Publications

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A new metric has been developed to evaluate and compare selective absorber coatings for concentrating solar power applications. Previous metrics have typically considered the performance of the selective coating (i.e., solar absorptance and thermal emittance), but cost and durability were not considered. This report describes the development of the Levelized Cost of Coating (LCOC), which is similar to the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) commonly used to evaluate alternative energy technologies. The LCOC is defined as the ratio of the annualized cost of the coating (and associated costs such as labor) to the average annual thermal energy produced by the receiver. The baseline LCOC using Pyromark 2500 paint was found to be $0.055/MW ht, and marginal costs were determined in a probabilistic analysis to range from -$0.09/MW ht to $1.01/MW ht, accounting for the cost of additional (or fewer) heliostats required to yield the same baseline average annual thermal energy produced by the receiver. A stepwise multiple rank regression analysis showed that the initial solar absorptance was the most significant parameter impacting the LCOC, followed by thermal emittance, reapplication interval, degradation rate, reapplication cost, and downtime during reapplication. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Sandia National Laboratories and Siemens Energy, Inc., examined 14 different subcritical and supercritical steam cycles to determine if it is feasible to configure a molten-salt supercritical steam plant that has a capacity in the range of 150 to 200 MWe. The effects of main steam pressure and temperature, final feedwater temperature, and hot salt and cold salt return temperatures were determined on gross and half-net efficiencies. The main steam pressures ranged from 120 bar-a (subcritical) to 260 bar-a (supercritical). Hot salt temperatures of 566 and 600°C were evaluated, which resulted in main steam temperatures of 553 and 580°C, respectively. Also, the effects of final feedwater temperature (between 260 and 320°C) were evaluated, which impacted the cold salt return temperature. The annual energy production and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) were calculated using the System Advisory Model on 165 MWe subcritical plants (baseline and advanced) and the most promising supercritical plants. It was concluded that the supercritical steam plants produced more annual energy than the baseline subcritical steam plant for the same-size heliostat field, receiver, and thermal storage system. Two supercritical steam plants had the highest annual performance and had nearly the same LCOE. Both operated at 230 bar-a main steam pressure. One was designed for a hot salt temperature of 600°C and the other 565°C. The LCOEs for these plants were about 10% lower than the baseline subcritical plant operating at 120 bar-a main steam pressure and a hot salt temperature of 565°C. Based on the results of this study, it appears economically and technically feasible to incorporate supercritical steam turbines in molten-salt power tower plants.

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The breacher's training aid described in this report was designed to simulate features of magazine and steel-plate doors. The training aid enables breachers to practice using their breaching tools on components that they may encounter when attempting to enter a facility. Two types of fixtures were designed and built: (1) a large fixture incorporates simulated hinges, hasps, lock shrouds, and pins, and (2) a small fixture simulates the cross section of magazine and steel-plate doors. The small fixture consists of steel plates on either side of a structural member, such as an I-beam. The report contains detailed descriptions and photographs of the training aids, assembly instructions, and drawings.

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The Boeing Company fabricated the Solar Two receiver as a subcontractor for the Solar Two project. The receiver absorbed sunlight reflected from the heliostat field. A molten-nitrate-salt heat transfer fluid was pumped from a storage tank at grade level, heated from 290 to 565 C by the receiver mounted on top of a tower, then flowed back down into another storage tank. To make electricity, the hot salt was pumped through a steam generator to produce steam that powered a conventional Rankine steam turbine/generator. This evaluation identifies the most significant Solar Two receiver system lessons learned from the Mechanical Design, Instrumentation and Control, Panel Fabrication, Site Construction, Receiver System Operation, and Management from the perspective of the receiver designer/manufacturer. The lessons learned on the receiver system described here consist of two parts: the Problem and one or more identified Solutions. The appendix summarizes an inspection of the advanced receiver panel developed by Boeing that was installed and operated in the Solar Two receiver.

Solar Two was a collaborative, cost-shared project between 11 U. S. industry and utility partners and the U. S. Department of Energy to validate molten-salt power tower technology. The Solar Two plant, located east of Barstow, CA, comprised 1926 heliostats, a receiver, a thermal storage system, a steam generation system, and steam-turbine power block. Molten nitrate salt was used as the heat transfer fluid and storage media. The steam generator powered a 10-MWe (megawatt electric), conventional Rankine cycle turbine. Solar Two operated from June 1996 to April 1999. The major objective of the test and evaluation phase of the project was to validate the technical characteristics of a molten salt power tower. This report describes the significant results from the test and evaluation activities, the operating experience of each major system, and overall plant performance. Tests were conducted to measure the power output (MW) of the each major system, the efficiencies of the heliostat, receiver, thermal storage, and electric power generation systems and the daily energy collected, daily thermal-to-electric conversion, and daily parasitic energy consumption. Also included are detailed test and evaluation reports.

