Thermodynamic and Fluidic Investigation of Direct Contact Solid Heat Storage for Solar Tower Power Plants
Abstract
Central receiver power plants using air as heat transfer medium hold great potential to unite high conversion efficiencies with particularly cost-effective solutions [Romero et al., 2002; Pitz-Paal et al., 2005; Sargent & Lundy, 2003]. Regenerator storage based on directly heated solid media is a suitable heat storage technology for this type of power plants. The technology combines a simple setup with the applicability to highest temperatures and has best prospects for a deployment in large installations [Haeger et al., 1994; Fricker, 2004; Zunft et al., 2009; Gil et al., 2010; Medrano et al., 2010]. These aspects indicate good opportunities for a near-term commercialization [Zunft et al., 2011]. However, this storage type still needs a solar-specific adaptation to be market-ready, where upscalability of today’s solutions and cost-efficiency of their implementations are some of the major topics. Among other technical uncertainties, open questions exist with respect to possible air flow maldistributions that may imply the risk of performance losses.