IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v335y2025ics0360544225035157.html

Numerical analysis on temperature distribution and heat loss in the large-scale molten salt storage tank of CSP plant

Author

Listed:
  • Jia, Jiwei
  • Ma, Yancheng
  • Lu, Yuanwei
  • Lv, Shengnan
  • Li, Yujian
  • Wu, Yuting

Abstract

The heat storage tank is a key equipment in thermal energy storage technology with molten salt as the heat transfer and heat storage medium. Analyzing the temperature distribution and heat loss of storage tanks is crucial to improving the heat storage efficiency of molten salt. A thermal analysis model of the large-scale molten salt storage tank was established, and the influence of liquid level and heat storage temperature on its temperature distribution and heat loss was explored. The results show that the average temperature of the tank top inside surface is only lower by 1.27 K than that of the molten salt inside the tank due to radiation heat transfer between the molten salt liquid surface and the inside surface of the tank. A significant temperature difference and gradient are produced at the annular bottom plate near the tank bottom because the annular plate increases the local heat dissipation area. The heat loss of the tank bottom and tank top is almost not influenced by the liquid level change, with the heat loss transmitted by the tank top accounting for about 40 % of the total heat loss due to the thickness of the insulation layer on the tank top being thinner. The total heat loss is significantly influenced by the heat storage temperature, and the two are approximately linearly positively correlated. Radiation heat transfer has a significant influence on temperature distribution in the tank and heat loss. This study has a certain guiding significance for the optimization design and safety control of the large-scale molten salt storage tanks.