This report contains the design basis for a generic molten-salt solar power tower. A solar power tower uses a field of tracking mirrors (heliostats) that redirect sunlight on to a centrally located receiver mounted on top a tower, which absorbs the concentrated sunlight. Molten nitrate salt, pumped from a tank at ground level, absorbs the sunlight, heating it up to 565 C. The heated salt flows back to ground level into another tank where it is stored, then pumped through a steam generator to produce steam and make electricity. This report establishes a set of criteria upon which the next generation of solar power towers will be designed. The report contains detailed criteria for each of the major systems: Collector System, Receiver System, Thermal Storage System, Steam Generator System, Master Control System, and Electric Heat Tracing System. The Electric Power Generation System and Balance of Plant discussions are limited to interface requirements. This design basis builds on the extensive experience gained from the Solar Two project and includes potential design innovations that will improve reliability and lower technical risk. This design basis document is a living document and contains several areas that require trade-studies and design analysis to fully complete the design basis. Project- and site-specific conditions and requirements will also resolve open To Be Determined issues.

Solar thermal-to-electric power plants have been tested and investigated at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) since the late 1970s, and thermal storage has always been an area of key study because it affords an economical method of delivering solar-electricity during non-daylight hours. This paper describes the design considerations of a new, single-tank, thermal storage system and details the benefits of employing this technology in large-scale (10MW to 100MW) solar thermal power plants. Since December 1999, solar engineers at Sandia National Laboratories' National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) have designed and are constructing a thermal storage test called the thermocline system. This technology, which employs a single thermocline tank, has the potential to replace the traditional and more expensive two-tank storage systems. The thermocline tank approach uses a mixture of silica sand and quartzite rock to displace a significant portion of the volume in the tank. Then it is filled with the heat transfer fluid, a molten nitrate salt. A thermal gradient separates the hot and cold salt. Loading the tank with the combination of sand, rock, and molten salt instead of just molten salt dramatically reduces the system cost. The typical cost of the molten nitrate salt is $800 per ton versus the cost of the sand and rock portion at $70 per ton. Construction of the thermocline system will be completed in August 2000, and testing will run for two to three months. The testing results will be used to determine the economic viability of the single-tank (thermocline) storage technology for large-scale solar thermal power plants. Also discussed in this paper are the safety issues involving molten nitrate salts and other heat transfer fluids, such as synthetic heat transfer oils, and the impact of these issues on the system design.

Solar Two, a 10MWe power tower plant in Barstow, California, successfully demonstrated the production of grid electricity at utility-scale with a molten-salt solar power tower. This paper provides an overview of the project, from inception in 1993 to closure in the spring of 1999. Included are discussions of the goals of the Solar Two consortium, the planned-vs.-actual timeline, plant performance, problems encountered, and highlights and successes of the project. The paper concludes with a number of key results of the Solar Two test and evaluation program.

Solar Two was a collaborative, cost-shared project between eleven US industry and utility partners and the U. S. Department of Energy to validate molten-salt power tower technology. The Solar Two plant, located east of Barstow, CA, was comprised of 1926 heliostats, a receiver, a thermal storage system and a steam generation system. Molten nitrate salt was used as the heat transfer fluid and storage media. The steam generator powered a 10 MWe, conventional Rankine cycle turbine. Solar Two operated from June 1996 to April 1999. The major objective of the test and evaluation phase of the project was to validate the technical characteristics of a molten salt power tower. This paper describes the significant results from the test and evaluation activities.

The Solar Two project is a collaborative, cost-shared project between eleven US industry and utility partners and the U.S. Department of Energy to validate the molten-salt power tower technology. The Solar Two plant, located east of Barstow, CA, comprises 1926 heliostats, a receiver, a thermal storage system and a steam generator system that use molten nitrate salt as the heat transfer fluid and storage media. The steam generator powers a 10 MWe, conventional Rankine cycle turbine. This paper describes the test plan and evaluations currently in progress at Solar Two and provides some recent results.

