Energy: Sol Ar

CONCENTR ATING
SOL A R
ENERGY
20 A Bright Spot for Energy Production

21 Concentrating Solar Thermal Overview
30 Solar Thermochemical Energy Storage
36 Leveraging the Ammonia Industry
for Solar Energy Storage
42 Meet the Authors
SPECIAL SECTION: SOLAR ENERGY
A Bright Spot
Photo courtesy of SolarReserve.

for Energy Production
R
ecently, I had the opportunity to view a great swath of how CST can be employed in various applications in addition
the U.S. in less than six hours. Flying west from New to electricity generation (i.e., CSP), including desalination,
York to California, I spotted major cities and snow- enhanced oil recovery, and chemicals and fuels production.
capped mountain ranges, but what stood out to me the most Nick AuYeung and Peter Kreider note in their article on
was an enormous circular arrangement of mirrors all facing pp. 30–35 that despite some commercial operations, “global
one central point. From my aerial vantage, I recognized it as CSP capacity is still small compared to other renewable
a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant, and later learned it energy technologies.” They explain, however, that CSP can
was likely the Crescent Dunes CSP plant in Nevada. catch up to other forms of renewable energy by following
The shiny field looked alien to my eyes. Hailing from the example of Crescent Dunes and incorporating energy
Pittsburgh, PA — a city that regularly ranks as one of the storage. Crescent Dunes employs thermal methods, but
cloudiest in the U.S. — I’m more accustomed to seeing AuYeung and Kreider see thermochemical energy storage
traditional methods of power production that predominate on (TCES) as a potentially better option, as it has “inherently
the East Coast. I’ve climbed to platforms on stacks at coal higher energy density ... because, in addition to sensible
and natural gas power plants, but none of those dusty gray heat, energy is stored as chemical potential.”
places looked like this bright spot in the desert. Keith M. Lovegrove, et al., zero in on ammonia TCES as
Crescent Dunes produces enough electricity to power the solution to CSP storage needs (pp. 36–41). They describe
75,000 homes. It is not the largest CSP plant in the world, or how the well-established Haber-Bosch process for ammonia
in the U.S., but it utilizes a molten salt thermal storage sys- production could be employed in a CST receiver that would
tem that enables it to provide electricity even when the sun also function as a reactor.
is not shining. This is a distinct advantage over other forms This special section emphasizes energy storage because
of renewable energy, such as wind and photovoltaics (PV), it will likely be the key to the success of CSP, whether the
which are subject to intermittency and are less adaptable to solution is thermal, thermochemical, or something else.
storage solutions. Although the cost of PV has plummeted With CSP plants in 23 countries around the world and 24
in recent years, the addition of bulky batteries for storage operational plants in the U.S. alone, design and economic
increases its cost and practicality. Other CSP plants use mol- challenges are not holding CSP back.
ten salts for storage, but heat the fluid indirectly, requiring The authors see a role for chemical engineers in push-
expensive heat exchangers and additional heat-transfer flu- ing CST technologies even further. AuYeung and Kreider
ids. Crescent Dunes places molten salt directly at the central urge chemical engineers to leverage their knowledge base
receiver, where it is heated to over 1,000°F; the molten salt to advance CST and TCES technologies to help aid process
can be stored and then used up to 10 hours later to produce intensification and energy efficiency efforts in the chemical
steam and generate electricity. process industries (CPI).
This is just one plant and one impressive application of
concentrating solar thermal (CST) technology. In their article Elizabeth Pavone
on pp. 21–28, Alexander Mitsos and Jeff Cumpston describe Associate Editor, CEP
CEP extends a special thanks to Nick AuYeung for help coordinating this special section.
20 www.aiche.org/cep July 2017 CEP Copyright © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
Concentrating
Solar Thermal
Overview
Jeff Cumpston Concentrating solar thermal (CST) technology
Alexander Mitsos
RWTH Aachen Univ., AVT — Aachener can be used to generate electricity, desalinate
Verfahrenstechnik, Process water, and more. Find out how CST works
Systems Engineering (SVT)
and the role chemical engineers can play.
