A new hot salt pump has been developed for molten salt solar power tower applications that will reduce the capital cost of the plant, eliminate many of the piping, valve and sump problems. Benefits at a glance makes fluctuating renewable energy dispatchable longterm storage of renewable energy decarbonized power generation retrofitting of thermal power plants, e. Neither the united states nor atomic energy commission, nor any of their employees, nor any of. Many thermal solar power plants use thermal oil as heat transfer fluid, and molten salts as thermal energy storage. Thermal energy storage enables power generation on cloudy days, or long after sunset. Power towers also known as central tower power plants or heliostat power.
Details of the life cycle assessment have been published elsewhere 1. If a molten salt reactor loses electric power as happened at the fukushima plant following the tsunami, the fuel automatically drains into an auxiliary tank and freezes solid in a few hours. Molten salt storage in concentrated solar power plants could meet the electricityondemand role of coal and gas. Concentrated solar power plants belong to the category of clean sources of. Worlds first molten salt solar plant produces power at night. Craig tyner worked on molten salt storage at sandia national laboratories and now plans longterm technology strategy for esolar, a pasadena, calif. A new correlation for predicting the free convection loss from solar dish concentrating receivers. Successful operation of the converted plant, called solar two, will reduce economic risks in building. Pdf of all the technologies being developed for solar thermal power.
High efficiency nuclear power plants using liquid fluoride. A new hotsalt pump has been developed for molten salt solar power tower applications that will reduce the capital cost of the plant, eliminate many of the piping, valve and sump problems. In addition, overall cost for the technology must continue to decline to be competitive with alternative generation methods. There is growing awareness that nuclear energy is needed to complement intermittent energy sources and to avoid pollution from fossil fuels. This month, the italian utility enel unveiled archimede, the first concentrating solar power csp plant in the world to use molten salts for heat transfer and storage, and the first to be fully. Molten salt is used as a heat transfer fluid htf and thermal energy storage tes in solar power plants. Assessment of improved molten salt solar tower plants. Molten salt is the most common fluid medium used in concentrated solar thermal plants. An existing simulation model at fraunhofer ise has been adapted to. With this, selected molten salt power plants were specified and then modeled.
Siegel sandia national laboratories, po box 969 livermore, ca 94551, usa and sandia national laboratories, po box 5800 albuquerque, new mexico 87185, usa abstract. There are a number of components in csp plants that require sealing, including valves, flanges, pumps, piping, joints and reflector connections. It has been working for one year and more, now your text explains what is really new. Molten salt thermal energy storage materials for solar power generation ramana g. New molten salt thorium reactor powers up for first time. With extensive turnkey power plant and equipment experience, ge renewable. This process, also known as the rankine cycle is similar to a standard coalfired power plant, except it is fuelled by clean and free solar energy. Recently several new heat transfer fluids htf have been proposed and analyzed with the aim of reducing the levelized costs of electricity lcoe of parabolic trough power plants. First molten salt power plant approved in california the most common complaint lodged against solar power is that say it with me now its only able to provide power when its light outside. The worlds first molten salt concentrating solar power plant. Could nextgen reactors spark revival in nuclear power. W7405erg26 a new approach to the design of steam generators for molten salt reactor power plants a.
Comparative lca of two thermal energy storage systems for. First molten salt solar thermal power plant runs at full. Molten salt storage in concentrated solar power plants could meet the. Waas i this report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the united states government. Terry murphy who is the president of solarreserve says, molten salt is the secret sauce.
Some power towers use molten salt in place of the water and steam. The temperature level increase of molten salt solar tower plants is one. Thoriumbased nuclear power generation is fueled primarily by the nuclear fission of the isotope uranium233 produced from the fertile element thorium. This kind of solar energy operates by using curved mirrors to focus incoming solar energy on a single tower, in the form of heat. In general, a nuclear reactor is a key device of nuclear power plants, nuclear research facilities or nuclear propelled ships. Nevadas new molten salt solar plant will produce power. The molten salt design being developed at nrg is known as the salt irradiation experiment salient. This power plant will consume molten salt, water, suns heat and rocket science to generate electricity. They offer both a higher energy density through the proper selection of reactant pairs as well as a higher power density by means of a high conductivity molten salt electrolyte.
Solar tower power plants of molten salt external receivers. Most molten salt design require highly enriched lithium7, which is not currently available in anything. Engineers from rocketdyne are instrumental in developing this technology. The conversion involves installation of a new receiver, a new thermal storage system, and a new steam generator. Oil absorbs energy from sun light, and transfers it to a watersteam cycle across heat exchangers, to be converted into electric energy by means of a turbogenerator, or to be stored in a thermal energy storage system so that it can be later transferred to the watersteam cycle. That hot molten salt can be used immediately to generate steam and electricity, or it can be stored and used at a later time. The driving force of corrosion is the lowering of free energy associated with the oxidation of a metal. Molten salt batteries are a class of primary and secondary electric batteries that use molten salts as an electrolyte. Generally speaking, there are a large number of molten salt for energy storage in solar thermal power plants, so the cost of constituent molten salt is specially important because it will directly affect the overall capital investment of thermal energy storage systems. A molten salt reactor msr is a class of nuclear fission reactor in which the primary nuclear reactor coolant andor the fuel is a molten salt mixture.
