This is an excerpt from the December 13, 2011: Thermal storage system testing, new SAM tool, and validation workshop results edition of the SunShot newsletter.
New Furnace Heats Up Thermal Storage Research
In support of advanced thermal storage research, Sandia National Laboratories is testing hardware under realistic operating conditions at its National Solar Thermal Test Facility in Albuquerque, NM. The DOE-funded project works toward performance improvements for molten-salt thermal storage systems, ultimately leading to cost reductions for concentrating solar power systems.
The recent delivery of a molten salt furnace for the Molten Salt Test Loops (MSTL) system will allow researchers to evaluate components in a high-temperature corrosion environment. The furnace, designed and fabricated by Ajax Electric Co. of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., holds and heats a molten nitrate salt that is then pumped through three parallel test loops.
The MSTL system is an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funded project that will be available for customer testing in the summer of 2012. Industrial, academic, and governmental collaborators will be able to use the MSTL system to do accelerated lifetime testing of components for concentrating solar power concepts.
Learn more about the Solar Program’s thermal storage efforts.