C
oncentrating solar thermal (CST) technologies The Solar Energy Generating System (SEGS), commis-
produce high-temperature, high-quality energy that sioned between 1984 and 1990 in the U.S., was the first use
can be used to drive a variety of engineering pro- of concentrating solar for power generation. The SEGS proj-
cesses. CST is attractive because of free and abundant solar ect consists of nine separate trough power plants that have
radiation, but significant engineering challenges need to be a total 354 MWe nameplate power generation capacity (2).
overcome. The project marked the beginning of a resurgence of interest
A CST system is composed of a field of distributed in CST technology.
reflectors that move over the course of a day to concentrate All of the components in a CST plant are designed to
sunlight onto a solar receiver (Figure 1). CST technologies
have different geometries and arrangements, but the same
principle of operation: A solar concentrator focuses solar
radiation onto a solar-thermal receiver that absorbs the
Receiver
solar radiation, converting it to thermal energy.
CST is not a new idea. Stories of its application go as
far back as antiquity. Folklore within the scientific commu-
nity suggests that Archimedes led attempts to focus solar
radiation onto Roman ships using many reflective surfaces.
The first modern commercial application of CST was the
implementation of a trough system in Egypt constructed in
1913 to produce hot steam to drive a pump for irrigation of
semi-arid farmland (1). Reflectors
u Figure 1. Reflectors move throughout the day to concentrate solar

radiation onto a central receiver at the PS10 concentrating solar power
(CSP) plant in Seville, Spain. Image courtesy Solúcar.
Copyright © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) CEP July 2017 www.aiche.org/cep 21
facilitate the absorption of well-focused sunlight by the solar receiver. In addition, heat losses at the solar receiver must be
receiver; thus, all the interactions that the solar radiation considered (as discussed in more detail later).
undergoes must be considered. This general discussion of CST technologies details the
The entire atmosphere — from the top of the Earth’s different types of solar collectors and the various applications
atmosphere to the concentrator, and between the concentra- to which CST can be applied, including electricity genera-
tor and receiver (Figure 2) — affects the quality of the solar tion (i.e, concentrating solar power [CSP]), desalination,
radiation. The night and day cycle, clouds, and aerosols in advanced oil recovery, and solar thermochemistry incorporat-
the atmosphere cause intermittencies in the solar radiation ing the production of solar fuels.
reaching the receiver. Intermittencies must be accounted for, CSP is an important application of CST technology. The
but energy storage technologies can mitigate their detrimen- term encompasses both CST plants that are used to gener-
tal effects on CST performance. ate electricity and concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) power
Designing and characterizing solar concentrators for plants. This article focuses on CST’s application for power
CST applications involves optimizing the concentration generation and does not discuss CPV.
ratio of the radiation considering the collector cost and
material limitations. A low concentration ratio implies low- Solar radiation and the atmosphere
temperature thermal energy and thus low exergy; a high con- Solar radiation incident at the outer edge of the Earth’s
centration ratio implies large thermal losses from the solar atmosphere has an intensity of about 1,370 W/m2 — the
so-called solar constant. Because of the
high temperature of the sun, the radia-
Solar Radiation
tion has a very high exergy. As viewed
Receiver from the Earth, the sun subtends a
Atmosphere half-angle of about 4.65 mrad. Propaga-
tion through the atmosphere affects the
Thermal intensity and the angular distribution of
Energy
Solar the incoming solar radiation. Aerosols
Concentrator
scatter the incoming radiation, increas-
ing the amount of circumsolar radiation,
which affects the concentration and
distribution of the image at the receiver
of a CST collector. Clouds attenuate and
scatter the radiation.
p Figure 2. Solar radiation from the sun passes through Earth’s atmosphere and is concentrated onto
a solar receiver. The thermal energy produced can be used, stored as thermal energy, or converted to Thus, it is important to under-
chemical energy and stored. stand the time dependence and spatial
distribution of clouds and aerosols.
Meteorological models and experimen-
tally derived data from ground stations
and satellites provide an overview and
inform predictions of time-dependent
changes in the atmosphere, which help
to define the expected functionality of
CST technologies.
