ECEN 5007 SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS Lecture 9: Thermal Energy Storage and Hybridization

July 26, 2012 Manuel A. Silva, Dr.Ing. - Manuel J. Blanco, Ph.D., Dr.Ing. TWTH 17:00-19:30 - Class Room: ECCR 1B55 Office Hours: TWTH 15:30-16:30

Dispatchability
The ability to dispatch power. Dispatchable generation refers to sources of electricity that can be dispatched at the request of power grid operators; that is, it can be turned on or off upon demand

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Thermal storage and Hybrization

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STP unique features within the RE technologies:

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Thermal energy storage. Thermal energy produced by the solar field can be stored, decoupling power generation from solar resource. Hybridization. Ability to hybridize with an alternative energy source fossil or renewable fuel.

Thermal energy storage and/or hybridization provide the basis for CSP to be:
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Dispatchable Stable Reliable

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Thermal Energy Storage

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Andasol Gemasolar

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Why Energy Storage?

Increase operational stability } Reduce intermittence. } Increase plant utilization and capacity factor } Permits time-shifted operation (decouples electricity generation from solar energy collection) } Reduce generation cost (as long as storage + solar field oversizing results cheaper than increasing rated power!)
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Profile of the electricity demand

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Solar-only electricity generation

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Solar + Thermal Storage

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Thermal energy storage

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A fraction of the thermal energy produced at the solar field is stored, increasing the internal energy of the storage medium.
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Sensible heat Latent heat (Thermochemical) Solar Multiple = (thermal power delivered by the field at design conditions) / (thermal power required to generate rated electric power) SM > 1

The solar field has to be oversized

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Types of thermal storage

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By utilization
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Short term
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Provide operational stability Increase capacity factor Shift electrical generation hours

Medium term
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By type
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Direct (same substance as working fluid, does not require HX) Indirect (different substance, requires HX)

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Technical Requirements for TES materials

High energy density (per-unit mass or per-unit volume) } Good heat diffusivity and conductivity } Good heat transfer between heat transfer fluid (HTF) and the storage medium } Mechanical and chemical stability at operating conditions } Chemical compatibility between HTF, heat exchanger and/or storage medium } Reversibility for a large number of charging/discharging cycles } Low thermal losses } Easy to control
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Thermal storage options

Solid materials

Liquid materials

Source: Gil, A. et al. State of the art on high temperature thermal energy storage for power generation.  Part 1Concepts, materials and modellization. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. January 2010


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Thermal storage options - PCM

Source: Gil, A. et al. State of the art on high temperature thermal energy storage for power generation.  Part 1Concepts, materials and modellization. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. January 2010

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Thermal storage past experiences

Source: Survey of thermal storage for parabolic trough power plants, Pilkington Solar Int. (2000)
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TES STP commercial installations

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Short term: pressurized water

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PS10 and PS20

Mid term: Molten salt, 2 tank

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Direct (CRS) Gema Solar (Solar Tres) Indirect (PT) Andasol I

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Short term TES

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PS10 / PS20

Pressurized water Sliding pressure during discharge Pressure vessel

PS10 TES main characteristics Max. pressure: 40 bar Thermal capacity: 20 MWh (50 min at 50% load) Total Volume: 600 m3 4 tanks, sequentially operated
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Molten salt storage, 2 tank, direct

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Thermal capacity proportional to T Hot cold tank design Commercial (salt widely used in process industry) High operation T limited (salt decomposition) Need for heat tracing (risk of freezing) Costly equipment (pumps, valves)

Solar Two (Barstow, CA)

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Molten salt TES

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GEMASOLAR (Torresol Energy)

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GEMASOLAR
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Type: Fluid: Freezing point: Capacity: Tank size: Molten salt mass: T cold tank: T hot tank:

2 tanks, molten salts NO3 mixture (60% NaNO3 - 40% KNO3) 223C 640 MWh (~15 h full load operation) 14 m high, 23 m diameter 8000 tons approx 290 C 565C

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Molten salt TES, 2 tanks, indirect ANDASOL and other

Provides large storage capacity to PT plants using thermal oil as HTF Andasol (Granada, Spain)

Needs oil-to-salt HXs Freezing point = 220 oC T max. limited by HTF Large volumes (small T) Increases investment

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Andasol TES Technical characterisitics

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Type: Fluid: Freezing point: Capacity: Tank size: Molten salt mass: T cold tank: T hot tank:

2 tanks, molten salts NO3 mixture (60% NaNO3 - 40% KNO3) 223C 1,010 MWh (~7.5 h full load operation) 14 m high, 37 m diameter 27,500 tons 292 C 386C

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ANDASOL

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R&D Activities. Concrete storage Dual medium

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R&D activities. Thermocline, phase change, sand storage

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R&D activities. Thermocline

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Single tank system, . Hot and cold fluids separated by stratification; the zone between the hot and cold fluids is called the thermocline. Usually a filler material is used to help the thermocline effect. Sandia National Laboratories identified quartzite rock and silica sands as potential filler materials. Depending on the cost of the storage fluid, the thermocline can result in a substantially low cost storage system. This system has an additional advantage: most of the storage fluid can be replaced with a low cost filler material, for example, quartzite rock and sand.

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Thermocline tank operation

Description of Thermocline System
HTF from Field

A thermocline molten salt system: - Uses a single tank to storage energy - Has a thermal gradient that separates the hot from cold fluid. - Uses a low-cost filler material to displace higher-cost molten nitrate salt.
Salt-to-Oil Heat Exchanger

HTF Return Thermocline Tank

SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY

Sun Lab
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO

Latent heat storage (Phase change)

Isothermal thermal energy storage as the latent heat of phase changephase change materials (PCM). } Reduced in size compared to single-phase sensible heating systems. } Heat transfer design and media selection are more difficult, } Degradation of salts after moderate number of freezemelt cycles (experience with low-temp salts). } Phase change materials allow large amounts of energy to be stored in relatively small volumes, resulting in some of the lowest storage media costs of any storage concepts.
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R&D activities. Phase change. Cascaded LHS

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R&D activities. Phase change. DISTOR project

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R&D activities. Sand (fluidised bed)

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TES costs and benefits

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Improves plant controlability and operability, expanding de range of possible operating strategies Facilitates Dispatchability If adequately designed, can improve
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The efficiency of the plant The profitability of the project

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Extends lifetime of equipment (reduces the number of stratstop cycles) Increases investment
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Oversized solar field Tanks, HX, molten salt management equipment, heat tracing, safety

Increases O&M costs

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Simulating operational strategies with EOS Clear day, summer

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Simulating operational strategies with EOS Cloudy day, winter

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fundidas y almacenamiento 4. Ventajas del sistema de almacenamiento trmico

Operacin de una central de torre, receptor y almacenamiento de sales fundidas en verano e invierno
Central de 17 MWe & 15 horas de almacenamiento. 24h de produccin en verano
Energa trmica del campo solar Energa trmica en el tanque

Gemasolar

Produccin de energa

Torresol Energy

Madrid, 12 de mayo de 2011

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Hybridization options

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SEGS 30 MW

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Andasol-type plants (thermal storage and auxiliary boiler)

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ISCCS
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3 projects in North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Egypt)

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Unit #1 (100 kW hybrid GT) (Aora Solar, Israel)

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GEEN 4830 ECEN 5007

14/7/10

Hybridization Costs and benefits

Improves controlability and operability Faciltates dispatchability Improves plant overall efficiency Improves capacity factor Improves profitability of the plant Extends equipment lifetime Increases investment and O&M costs CO2 emmissions

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