Simulation of a Sensible Heat Thermal Energy Storage System for Solar Thermal Power Plants

Abstract

An innovative storage concept is proposed here that uses an intermediate air cycle to transfer heat from a primary working fluid to a cost effective solid sensible storage material. The intermediate working fluid can be brought into direct contact with the storage material, allowing high heat transfer rates. The intermediate working fluid receives the energy from the primary working fluid through a heat exchanger. The proposed storage system has a different dynamic behavior than state of the art two-tank molten salt storage system. Hence, dynamic models of the storage system and a SEGS-like solar thermal power plant have been implemented in a Matlab/Simulink environment to analyze its performance theoretically. A 75 kW pilot scale experimental storage system has been set up to provide data for model validation. The poster describes the implementation of the component models and the comparison with experimental data.