Radiation incident on the surface of
the Earth is categorized as either diffuse
or direct. In direct solar radiation, most
of the angular distribution of the solar
source is preserved, and this direct radia-
tion can be concentrated and used in
CST applications. Diffuse solar radia-
tion cannot be concentrated because the
p Figure 3. This map of the global direct normal irradiation shows that the southwest U.S., northern
angular distribution is randomized and
Chile, Peru, central Australia, Saharan Africa, and South Africa are optimal regions for concentrating optics cannot focus it.
solar thermal (CST) technologies. Source: DNI Solar Map © 2016 Solargis (23). Therefore, CSP plants rely on direct
solar radiation, the intensity of which is described by the (Figure 4b). Parabolic trough collectors are line-focus col-
direct normal irradiance (DNI), expressed in SI units as lectors with a continuous surface geometry that is curved in
Watts per square meter. Another important metric is the one dimension. The trough collector rotates about its long
global horizontal irradiance (GHI), which includes the dif- axis and its receiver is fixed to the concentrator frame. Plants
fuse component of the solar radiation and is measured at a in operation today generally align the collectors north-south.
plane parallel to the Earth’s surface. East-west alignment offers an advantage of higher overall
Figure 3 is global map of the direct normal irradiation, annual solar collection, but comes with higher hourly varia-
which is a time integral of DNI. High direct normal irradiation in gathered solar energy due to cosine effects.
tion makes the southwest U.S., northern Chile, Peru, central Parabolic trough collectors are capable of higher
Australia, Saharan Africa, and South Africa prime real estate concentration than a LFR, without requiring a secondary
for development of CST technologies. Spain is a favorable concentrator. Similar to LFR systems, the receiver comprises
location for CST development in Europe. a large part of the energy transport network. Parabolic trough
concentrators are used in most CST plants currently in
Solar concentrators operation.
Choosing a concentrator (i.e., reflector) type is one of the Central receiver with heliostats (Figure 4c). Central
chief optimization challenges of the fledgling solar thermal receiver systems are point-focus collectors composed of a
industry. CST plants use four different types of concentra- field of heliostats that surround a central receiver situated
tors: linear Fresnel reflector (LFR), parabolic trough reflec- at the top of a tower. Each heliostat tracks independently to
tor, central receiver system with heliostats, and paraboloidal direct the solar radiation to the receiver. These systems, also
dish reflector (Figure 4). Each
reflector type is defined by its
Multi-Reflector Single-Reflector
ability to intercept and guide solar
radiation to a thermal receiver that (a) (b)
is engineered specifically for the

reflector type and application. LFR
and parabolic trough collectors are
classified as line concentrators and
Line Focus
track the sun along one axis. Cen-

tral receiver systems with heliostats
and paraboloidal dish collectors are
called point concentrators and track
the sun in two directions.
Linear Fresnel reflectors
(Figure 4a). A LFR is composed of
strips of mirrors. Each strip rotates
around the long axis to guide inci- (c) (d)
dent solar radiation to a stationary
receiver located above the reflec-
tors. The collectors are aligned
north-south.
LFRs are low-cost, low-
Point Focus
concentration line-focus col-

lectors. Benefits include small
reflector size, low structural cost,
a stationary receiver position, and
noncylindrical receiver geometry
that reduces convection losses.
Receivers designed for use with
LFRs often incorporate a second-
ary concentrator to increase solar p Figure 4. Four types of concentrators are typically used in high-temperature CST applications: (a) linear-
concentration. Fresnel reflectors, (b) parabolic trough reflectors, (c) central receiver (or power tower) systems with heliostat
Parabolic trough collectors reflectors, and (d) paraboloidal dish reflectors. Source: Adapted from (24).
known as power towers, are capable of higher solar concen- and blocking (ηshdblk), atmospheric attenuation (ηatm), and
tration than LFR and parabolic trough collectors. receiver intercept (ηint).
The significant advantage of a central receiver system is Mirror reflectivity. The mirror reflectivity coefficient
that much of the energy transport to the central power block is the fraction of the incident solar radiation reflected by a
is performed optically, which removes the need for a large given mirror or mirror field. Mirror reflectivity is affected
pipe network to transport heat-transfer fluids (HTFs). by the inherent reflectivity of the reflecting surface, the
Paraboloidal dish collectors (Figure 4d). Paraboloidal cleanliness of the mirror, and any defects on the mirror
dish collectors are continuous-surface, point-focus col- surface.
lectors. Dish collectors track the sun so that their aperture Cosine losses. The collectors discussed in this article
planes are perpendicular to the solar vector at all times (except for the paraboloidal dish) intercept the sun at an
during operation. Because the design geometry is that of oblique angle, reducing the effective collection area by the
an ideal imaging reflective concentrator, these systems cosine of the angle.
