Solar Steam Storage & Recovery

About

Description Energy demands continue to increase at a steady rate year after year. The need to replace fossil fuels with a better and more viable energy option continues to be a growing need. More and more focus is put on growing energy production from intermittent energy sources, like solar, and wind energy. In recent years, there have been many studies into understanding thermal energy storage systems to advance these intermittent energy sources.  Researchers at Kansas State University have developed a novel concept that involves integrating thermal energy storage with direct steam generators including solar steam generators. The heat transfer fluid could be numerous fluids; it is not limited to water/steam, as long as it is capable of conducting and transferring thermal energy. The process fluid then transfers this energy to a packed bed of pea-gravel sized particles that have low to high thermal conductivity. The packed bed design helps to reduce uncertainties in the steam condensation process, and with appropriate size and flow rates lead to negligible efficiency losses.   The condensate generated post-storage can be stored as hot water and the energy that is stored in the packed bed, up to the top temperature of the steam, may be used whenever it is desired. The stored energy is easily recovered by blowing air through the system for building heating or other process application. As with the heat transfer fluid, the heat recovery fluid is not limited to only air or water but other fluids, such as heating oils or refrigerants. Advantages Creates an inexpensive method to store energy using non-exotic materials Improves dispatchability of otherwise base load and more reliable energy sources, like nuclear energy Storage and recovery steps can have different process fluids. Applications Biomass heat storage Solar thermal energy Nuclear thermal energy storage