An additively-manufactured molten salt-to-supercritical carbon di-oxide primary heat exchanger for solar thermal power generation – Design and techno-economic performance

Design of new molten salt thermal energy storage material for solar thermal power plant

In order to obtain molten salt with lower melting point, higher thermal stability and reduced cost relative to previously available materials, a variety of molten salt mixtures of alkali nitrates are investigated by experimental methods. However, since measurements are generally expensive and time-consuming, it is of interest to be able to predict melting point and the component of multi-compon...

A Novel Modeling of Molten-Salt Heat Storage Systems in Thermal Solar Power Plants

Many thermal solar power plants use thermal oil as heat transfer fluid, and molten salts as thermal energy storage. Oil absorbs energy from sun light, and transfers it to a water-steam 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 water-steam cycle. Th...

Production of Monosugars from Lignocellulosic Biomass in Molten Salt Hydrates: Process Design and Techno-Economic Analysis

ZnCl2 hydrate, the main molten salt used in biomass conversion, combined with low concentration HCl is an excellent solvent for the dissolution and hydrolysis of the carbohydrates present in lignocellulosic biomass. The most recalcitrant carbohydrate, cellulose, is dissolved in a residence time less than 1 h under mild conditions without significant degradation. This technology is referred to a...

Overview of Molten Salt Storage Systems and Material Development for Solar Thermal Power Plants

This paper gives an overview of thermal energy storage (TES) systems based on molten salts. It summarizes stateof-the-art molten salt TES systems. Storage systems in a research stage, such as the thermocline and floating barrier concepts, are also discussed. The paper summarizes previous work on molten salt material investigations at DLR. Experimental results of novel salt formulations with mel...

Cyclic Operation of Molten-Salt Thermal Energy Storage in Thermoclines for Solar Power Plants