can achieve the highest concentrations of the four types of Shading and blocking. The receiver, tower, adjacent
collectors. collectors, and other structures and formations may cast
a shadow on a portion of the collector field, reducing the
Collector optical efficiency effective collector area. Blocking occurs when adjacent col-
Collector performance can be characterized by total lectors block solar radiation that has already been reflected.
optical efficiency (ηopt), which is defined as the solar energy Blocking does not usually occur in parabolic trough or
that is incident on the receiver (as a fraction of the DNI) paraboloidal dish collector fields.
multiplied by the reflector surface area. The total optical effi- Atmospheric attenuation. The atmosphere between the
ciency is the product of efficiency coefficients that describe collector and the receiver attenuates the solar radiation, but
the mirror reflectivity (ηrefl), cosine losses (ηcos), shading this is only significant for central receiver systems, where
the distances between col-
(a) Absorber Tube Bellows (b) Molten lector and receiver are often
Salt
Glass Envelope hundreds of meters.
Receiver intercept. The
fraction of solar radiation
directed to the receiver that
Solar Radiation
Concentrated
is intercepted depends on
several factors: the geometry
Concentrated
Solar Radiation
of the receiver; the distribu-
tion of the solar radiation
(c) Pressure Vessel
that propagates toward the
Insulation
receiver, the so-called flux
distribution, which may be
Air
subject to broadening by
Solar Radiation
Concentrated
Inlet
atmospheric scattering; the
quality of the optical sur-
Air face of the collector; and the
Outlet
accuracy of collector tracking,
which depends on the location
Concentrated (d) of the sun. The complement
Absorber Solar Radiation
Secondary to this value is the receiver
Concentrator spillage, i.e., the fraction of
solar radiation that misses
p Figure 5. (a) Parabolic trough collectors employ the receiver.
cylindrical receivers through which a heat-transfer
medium propogates. (b) External cylindrical receiv- Divider The total optical effi-
ers are used with fields of heliostat collectors. (c) Plate Hot Salt ciency is not a fixed value
CST receivers can be used to heat air for use in because it depends strongly
high-temperature gas turbines. (d) The concentrating Cold Salt
on the position of the sun. A
solar power on demand (CSPonD) receiver integrates
the receiver and the storage medium for direct heat- useful metric for evaluating
ing of the solar salt. Source: Adapted from (3–6). the overall optical efficiency
of a collector is the annual optical efficiency. To calculate spectrum, which is achieved with a highly absorptive surface
this, the range of sun positions that occur throughout the layer that is resistant to high temperatures and accumulation
year must be considered, and the energy incident on the of pollutants like fine dust.
solar receiver for each position must be estimated. The Heat transfer from the absorber surface to the surround-
most straightforward way to do this is to model the opera- ings needs to be minimized. Radiative heat loss from the
tion of the collectors as a linear time series that spans a year absorber surface depends on the operating temperature
of operation: of the receiver, and predominates for high-temperature
applications. The receiver geometry can significantly reduce
radiative losses by maximizing the amount of re-emitted
radiation that is intercepted by the receiver surface. Spec-
trally selective coatings that have a low radiative emissivity
at the design temperature of the receiver can also minimize
radiative losses.
where the subscript ann denotes an annual value, G is the Convective heat loss from the absorber surface due to
DNI value at time t, Qrcv is the thermal energy absorbed by hot-air buoyancy effects or forced convection from wind
the receiver, and QDNI is the energy available in the form of incident on the absorber surface can be significant. Con-
DNI over the corresponding time period. DNI values from vective heat loss can be minimized by receiver geometry or
satellites, weather stations, or solar irradiance models for by enclosing the absorber surface within a space optically
each time step are required for the calculation. For simplic- accessible by solar radiation. A quartz window at the aper-
ity, engineers sometimes use a design-point solar position ture of a cavity receiver can be used to eliminate convec-
and DNI to represent system performance, although care tion losses while still allowing solar radiation to enter the
must be taken when making this assumption. cavity. Heat loss by natural convection is a complex phe-
nomenon that can be accurately captured by computational
Solar receivers fluid dynamics (CFD) models, but these are computation-
A solar-thermal receiver intercepts and absorbs solar ally expensive.
radiation. Solar radiation incident on the receiver is con- High conductivity between the absorber surface and
verted to thermal energy. In most commercial power plants, the thermal medium can, to an extent, reduce the receiver
HTF travels through the receiver and transports and/or stores absorber surface temperature and corresponding heat loss.