Solar power molten salt improved molten salt technology is increasing the efficiency and storage capacity of solar power plants while reducing solar thermal energy costs. The cost model provides a reference plant that interfaces with nrels system advisor model or sam. This plant will have an output of 110 mw and uses molten salt for energy. Introduction since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the.
Pdf solar tower power plants of molten salt external receivers. A large power tower plant can require thousands of computercontrolled heliostats that move to maintain point focus with. Harin ullal and craig turchi subcontract report nrelsr520058595 may 20. The cost model provides a reference plant that interfaces with nrels system advisor model or. Molten salt offers a way to store large amounts of heat with relatively small volumes of fluid helping stabilise the supply of power from intermittent sources like solar. One power tower pilot plant to molten nitrate salt technology. Molten salt makes it possible, and prices are falling fast. Pdf central receiver system solar power plant using molten salt. California approves its first molten salt solar power plant. Molten salt is used in the chemical and metals industries to transport heat, so industry has experience with it. A lftr is a type of molten salt reactor, significantly safer than a typical nuclear reactor. Incorporating supercritical steam turbines into advanced.
Molten salt power tower cost model for the system advisor. Molten nitrate salt development for thermal energy storage. The twoyearlong project will examine how efficiently and economically terrestials integral molten salt reactor imsr power plant can produce industrialscale hydrogen. Briggs oak ridge national laboratory, oak ridge, tennessee 37830 received august 4, 1969 revised october 10, 1969 moltensalt breeder reactors msbrs are being developed by the oak ridge national laboratory for generating lowcost power while. Pdf twotank molten salt storage for parabolic trough.
This paper analyses molten salt power plants as energy reservoirs that. Molten salt reactors and thorium energy 1st edition. Heat transfer fluids htf vary from water, heavy oil to molten salts. Advanced thermal storage system with novel molten salt. Msrs offer multiple advantages over conventional nuclear power plants, although for historical reasons they have not been deployed the concept was first established in the 1950s. Molten salt reactors is a comprehensive reference on the status of molten salt reactor msr research and thorium fuel utilization. Which of the three concept leads to the highest electricity generation for a given fusion power remains to be seen. Csp players and projects include the gemasolar plant built by torresol, which has demonstrated 24hour power in a 19.
In particular conceptual designs for an advanced 1 gwe power plant with turbine reheat and compressor intercooling at a. News image with the worlds need for energy continuing to grow, engineers are looking for solutions that not only increase the efficiency of power generation solutions, but. Nevadas new molten salt solar plant will be run by rocket scientists from pratt and whitney. System with novel molten salt december 8, 2011 april 30, 20 matthieu jonemann halotechnics, inc.
The inclusion of thermal energy storage is viewed as an essential aspect to the commercial viability of csp plants in the u. With almost no reduction in operating efficiency and low capital costs per kilowatthour compared to other solar energy storage system solutions. Department of metallurgical and materials engineering, the university of alabama, tuscaloosa, al 354870202, usa. The first commercial molten salt mixture was a common form of saltpeter, 60% sodium nitrate and 40% potassium nitrate. Conceptual study of central receiver systems with liquid. Concentrated solar power plants with molten salt storage hindawi. Table 8 shows the price of the commonly used commercial storage media. Molten salt a boost for solar power generation engineers. Companies such as solarreserve have championed the use of molten salt in solar thermal projects. To optimize the performance of the solar tower system of different regions. Electricity generation using molten salt technology. Concentrating solar power csp technologies are seen as the solar programs most attractive option for. Most common nuclear reactors are light water reactors lwr, that are based on the uranium fuel cycle and use an enriched uranium fuel 4% of u235 as a. Water, which compared to other hsfs, has the advantage that is free other than the cost of.
Pdf the increase of solar energy production has become a solution. A new type of storage plant has now reached commercial status, with the 19. Assessment of molten salt blankets for power plants. Molten nitrate salt development for thermal energy storage in parabolic trough solar power systems robert w. Lftrs use a combination of thorium a common element widely found in the earth and fluoride salts to. Index termsconcentrated solar power plant, concrete storage, life cycle assessment, molten salt storage, thermal energy storage.
Thorcon the doable molten salt reactor executive summary jack devanney. According to proponents, a thorium fuel cycle offers several potential advantages over a uranium fuel cycleincluding much greater abundance of thorium on earth, superior physical and nuclear fuel properties, and reduced nuclear waste production. Design of new molten salt thermal energy storage material. Molten salt thermal energy storage materials for solar. Sunlight is reflected from a field of tracking heliostats and concentrated onto the receiver, which heats up the molten salt to. Domestic material content in moltensalt concentrating. Is thorium the fuel of the future to revitalize nuclear. How to seal molten salts in concentrated solar plants.
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