[Q] will 12,100 pounds of molten salt at a temperature of 1050 stored in a 3’ by 8’ stora

[COCO1978]

Numbers are just numbers.... one os the main problems when working with salts is the system configuration, what do you have in mind? what king of heat exchanger for 500f delta T?? which HTF to heat salts? direct steam? I have been working (and I am) with molten salt for some years and can tell you that once the numbers are correct, you have still 99% fo the work to do....

[Moontanman]

I have a few questions,

 

How do you transfer the heat from the solar collectors to the salt tank?

 

If you are pumping molten salt through the solar collector the salt would freeze in the lines at night. This would cause a problem in the morning because you can't pump a solid.

 

Do you intend to pump molten salt to the water tank to get steam?

 

What do you intend to use as an insulator on the molten salt tank?

 

Do you intend to use a back up source of heat to keep the salt molten during times of cloudy days?

 

I think it would be better to use another liquid to transfer heat from the solar collector to the molten salt tank and to put a heat exchanger in the molten salt tank to generate steam by pumping water through it instead of pumping salt to the water tank.

 

How do you generate such high temps from a solar collector? Do you concentrate sunlight via lenses or mirrors?

[COCO1978]

Let me talk about comercial configuration:

 

HTF: fluid from collectors to steam generation and TES sytem (day operation) and from TES system to steam generation. Currently this HTF is dotherm A or Therminol VP1 but those fluids has a limit of temperatura in 400ºC (usually limited to 393 by DCS).

 

Salt is storaged in a system called cold tank-hot tank are two tanks comunicated by a shell and tubes hear exchangers train (usually 6).

 

HTF gives energy (day operation) crossing the heat exchangers while salts flows from the cold to the hot tank (crossing the shell). During the night salts heat HTF by doing the opposite. This hot oins enter in steam generation to produce steam.

 

Anybody could ask... why we don't exchange directly salt with water?? because in a heat exchanger, if you put water and salts... probably will block the heatex and will eb very difficult ro melt again.

 

Typical insulation for salt tanks in 300mm (woolrock)

 

(sorry for my english)