the thermal energy. The receiver wall should have a high conductivity and
Parabolic trough collectors typically have an arrange- forced convection from the inside wall to the heat-transfer
ment consisting of a central pipe coated with antireflective medium should be maximized. Maximizing the HTF veloc-
material through which thermal oil is pumped, surrounded ity can enhance forced convection, although care must be
by a glass-vacuum tube (Figure 5a) (3). The Gemasolar taken to ensure the fluid attains the desired temperature in
Thermosolar power-tower plant uses an array of vertical the process. For example, it is critical that thermal oil within
pipes arranged in a cylindrical shape, which transfer thermal the receiver of parabolic trough collectors reach a velocity
energy to a molten salt that serves as the energy storage that corresponds to turbulent flow.
medium (4) (Figure 5b).
In a volumetric receiver, the thermal medium may Concentrated solar thermal applications
directly absorb the thermal energy. Solar-thermal volumetric CST technology provides high-exergy thermal energy
receivers have been used to heat air for power generation, that can be leveraged in a variety of applications, including
such as in DLR’s REFOS receiver (Figure 5c) (5). The electricity generation, desalination, oil recovery, and fuel
CSP-on-demand (CSPonD) concept employs a volumetric and chemical production. CST is already employed com-
receiver in which molten salts are directly illuminated with mercially, primarily for power generation, including stand-
solar radiation (Figure 5d) (6). alone CSP plants and conventional power plants with CST
The receiver must intercept as much solar radiation as is collectors that contribute to the overall thermal energy input.
practical. To achieve this, the receiver must be large enough CST collectors are also currently used to aid the recovery of
to capture most of the concentrated solar radiation, while heavy crude oil.
not being so large as to incur prohibitive thermal losses
and manufacturing costs. Therefore, the dimensions of the Electricity generation
absorbing surface depend on the imaging properties and The thermal energy from a CST plant can be used to
the optical quality of the solar concentrator. The absorber generate steam to produce electricity, which, as noted earlier,
surface must have a high optical absorptivity over the solar is referred to as concentrating solar power (CSP). Steam can
Solar Collector Field Molten Salt System Power Block Steam Turbine boosted by government feed-in
Generator
tariffs, which reward CSP plant
Generator Turbines
owners well above market price for
Receiver the electricity they produce.
Tower
At the end of 2015, the U.S.
High-Pressure CSP plant installed capacity reached
Steam Reheat Condenser 1.7 GW. Emerging markets are
Steam
found in Morocco, South Africa, and
China.
Superheater Reheater
Thermal energy storage. CSP
Molten Salt
Loop Steam plants with energy storage can
Hot
Generator/Evaporator
Condensate complement intermittent renew-
Salt Tank able energy sources by providing
Feedwater Preheater
clean dispatchable electricity. For
example, CSP with energy storage
Heliostats
Cold Steam Generation System could aid grids with high solar-PV
Salt penetration, supplementing baseload
capacity. The combination of tech-
Thermal Storage System
nologies could reduce curtailment
during times of maximum solar irra-
p Figure 6. In this power-tower system, thermal energy is stored in molten salt, which is used to produce
steam for electricity generation. diance, helping to further penetration
of PV or other renewable electricity
be generated directly in the receiver, which Brightsource’s sources. In addition, the thermal energy storage system can
Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) does, or be combined with electric heaters to reduce curtailment by
via a heat exchanger where a more suitable HTF conveys the enabling thermal energy storage of electricity that might
thermal energy from the receiver. The HTF used in the latter otherwise be wasted (10).
configuration is a thermal oil stable up to 390°C. The CSP plants with thermal energy storage that are
A so-called solar salt — a molten eutectic salt mix- currently operational generally use solar salt as an energy
ture comprised of 60% sodium nitrate and 40% potassium storage medium. Vast Solar (an Australian CSP company),
nitrate — may also be used as a heat-transfer medium however, generates electricity from a multitower solar array
(Figure 6). Solar salt HTFs can operate at temperatures up that uses energy stored in liquid sodium. Thermochemical
to 565°C, enabling a higher energy conversion efficiency at energy storage (TCES) is also a storage option, and is dis-
the turbine. Solar salts also have the advantage of high heat cussed in detail on pp. 30–35.