A non-conventional type of heating system is being tested at Sandia National Laboratories for solar thermal power tower applications. In this system, called impedance heating, electric current flows directly through the pipe to maintain the desired temperature. The pipe becomes the resistor where the heat is generated. Impedance heating has many advantages over previously used mineral insulated (MI) heat trace. An impedance heating system should be much more reliable than heat trace cable since delicate junctions and cabling are not used and the main component, a transformer, is inherently reliable. A big advantage of impedance heating is the system can be sized to rapidly heat up the piping to provide rapid response times necessary in cyclic power plants such as solar power towers. In this paper, experimental results from testing an impedance heating system are compared to MI heat trace. The authors found impedance heating was able to heat piping rapidly and effectively. There were not significant stray currents and impedance heating did not affect instrumentation.

A non-conventional type of heating system is being tested at Sandia National Laboratories for solar thermal power tower applications. In this system, called impedance heating, electric current flows directly through the pipe to maintain the desired temperature. The pipe becomes the resistor where the heat is generated. Impedance heating has many advantages over previously used mineral insulated (MI) heat trace. An impedance heating system should be much more reliable than heat trace cable since delicate junctions and cabling are not used and the main component, a transformer, is inherently reliable. A big advantage of impedance heating is the system can be sized to rapidly heat up the piping to provide rapid response times necessary in cyclic power plants such as solar power towers. In this paper, experimental results from testing an impedance heating system are compared to MI cable heat trace. We found impedance heating was able to heat piping rapidly and effectively. There were not significant stray currents and impedance heating did not affect instrumentation.

Molten salt used as a heat transfer fluid in central-receiver so ar power plants has a high freezing point (430{degrees}F (221{degrees}C)). It is very likely during the life of the plant that the receiver will accidentally freeze up due to equipment malfunction or operator error. Experiments were conducted to measure the effects of a molten salt receiver freeze-up and recovery event and methods to thaw the receiver. In addition, simulated freeze/thaw experiments were conducted to determine what happens when salt freezes and is thawed in receiver tubes and to quantify the damage caused to candidate receiver tube materials. Fourteen tube samples of various materials, diameters and wall thicknesses were tested to destruction. Results of these tests are presented in this paper.

A method to reduce nightly parasitic power consumption in a molten salt central receiver is discussed where salt is drained from the piping and heat tracing is turned off to allow the piping to cool to ambient overnight, then in the morning the pipes are filled while they are cold. Since the piping and areas of the receiver in a molten-nitrate salt central-receiver solar power plant must be electrically heated to maintain their temperatures above the nitrate salt freezing point (430{degrees}F, 221{degrees}C), considerable energy could be used to maintain such temperatures during nightly shut down and bad weather. Experiments and analyses have been conducted to investigate cold filling receiver panels and piping as a way of reducing parasitic electrical power consumption and increasing the availability of the plant. The two major concerns with cold filling are: (1) how far can the molten salt penetrate cold piping before freezing closed and (2) what thermal stresses develop during the associated thermal shock. Experiments and analysis are discussed.

Cold filling refers to flowing a fluid through piping or tubes that are at temperatures below the fluid’s freezing point. Since the piping and areas of the receiver in a molten-nitrate salt central-receiver solar power plant must be electrically heated to maintain their temperatures above the nitrate salt freezing point (430°F, 221 °C), considerable energy could be used to maintain such temperatures during nightly shutdown and bad weather. Experiments and analyses have been conducted to investigate cold filling receiver panels and piping as a way of reducing parasitic electrical power consumption and increasing the availability of the plant. The two major concerns with cold filling are (1) how far can the molten salt penetrate cold piping before freezing closed, and (2) what thermal stresses develop during the associated thermal shock. Cold fill experiments were conducted by flowing molten salt at 550°F (288°C) through cold panels, manifolds, and piping to determine the feasibility of cold filling the receiver and piping. The transient thermal responses were measured and heat transfer coefficients were calculated from the data. Nondimensional analysis is presented which quantifies the thermal stresses in a pipe or tube undergoing thermal shock. In addition, penetration distances were calculated to determine the distance salt could flow in cold pipes prior to freezing closed. © 1995 by ASME.

