Project Title: Simplified Melting And Rotation-Joint Technology for Molten Salt Troughs
Funding Opportunity: Technology to Market 3
Solar Subprogram: Technology to Market
Location: Broomfield, Colorado
Amount Awarded: $1,600,000
Awardee Cost Share: $400,000
This project addresses several of the key remaining barriers for using molten salt heat transfer fluids (HTF) in utility-scale projects that use parabolic trough concentrating solar power technology. Commercial development of this technology has the potential to provide highly cost competitive, dispatchable solar power around the clock, providing an alternative to conventional generation sources and enabling higher penetrations of non-dispatchable renewable resources.
Approach
The research team is working to tackle the most critical technical challenges of molten salt HTF technology: the freeze-recovery subsystem, the rotation-expansion piping joints, and the need to re-optimize the solar field design based on recent hardware and market evolution. In addition, the team will develop an enhanced molten salt trough process model for the Solar Advisor Model and an updated engineering procurement and construction cost model.
Innovation
This project will dramatically improve molten salt HTF technology for parabolic troughs, lowering costs and increasing reliability at temperatures up to 565°C. By testing this technology and creating models for its use, this work will help to accelerate the transition to commercial availability and allow banks and other lending institutions to conduct due diligence on molten salt trough plants.