capacity, so they can be stored hot in tanks for later use. The Integrated solar combined-cycle. An integrated solar
ability to store thermal energy helps to overcome intermit- combined-cycle (ISCC) scheme combines steam produced
tency issues — a major advantage of CSP over other renew- from solar-thermal collectors with steam from fossil fuel
able forms of power generation. power stations. The steam from the CST collectors can
Total global installed capacity of CSP plants is 4.8 GWe be used as a supplement to reduce fossil fuel costs and
(7), which lags behind solar-photovoltaic (PV) and wind emissions, or it can be used to increase overall electricity
electricity generation. The likely reason is that CSP plants generation.
are currently more costly than solar-PV, wind, and conven- The LCOE of electricity from CSP with an ISCC scheme
tional gas- or coal-fired power plants (using levelized cost is 35–40% less than the LCOE of a stand-alone CSP plant
of electricity [LCOE, $/kWh] as the metric). To counter (11). ISCC could be a cost-effective baseload electricity
this, the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) funds the SunShot generation alternative that would help speed up the transition
initiative, which aims to reduce LCOE of a CSP plant to to sustainable energy production.
$60/MWh by 2020. The DOE reports that since its inception
in 2010, the program has helped lower the LCOE of CSP Desalination
plants from $210/MWh to $130/MWh (8). Water scarcity is a major global challenge that is more
Spain hosts 50 CSP plants with about 2.3 GW of pronounced in arid regions with high population density.
nameplate capacity; installed between 2007 and 2012, these These areas are often along the coast, which makes sea
plants account for a majority of CSP installed globally water desalination a viable option for the production of
(9). The high penetration of CSP plants in Spain has been fresh water.
These locations often also have high solar potential. CST can also be used to generate steam for steam
Thus, renewable energy sources such as CST could help reforming of biomass or fossil fuels into hydrogen. Molten
meet the energy demand of desalination by membrane (e.g., salt energy storage could be used to meet the demands of
reverse osmosis) and thermal (e.g., multiple-effect distilla- continuous operation (17).
tion [Figure 7]) techniques. Multiple-effect distillation could Extractive metallurgy involves the thermochemical
be used to cogenerate power and water. Coupling the pro- extraction of a variety of useful metals from other com-
duction of water and electricity allows for process
optimization; electricity could be produced to meet 1st Effect 2nd Effect 3rd Effect
high demand, while water could be produced when Pressure P1 Pressure P2 Pressure P3
demand for electricity lags (12). Seawater Vacuum Vacuum Vacuum
Enhanced oil recovery

About 70% of global oil reserves are heavy Steam
crude oil — an especially viscous oil. To aid extrac-

tion, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) injects steam
into the well to reduce the viscosity of the oil. EOR
can boost well productivity by up to 300%, increas-
ing crude oil recovery from 5–8% to 50–70%. Condensate
The process, however, uses about a quarter of the Fresh Brine
energy that is retrieved as heavy crude oil. Water
Typically, natural gas is used to produce the p Figure 7. Multiple-effect distillation can be used for saltwater desalination. In each
steam for injection in EOR. However, CST can also effect (or stage) of the process, heat is transferred from input steam to a saltwater feed,
supply the thermal energy required for the injection extracting fresh water through evaporation. Heat transfer from the steam occurs in the
first effect, and each stage after that transfers the excess sensible heat that is contained
process. CST EOR could help reduce gas costs to
in the evaporated steam to the saltwater feed, so that by the final stage, most of the
increase margins, particularly when oil prices are thermal energy from the steam has been used to evaporate water. The input steam can be
low. In areas where natural gas prices are high, CST produced using CST.
EOR is particularly effective. A 300-kWth CST Concentrated Solar Radiation
EOR plant was constructed in California in 2011,
and a 7-MWth CST EOR plant in Oman, Jordan,
has been operating since May 2013 (13).
Fuel production and chemical processing

Oxygen Oxygen
CST plants with high concentration ratios
achieve high temperatures that can be lever-
aged in the production of synthetic fuels and
other chemicals. These capabilities are still in the
research phase. These research examples high-
Counter-Rotating
light the potential of CST in chemical engineering Ceramic Disks
applications.
Solar fuels are liquid hydrocarbons that are
generated by chemical adhesion of atoms from
a feedstock of carbon dioxide and water. CST is
employed as part of a metal-oxide thermochemical Carbon Carbon
Dioxide Dioxide
cycle that requires temperatures up to 1,500°C to
activate a ceramic catalyst that removes oxygen
from carbon dioxide (Figure 8) (14).
