New Concept for High Temperature Thermal Energy Storage Using a Concrete Tank

Abstract

The use of concrete is showing great potential as thermal energy storage material for concentrating solar power plants (CSP) due to its versatility, relatively low cost, and the possibility to reach a high operating temperature, above 500ºC thus increasing the plant efficiency. However, actual configurations based on concrete show different drawbacks including difficulties during the manufacturing on-site, different thermal expansion coefficients between concrete and pipes, and poor thermal conductivity of concrete. In order to address those challenges, this study proposes a new TES concrete tank concept based on three main pillars: modularity, improved concrete formulation, and direct contact concept. A preliminary assessment of the thermal performances of the new concept was analyzed through simulations showing the temperature distribution of the modules.