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Solar Salt – Pushing an old material for energy storage to a new limit

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  • Bonk, Alexander
  • Braun, Markus
  • Sötz, Veronika A.
  • Bauer, Thomas

Abstract

The implementation of inexpensive and reliable energy storage technologies is crucial for the decarbonisation of energy intensive industry branches and energy supply. Sensible thermal energy storage (TES) in molten salts is a key technology for storage of heat in the scale of gigawatt hours but currently limited to operating temperatures of 560 °C. Increasing the maximum operating temperature while maintaining thermal stability of the storage medium is one of the main challenges next-Generation TES systems are facing. Extending the upper temperature limit by only 40 °C increases the storage capacity by more than 16% allowing for more compact storage designs and cost savings in the $ million-range for large scale storage units. Here we propose a novel storage technology from a materials point of view that pushes the thermal stability limit of Solar Salt up to 600 °C by simply but effectively sealing the storage unit including the gas system. The concentration of the unstable nitrite ion and of the corrosive oxide ion could be reduced by 16% and 75%, respectively at 600 °C, compared to a salt system with open atmosphere. We present clear evidence of the enhanced thermal stability in long-term, 100 g-scale test campaigns at previously unequalled temperatures. These findings constitute a major advance in the design and engineering of next generation storage systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Bonk, Alexander & Braun, Markus & Sötz, Veronika A. & Bauer, Thomas, 2020. "Solar Salt – Pushing an old material for energy storage to a new limit," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:262:y:2020:i:c:s0306261920300477
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.114535
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bauer, Thomas & Pfleger, Nicole & Breidenbach, Nils & Eck, Markus & Laing, Doerte & Kaesche, Stefanie, 2013. "Material aspects of Solar Salt for sensible heat storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 1114-1119.
    2. Robert Pitz-Paal, 2017. "Concentrating solar power: Still small but learning fast," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 2(7), pages 1-2, July.
    3. Fernández, Angel G. & Gomez-Vidal, Judith & Oró, Eduard & Kruizenga, Alan & Solé, Aran & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2019. "Mainstreaming commercial CSP systems: A technology review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 152-176.
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    Cited by:

    1. Julian Steinbrecher & Markus Braun & Thomas Bauer & Sebastian Kunkel & Alexander Bonk, 2023. "Solar Salt above 600 °C: Impact of Experimental Design on Thermodynamic Stability Results," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-16, July.
    2. Tescari, Stefania & Neumann, Nicole Carina & Sundarraj, Pradeepkumar & Moumin, Gkiokchan & Rincon Duarte, Juan Pablo & Linder, Marc & Roeb, Martin, 2022. "Storing solar energy in continuously moving redox particles – Experimental analysis of charging and discharging reactors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    3. Caron, Simon & Garrido, Jorge & Ballestrín, Jesus & Sutter, Florian & Röger, Marc & Manzano-Agugliaro, Francisco, 2022. "A comparative analysis of opto-thermal figures of merit for high temperature solar thermal absorber coatings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    4. Zhang, Shuai & Yan, Yuying, 2023. "Energy, exergy and economic analysis of ceramic foam-enhanced molten salt as phase change material for medium- and high-temperature thermal energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PA).

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