to estimate the heat loss from the system. The temperature was maintained at approximately 800 °C to approximate steady state conditions closely. The steady state heat loss was determined to be approximately 4.4% for a day. The results indicate that high-temperature TES systems can be constructed of readily available materials while meeting the heat loss requirements for a falling particle receiver system, thereby contributing to reducing the overall cost of concentrating solar power systems.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.