The application of CST in solar thermo CO to Processing into Fuel
chemical CO2 capture via calcium-oxide looping
is being investigated (15, 16). In this process, CST p Figure 8. Solar radiation is used to remove oxygen from carbon dioxide for processing
into solar fuels. The concentrated solar energy heats ceramic disks rotating in opposite
is used to achieve temperatures above 1,200°C,
directions. At 1,500°C, ceramic releases oxygen from its molecular lattice. The oxygen-
which are required by the endothermic calcination deficient ceramic absorbs oxygen from CO2 at 1,100°C, creating CO for processing
step in the calcination/carbonation reaction. into fuels.
pounds. The process requires the addition of a reductant of a manganese-ferrite mixture in a water-splitting metal-
and heat. Conventional operations use coal as the reducing oxide redox cycle for hydrogen production can lower the
agent and, via combustion, the source of heat. Process heat operating temperature of the metal oxide redox cycles from
produced from CST could, for example, reduce the carbon up to 1,600°C to between 750°C and 800°C (20).
consumed to extract iron from hematite by over 80% (18). Optimized process scheduling using detailed process
models can be applied to CSP plants to maximize revenue
The role of chemical engineers (21), and, similarly, to optimize energy use scheduling in
CST achieves high temperatures, and high-temperature CST desalination plants (12). Desalination membrane tech-
operation requires materials that can handle long-term expo- nology is an ongoing field of research that requires careful
sure to harsh conditions. Chemical engineers could help to choice of materials (22).
develop such materials at an economical cost. A general understanding of chemical process engineering
Chemical engineers can contribute their understanding of and optimization facilitates engineering of chemical process
chemical processes and chemical pathways to design reac- parameters, equipment, and operations, which helps to
tions that temper difficult engineering requirements, making broaden the range of applications economically and techni-
them more compatible with CST (19). For example, the use cally feasible with CST. CEP
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Solar Thermochemical
Energy Storage
Nick AuYeung Thermochemical energy storage
Oregon State Univ.
Peter Kreider could be the key to widespread
Australian National Univ. concentrating solar power (CSP) deployment.
T
hermal energy from the sun can be stored as chemi- power cycle efficiency could greatly reduce the cost of solar-
cal energy in a process called solar thermochemical derived power. The challenge in developing solar TCES,
energy storage (TCES). The thermal energy is used however, is in achieving high enough energy and power den-
to drive a reversible endothermic chemical reaction, storing sity to offset increasingly complex process control, service
the energy as chemical potential. During periods of high life, and material compatibility issues inherent in the use of a
solar insolation, an energy-consuming reaction stores the high-temperature, chemically reactive system.
thermal energy in chemical bonds; when energy is needed, Global CSP capacity is still small compared to other
the reverse reaction recombines the chemical reactants and renewable energy technologies, but it has been expand-
releases energy. ing with an annual growth rate of about 40% since 2006
Incorporating storage into concentrating solar power (Figure 1). Breakthroughs in storage technologies could help
(CSP) systems enables dispatchable generation, whereby to increase CSP’s share of the energy portfolio.
utilities produce power to match demand. This efficient
method of power production overcomes intermittency chal- Solar TCES subsystems
lenges faced by other forms of renewable energy produc- Incorporating solar TCES into CSP installations requires
tion. It also reduces the cost of solar energy through higher integration of an additional subsystem — essentially a
utilization. chemical plant for the reversible energy storage reaction(s).
Thermochemical storage has inherently higher energy The subsystem receives heat from the solar collection field,
density than latent- or sensible-heat storage schemes which it can use to drive the endothermic energy storage
because, in addition to sensible heat, energy is stored as reaction when power is not in demand.
chemical potential. The endothermic reactions that could Because the purpose of the chemical process is energy
be employed for solar TCES can operate at significantly storage, a critical component of the subsystem is the storage
higher temperatures than current state-of-the-art CSP stor- tanks. Thermochemical storage mechanisms have a higher
age systems (e.g., molten salt storage). Higher-temperature energy density than thermal methods, which could help lower
operation enables the use of high-efficiency power cycles. capital costs by reducing storage tank volumes (Figure 2).
