Vacuum Insulation Panels for Thermal Energy Storage Systems

Abstract

The temperature of molten salts in the thermal energy storage tanks has strict bounds. A drop in temperature could cause local crystallization of the salt, while the maximum temperature is limited by the excess energy available through the concentrated solar power plant. In the present work, a system level (thermal energy storage tank) computer model has been developed to compare the effect of two different insulation materials i.e. an advanced Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs) and conventional glass wool under various scenarios of geometric features in the hot tank of an indirect thermal storage system. The heat storage temperature in our model is 393 °C. Our full-length paper presents the results of this ongoing research, clearly detailing the simulation scenarios and exploring the viability of VIPs for insulating solar thermal storage tanks. A brief overview of VIP technology is also presented to benefit the solar energy end users and other stakeholders.