Molten Salt-Carbon Nanotube Thermal Energy Storage for Concentrating Solar Power Systems Final Report

Michael Schuller ; Frank Little ; Darren Malik ; Matt Betts ; Qian Shao ; Jun Luo ; Wan Zhong ; Sandhya Shankar ; Ashwin Padmanaban

关键词: CARBONATES;    COMPOSITE MATERIALS;    CORROSION;    DRYING;    ELECTRICITY;    ENERGY STORAGE;    MELTING POINTS;    MOLTEN SALTS;    NANOTUBES;    NITRATES;    POWER SYSTEMS;    SPECIFIC HEAT;    STABILITY;    STAINLESS STEELS;    THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY;    THERMAL CYCLING solar thermal energy storage nanomaterial specific heat;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1036948
RP-ID  :  DOE/GO18154
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1036948
Others  :  TRN: US201209%%258

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

We demonstrated that adding nanoparticles to a molten salt would increase its utility as a thermal energy storage medium for a concentrating solar power system. Specifically, we demonstrated that we could increase the specific heat of nitrate and carbonate salts containing 1% or less of alumina nanoparticles. We fabricated the composite materials using both evaporative and air drying methods. We tested several thermophysical properties of the composite materials, including the specific heat, thermal conductivity, latent heat, and melting point. We also assessed the stability of the composite material with repeated thermal cycling and the effects of adding the nanoparticles on the corrosion of stainless steel by the composite salt. Our results indicate that stable, repeatable 25-50% improvements in specific heat are possible for these materials. We found that using these composite salts as the thermal energy storage material for a concentrating solar thermal power system can reduce the levelized cost of electricity by 10-20%. We conclude that these materials are worth further development and inclusion in future concentrating solar power systems.