Component-dependent thermal properties of molten salt eutectics for solar thermal energy storage: Experiments, molecular simulation and applications

Zhang, Shuai; Li, Ziyuan; Wang, Huan; Tian, Limei; Jin, Yingai; Alston, Mark; Yan, Yuying

doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2022.118333

Cited by 21 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…However, solar energy is intermittent and discontinuous, which results in low utilization efficiency and energy vacancies in residential areas. Thermal energy storage technologies could balance the energy demand between different times (e.g., daytime and night-time; summer and winter) and different regions, and have been regarded as promising technologies for assisting solar energy applications [ 2 , 3 ]. Thermal energy storage technologies are typically divided into three categories, i.e., latent heat storage, sensible heat storage, and thermochemical heat storage [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomistic Insights into the Effect of Functional Groups on the Adsorption of Water by Activated Carbon for Heat Energy Storage

Duan,

Qian,

Tuo

et al. 2023

Molecules

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Adsorption heat storage holds great promise for solar energy applications. The development of new adsorbent materials is currently the research focus in this area. The present work designs several activated carbon models with different functional groups, including -OH, -NH2, -COOH, and -SO3H, and explores the influence of functional groups’ categories and numbers on the water adsorption capacity of the activated carbon using the GCMC method. The adsorption mechanism between functional groups and water molecules is analyzed using density functional theory. The results show that the functional groups could significantly improve the water adsorption capacity of activated carbon due to the hydrogen bond between functional groups and water molecules. In the scope of this paper, under low pressure, the activated carbon with -SO3H exhibits the best adsorption capacity, followed by the activated carbon with -COOH. Under low and medium pressure, increasing the number of -SO3H functional groups could increase the water adsorption capacity; however, when the pressure is high, increasing the functional group numbers might decrease the water adsorption capacity. As the temperature increases, the water adsorption capacity of activated carbons decreases, and the activated carbon with -SO3H is proven to have excellent application prospects in heat energy storage.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomistic Insights into the Effect of Functional Groups on the Adsorption of Water by Activated Carbon for Heat Energy Storage

Duan,

Qian,

Tuo

et al. 2023

Molecules

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“…The difference in temperature of the molten salt tanks acts as a multiplier for the equation. The value of heat capacity changes with the change in temperature, and a more significant change in temperature results in a more excellent deal of Q (Song and Wu, 2017;Arias et al, 2022;Hua et al, 2022;Zhang et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-adaptive heat extraction controller for solar thermal tower operational with molten salt tanks

Ahmed,

Guanghua,

Akram

et al. 2023

Front. Energy Res.

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Molten salts are commonly used in solar thermal power plants to store heat when sunlight is unavailable. However, solidifying the salts can lead to operational interruptions and prevent an optimal energy output. A self-adaptive heat extraction method has been proposed to regulate salt pipeline temperatures, enabling continuous operations that mitigate unplanned shut-downs. Such a method focuses on maintaining operational temperatures and preventing interferences caused by the freezing of the salts. The proposed Self-Adaptive Heat Extraction Controller (SAHEC) relies on fuzzy logic integrated into MATLAB Simulink to ensure optimal heat extraction control utilizing four distinct temperature variables. Modeling this approach through a created MATLAB-based simulation reveals that SAHEC offers an undeniable improvement over standard conventional methods for manipulating temperatures.

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“…9,10 Furthermore, most studies only consider thermal storage for solar energy, while this review presents energy storage for two alternative energy sources, solar and nuclear energy. [11][12][13]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There has not been any review of molten salts as comprehensive and all‐inclusive as this one in a long time 9,10 . Furthermore, most studies only consider thermal storage for solar energy, while this review presents energy storage for two alternative energy sources, solar and nuclear energy 11‐13 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molten salts: Potential candidates for thermal energy storage applications

Bhatnagar

Siddiqui

Sreedhar

et al. 2022

Intl J of Energy Research

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Summary Molten salts as thermal energy storage (TES) materials are gaining the attention of researchers worldwide due to their attributes like low vapor pressure, non‐toxic nature, low cost and flexibility, high thermal stability, wide range of applications etc. This review presents potential applications of molten salts in solar and nuclear TES and the factors influencing their performance. Ternary salts (Hitec salt, Hitec XL) are found to be best suited for concentrated solar plants due to their lower melting point and higher efficiency. Two‐tank direct energy storage system is found to be more economical due to the inexpensive salts (KCl‐MgCl2), while thermoclines are found to be more thermally efficient due to the power cycles involved and the high volumetric heat capacity of the salts involved (LiF‐NaF‐KF). Heat storage density has been given special focus in this review and methods to increase the same in terms of salt composition changes are discussed in the paper. Methods of concatenating energy storage systems with nuclear power plants are also discussed with different types of nuclear reactors like MHTGR, PAHTR, VHTR, etc. Nanomodifications of molten salts are done to improve heat transfer properties and efficiency of the transfer. The best dopants for such modifications were found to be TiO2, SiO2, MWCNTs, etc. Future challenges for large scale deployment of molten salts viz., high volume expansion ratio, low thermal conductivity, incongruent melting, corrosion, etc., are listed and discussed. Corrosion of molten salts and its mitigation has been discussed in detail for developing next‐generation storage systems and its remedies are also discussed.

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Component-dependent thermal properties of molten salt eutectics for solar thermal energy storage: Experiments, molecular simulation and applications

Cited by 21 publications

References 47 publications

Atomistic Insights into the Effect of Functional Groups on the Adsorption of Water by Activated Carbon for Heat Energy Storage

Atomistic Insights into the Effect of Functional Groups on the Adsorption of Water by Activated Carbon for Heat Energy Storage

Self-adaptive heat extraction controller for solar thermal tower operational with molten salt tanks

Molten salts: Potential candidates for thermal energy storage applications

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