Large Scale Testing of Refractory Bricks for Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage

Abstract

In this work the large-scale testing of refractory bricks in a molten salt-based thermocline thermal energy storage system is presented. Refractory brick could overcome issues associated with packed-bed type thermal energy storage systems such as thermal ratcheting or higher void fractions. Thermal cycling and stand-by behavior of 17 tons of refractory bricks is investigated with the test facility for thermal energy storage in molten salts (TESIS) at DLR in Cologne. A stable thermocline was established which showed a good agreement to a 1D-model previously implemented in MATLAB. The thermocline is stratified evenly over the cross-sectional area. It is shown that also over longer stand-by periods of several days the stratification of the thermocline remains stable.