SBIR Phase I: Advanced Molten Salt Heat Transfer and Thermal Storage Material for Central Receiver Solar Thermal Power Generation

SBIR第一期：用于中央接收器太阳能热发电的先进熔盐传热和蓄热材料

• 批准号: 1047450
• 负责人: Justin Raade
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: Halotechnics, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-01-01 至 2011-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1047450&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Advanced; Molten; Salt

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project proposes developing a novel molten salt heat transfer and thermal storage material for central receiver solar thermal power generation. Solar thermal technology developers are pushing to increase the operating temperature of their systems, thereby lowering their levelized cost of electricity and reducing the cost of energy storage. Known salt mixtures considered for heat transfer fluids have high melting points (typically over 300 °C) or insufficient thermal stability. In this effort, we will conduct a high throughput materials discovery program to rapidly screen over 2000 unique mixtures of inorganic salts and to discover a novel eutectic mixture with a low melting point of 200 °C and a high maximum temperature of 700 °C. This broad operating range is currently unavailable with any commercially viable material in the marketplace. Discovering new eutectic mixtures is a combinatorial problem, since the number of possible mixtures increases exponentially with the number of components. We will apply combinatorial chemistry techniques, originally developed for pharmaceutical applications, to a new field: solar thermal materials. In this project, we will combine the power of high throughput discovery tools (for fast materials synthesis and characterization) with an optimized methodology for experiment design (to efficiently constrain the design space). The broader impact/commercial potential of this project addresses pressing concerns about energy. The goal is cheap solar power, day and night. It is imperative that we reduce our usage of fossil fuels (especially coal) to address societal concerns: climate change and environmental degradation, energy security, and price volatility. Solar thermal power, a compelling source of renewable electricity, represents a possible solution to excessive fossil fuel use. However, electricity from solar thermal power currently costs too much to be directly competitive with fossil fuels. Furthermore, although solar thermal plants have the capability of storing heat in order to produce power after sundown, this represents a significant capital cost to plant developers. In order to achieve large scale deployment and to compete with fossil fuels, there is a crucial need across the solar thermal industry to lower costs and develop viable thermal storage. At the heart of these plants is the heat transfer fluid and thermal storage material. The market for this crucial component is projected to reach $5.5 billion by 2020. The commercialization of the proposed innovation would both reduce the cost of solar thermal power and enable economic thermal storage, bringing the nation significantly closer to eliminating the use of coal.

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目提出开发一种新型的熔盐传热和蓄热材料，用于中央接收器太阳能热发电。 太阳能热技术开发商正在努力提高其系统的工作温度，从而降低其电力成本并降低储能成本。 考虑用于传热流体的已知盐混合物具有高熔点（通常超过300 °C）或不足的热稳定性。 在这项工作中，我们将进行高通量材料发现计划，以快速筛选2000多种独特的无机盐混合物，并发现一种具有200 °C低熔点和700 °C高最高温度的新型低共熔混合物。 目前市场上任何商业上可行的材料都无法提供这种广泛的操作范围。 发现新的低共熔混合物是一个组合问题，因为可能的混合物的数量随着组分的数量呈指数增长。我们将应用组合化学技术，最初开发用于制药应用，到一个新的领域：太阳能热材料。 在这个项目中，我们将结合联合收割机的高通量发现工具的力量（快速材料合成和表征）与优化的实验设计方法（有效地限制设计空间）。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力解决了对能源的紧迫关切。目标是廉价的太阳能，白天和黑夜。我们必须减少化石燃料（特别是煤炭）的使用，以解决社会问题：气候变化和环境退化，能源安全和价格波动。 太阳能热发电是一种引人注目的可再生电力来源，是解决过度使用化石燃料问题的一种可能办法。然而，太阳能热电目前成本太高，无法与化石燃料直接竞争。 此外，尽管太阳能热电站具有储存热量以便在日落后产生电力的能力，但这对电站开发商来说代表了显著的资本成本。为了实现大规模部署并与化石燃料竞争，整个太阳能热行业迫切需要降低成本并开发可行的热存储。这些工厂的核心是传热流体和储热材料。到2020年，这一关键部件的市场预计将达到55亿美元。 拟议创新的商业化将降低太阳能热发电的成本，并实现经济的储热，使国家大大接近消除煤炭的使用。