Suggested Citation

  • Jia, Jiwei & Ma, Yancheng & Lu, Yuanwei & Lv, Shengnan & Li, Yujian & Wu, Yuting, 2025. "Numerical analysis on temperature distribution and heat loss in the large-scale molten salt storage tank of CSP plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:335:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225035157
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.137873
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225035157
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.137873?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rodríguez, I. & Pérez-Segarra, C.D. & Lehmkuhl, O. & Oliva, A., 2013. "Modular object-oriented methodology for the resolution of molten salt storage tanks for CSP plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 402-414.
    2. Zhou, Xiaoming & Zhang, Zhu & Jiang, Yanni, 2025. "Design and thermodynamic analysis of 1050 MW coal-fired power unit coupled with molten salt thermal energy storage system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    3. Parrado, Cristóbal & Fontalvo, Armando & Ordóñez, Javier & Girard, Aymeric, 2025. "Optimizing dispatch strategies for CSP plants: A Monte Carlo simulation approach to maximize annual revenue in Chile’s renewable energy sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    4. Tagle-Salazar, Pablo D. & Prieto, Cristina & López-Román, Anton & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2023. "A transient heat losses model for two-tank storage systems with molten salts," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P1).
    5. Cavallaro, Fausto, 2010. "Fuzzy TOPSIS approach for assessing thermal-energy storage in concentrated solar power (CSP) systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 496-503, February.
    6. Rovira, Antonio & Montes, María José & Valdes, Manuel & Martínez-Val, José María, 2011. "Energy management in solar thermal power plants with double thermal storage system and subdivided solar field," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(11), pages 4055-4066.
    7. Tian, Y. & Zhao, C.Y., 2013. "A review of solar collectors and thermal energy storage in solar thermal applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 538-553.
    8. Herrmann, Ulf & Kelly, Bruce & Price, Henry, 2004. "Two-tank molten salt storage for parabolic trough solar power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 883-893.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Suárez, Christian & Iranzo, Alfredo & Pino, F.J. & Guerra, J., 2015. "Transient analysis of the cooling process of molten salt thermal storage tanks due to standby heat loss," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 56-65.
    2. Sait, Hani H. & Martinez-Val, Jose M. & Abbas, Ruben & Munoz-Anton, Javier, 2015. "Fresnel-based modular solar fields for performance/cost optimization in solar thermal power plants: A comparison with parabolic trough collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 175-189.
    3. Tagle-Salazar, Pablo D. & Prieto, Cristina & López-Román, Anton & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2023. "A transient heat losses model for two-tank storage systems with molten salts," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P1).
    4. Desideri, Umberto & Campana, Pietro Elia, 2014. "Analysis and comparison between a concentrating solar and a photovoltaic power plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 422-433.
    5. Corral, Nicolás & Anrique, Nicolás & Fernandes, Dalila & Parrado, Cristóbal & Cáceres, Gustavo, 2012. "Power, placement and LEC evaluation to install CSP plants in northern Chile," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(9), pages 6678-6685.
    6. Xu, Ben & Li, Peiwen & Chan, Cholik, 2015. "Application of phase change materials for thermal energy storage in concentrated solar thermal power plants: A review to recent developments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 286-307.
    7. Zhou, Dan & Wu, Shaowen & Wu, Zhigen & Yu, Xingjuan, 2021. "Thermal performance analysis of multi-slab phase change thermal energy storage unit with heat transfer enhancement approaches," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 46-56.
    8. Qin, Frank G.F. & Yang, Xiaoping & Ding, Zhan & Zuo, Yuanzhi & Shao, Youyan & Jiang, Runhua & Yang, Xiaoxi, 2012. "Thermocline stability criterions in single-tanks of molten salt thermal energy storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 816-821.
    9. Cavallaro, Fausto & Zavadskas, Edmundas Kazimieras & Streimikiene, Dalia & Mardani, Abbas, 2019. "Assessment of concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies based on a modified intuitionistic fuzzy topsis and trigonometric entropy weights," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 258-270.
    10. Cristina Prieto & Adrian Blindu & Luisa F. Cabeza & Juan Valverde & Guillermo García, 2023. "Molten Salts Tanks Thermal Energy Storage: Aspects to Consider during Design," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-19, December.
    11. Jian, Yongfang & Falcoz, Quentin & Neveu, Pierre & Bai, Fengwu & Wang, Yan & Wang, Zhifeng, 2015. "Design and optimization of solid thermal energy storage modules for solar thermal power plant applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 30-42.
    12. Pintaldi, Sergio & Perfumo, Cristian & Sethuvenkatraman, Subbu & White, Stephen & Rosengarten, Gary, 2015. "A review of thermal energy storage technologies and control approaches for solar cooling," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 975-995.
    13. Ioan Sarbu & Calin Sebarchievici, 2018. "A Comprehensive Review of Thermal Energy Storage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-32, January.
    14. Ravaghi-Ardebili, Zohreh & Manenti, Flavio, 2015. "Unified modeling and feasibility study of novel green pathway of biomass to methanol/dimethylether," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 278-294.
    15. Hoz, Jordi de la & Martín, Helena & Montalà, Montserrat & Matas, José & Guzman, Ramon, 2018. "Assessing the 2014 retroactive regulatory framework applied to the concentrating solar power systems in Spain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1377-1399.
    16. Khamlich, Imane & Zeng, Kuo & Flamant, Gilles & Baeyens, Jan & Zou, Chongzhe & Li, Jun & Yang, Xinyi & He, Xiao & Liu, Qingchuan & Yang, Haiping & Yang, Qing & Chen, Hanping, 2021. "Technical and economic assessment of thermal energy storage in concentrated solar power plants within a spot electricity market," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    17. Rovira, Antonio & Montes, María José & Valdes, Manuel & Martínez-Val, José María, 2011. "Energy management in solar thermal power plants with double thermal storage system and subdivided solar field," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(11), pages 4055-4066.
    18. Pelay, Ugo & Luo, Lingai & Fan, Yilin & Stitou, Driss & Rood, Mark, 2017. "Thermal energy storage systems for concentrated solar power plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 82-100.
    19. Islam, Md Tasbirul & Huda, Nazmul & Abdullah, A.B. & Saidur, R., 2018. "A comprehensive review of state-of-the-art concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies: Current status and research trends," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 987-1018.
    20. Opolot, Michael & Zhao, Chunrong & Liu, Ming & Mancin, Simone & Bruno, Frank & Hooman, Kamel, 2022. "A review of high temperature (≥ 500 °C) latent heat thermal energy storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:335:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225035157. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.