Experiments have been conducted with a molten salt loop at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM to resolve issues associated with the operation of the 10MW{sub e} Solar Two Central Receiver Power Plant located near Barstow, CA. The salt loop contained two receiver panels, components such as flanges and a check valve, vortex shedding and ultrasonic flow meters, and an impedance pressure transducer. Tests were conducted on procedures for filling and thawing a panel, and assessing components and instrumentation in a molten salt environment. Four categories of experiments were conducted: (1) cold filling procedures, (2) freeze/thaw procedures, (3) component tests, and (4) instrumentation tests. Cold-panel and -piping fill experiments are described, in which the panels and piping were preheated to temperatures below the salt freezing point prior to initiating flow, to determine the feasibility of cold filling the receiver and piping. The transient thermal response was measured, and heat transfer coefficients and transient stresses were calculated from the data. Freeze/thaw experiments were conducted with the panels, in which the salt was intentionally allowed to freeze in the receiver tubes, then thawed with heliostat beams. Slow thermal cycling tests were conducted to measure both how well various designs of flanges (e.g., tapered flanges or clamp type flanges) hold a seal under thermal conditions typical of nightly shut down, and the practicality of using these flanges on high maintenance components. In addition, the flanges were thermally shocked to simulate cold starting the system. Instrumentation such as vortex shedding and ultrasonic flow meters were tested alongside each other, and compared with flow measurements from calibration tanks in the flow loop.

Three concepts to measure incident flux (1) relative, real-time power measurement, (2) flux mapping and incident power measurement, and (3) real-time flux mapping) and two concepts to measure receiver surface temperatures low and high resolution temperature measurements) on an external central receiver are discussed along with the potential and shortcomings of these concepts to make the desired measurements and the uncertainties associated with the measurements caused by atmospheric and surface property variations. These concepts can aid in the operation and evaluation of the receiver and plant. Tests have shown that the incident flux distribution on a surface can be mapped out using a fixed, narrow white target and a CCD camera system by recording the images of the beam as it is passed over the target and by building a composite image. Tests with the infrared cameras have shown they are extremely valuable tools in determining temperature profiles during startup of the receiver and throughout operation. This paper describes each concept in detail along with the status of testing to determine the feasibility of these concepts.

In one design of molten-salt central receivers, the molten salt flows in a serpentine path, down one panel of tubes then up the next and down again continuing in this fashion through the receiver. There have been concerns about this design because in the down flow sections, the heat flux incident on the tubes can cause flow instability since the flow is in direct opposition to the buoyant forces. In extreme cases the buoyant forces can cause flow stagnation or reversal. An analysis of flow stability within individual tubes and down flow sections of receiver panels is presented. When the partial derivative of the pressure drop with respect to mass flow rate is negative ({partial_derivative}{Delta}P/{partial_derivative}{sup {lg_bullet}} < 0), the flow is unstable and could cause serious damage to the receiver. Stability maps are developed that show safe operating regimes where inertial forces dominate over buoyant forces. The data is then normalized using the Grashof and Reynolds numbers.

A solar photocatalytic process has been under development at both Sandia National Laboratories and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (formerly the Solar Energy Research Institute). This process uses solar ultraviolet light to activate a titanium dioxide catalyst which oxidizes organic contaminants in water. In the summer of 1991, a solar photocatalytic detoxification of water system was installed and tested at a California Superfund Site located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The site was designated a Superfund Site because of widespread groundwater contamination which resulted from the release of chlorinated solvents, principally trichloroethylene, when the site was a Naval Air Station in the early 1940s. The objectives of these experiments were to measure the effects of process variables and the process efficiency in an actual remediation setting, to collect experimental data and operating experience in photocatalytic oxidation of organic contaminants, to develop accurate models of the system operation and to develop control strategies.

This report contains a summary of boiler efficiency measurements which can be applied to evaluate the performance of steam-generating boilers via both the direct and indirect methods. This methodology was written to assist industries in calculating the boiler efficiency for determining the applicability and value of thermal industrial heat, as part of the efforts of the Solar Thermal Design Assistance Center (STDAC) funded by Sandia National Laboratories. Tables of combustion efficiencies are enclosed as functions of stack temperatures and the amount of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the gas stream.

This report contains a summary of large-scale experiments conducted at Sandia National Laboratories under the Solar Detoxification of Water project. The objectives of the work performed were to determine the potential of using solar radiation to destroy organic contaminants in water by photocatalysis and to develop the process and improve its performance. For these experiments, we used parabolic troughs to focus sunlight onto glass pipes mounted at the trough's focus. Water spiked with a contaminant and containing suspended titanium dioxide catalyst was pumped through the illuminated glass pipe, activating the catalyst with the ultraviolet portion of the solar spectrum. The activated catalyst creates oxidizers that attack and destroy the organics. Included in this report are a summary and discussion of the implications of experiments conducted to determine: the effect of process kinetics on the destruction of chlorinated solvents (such trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, trichloroethane, methylene chloride, chloroform and carbon tetrachloride), the enhancement due to added hydrogen peroxide, the optimal catalyst loading, the effect of light intensity, the inhibition due to bicarbonates, and catalyst issues.