Operation of Large-Scale Pumps and Valves in Molten Salt

Abstract

The molten salt pump and valve (P&V) test loops at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) operated between Jan. 1988 and Oct. 1990. The purpose of the P&V test was to demonstrate the performance, reliability, and service life of full-scale hot and cold salt pumps and valves for use in commercial central receiver solar power plants. The P&V test hardware consists of two pumped loops; the “Hot Loop” to simulate the hot (565°C) side of the receiver and the “Cold Loop” to simulate the receiver’s cold (285°C) side. Each loop contains a pump and five valves sized to be representative of a conceptual 60-MWe commercial solar power plant design. The hot loop accumulated over 6700 hours of operation and the cold loop over 2500 hours of operation. This project has demonstrated that standard commercial scale pump and valve designs will work in molten salt. The test also exposed some pitfalls that must be avoided in specifying such equipment. Although certainly not all of the pitfalls were discovered, careful design and specification should result in reliable or at least workable equipment.

Investigation on the unsteady pressure pulsations and related vortical structures in a molten salt pump

“…Compared with conventional centrifugal pump with volute, the flow structures of the MSP are different and complex due to the suction type and the multistage. In Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF), Barth and Smith et al 6,7 operated the test loops to demonstrate the performance, bearing reliability, service life of MSPs and valves, respectively, for the commercial CSP plants in early 1990s. The combined effects of hydromechanics, structural mechanics, rotor dynamics and thermodynamics should be considered during the design, and it leads to a systematic complicated engineering for the design of the MSP.…”

An Analysis of Testing Requirements for Fluoride Salt Cooled High Temperature Reactor Components

“…Similar performance and endurance testing for proper bearing design and materials have been underway at other research laboratories and industry [26,40].…”