A storage scheme with higher energy density and higher When energy is required from storage, the TCES sub-
system delivers heat to the power block. The reactants must 103
Wind
contact each other to react, while heat is simultaneously
extracted and sent to the power block. In an ideal design,
102
the heat-transfer fluid would also be a reactant (e.g., a gas)
that would directly contact the other reactant(s), such as in a
packed-bed reactor. Photovoltaics (PV)
Capacity, GWe
101
Solar TCES subsystems are classified as direct or
indirect (Figure 3). In a direct solar TCES subsystem, the
endothermic reactor receives heat directly from the solar 100
receiver, while in an indirect subsystem, the endothermic
reactor receives heat from the solar collection field via a Concentrating Solar Power (CSP)
heat-transfer fluid. The receiver and reactor are coupled in a 10–1
direct subsystem; heat-transfer fluids for extreme tempera-
tures may not be available or practical for some processes.
10–2
Although heliostat-tower (i.e., power tower or central 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
receiver with heliostats) collectors are often associated with
solar TCES, TCES could conceivably be implemented with p Figure 1. From 1990 to 2005, wind and photovoltaics (PV) were
deployed at much higher rates than concentrating solar power (CSP). Since
both dish and trough designs, depending on the process tem- then, the growth curve for CSP has begun to more closely mirror those
perature requirements. Subsystems might include intermedi- other forms of renewable energy. Data courtesy John Pye.
ate separators, heat exchangers, and storage vessels related 35
to the type of chemical reaction used. For example, a metal Thermochemical
oxide gas/particle TCES subsystem would include a reduc- 30 Latent Heat
tion reactor (for storage when the sun is shining), a cyclone Sensible Heat
Intrinsic Energy Density, GJ/m3
25
separator (or similar equipment) to separate the charged
particles from the hot gas, heat exchangers for heat recovery 20
and heat delivery to the power block, an oxidation reactor (to
produce energy when the sun is not shining), and integrated 15
storage vessels that minimize heat losses and the distance
extremely hot gas/particles must travel. Simple chemical 10
reactions that avoid or minimize the need for complicated
5
separation steps would be expected to have the highest
energy and exergy efficiencies.
0
Molten H2 Cu/Mg/Si Wood CaO/CaCO3 Gasoline
Salts (100 bar) Phase Change
Power block Material
Most CSP installations use steam Rankine cycles to con-
p Figure 2. The energy density of thermochemical storage is inherently
vert thermal energy to electrical energy, but there are some higher than sensible or latent energy storage because energy is stored as
efforts to explore the use of organic Rankine cycles. Existing chemical potential.
Direct Subsystem Indirect Subsystem
Heat
Exchanger Endothermic
Receiver
Endothermic
Reactor
Receiver
Reactor
Product Storage
Separation Vessel
Product Separation
Pump Heat
Exchanger
Pump
Exothermic Power Storage Exothermic Power
Reactor Block Vessel Reactor Block
p Figure 3. Direct subsystems (left) combine the receiver and endothermic reactor in the same vessel. In an indirect subsystem (right), a heat-transfer
fluid transports heat from the receiver to the endothermic reactor. In both designs, the exothermic reactor exchanges heat with a power block when power is
in demand. Source: Adapted from (2).
Table 1. Thermochemical storage reactions are evaluated based on their Storage chemistries
decomposition temperature and theoretical gravimetric energy densities. Table 1 summarizes some chemical
Volumetric energy density is a more informative metric, but depends on process
design, storage strategies, and the structure of the chemical constituents. reactions that have been studied for stor-
Source: Data from (5, 12–14). ing solar thermal energy. Most reactions
Reaction Decomposition Theoretical Gravimetric involve decomposition of a solid X to
Temperature at Energy Density, form another solid Y and a gas; the gas
1 atm, °C kJ/kg charged species
is recombined with solid Y when energy
Mn3O4 + ½ O2  Mn2O3 900 202 is in demand. Solid-gas chemistries,
3 CoO + ½ O2  Co3O4 900 875 however, are inherently unsteady state
CaO + CO2  CaCO3 885 3,175 due to consumption of the solid reactant,
which complicates process control. Other
SrO + CO2  SrCO3 1,175 2,272
reactions, such as ammonia synthesis, are
CaO + H2O  Ca(OH)2 507 1,930
a combination of gas and liquid phases.
Metal Hydrides 600–1,100 ~ 2,800 Metal oxides. Metal oxide oxid-
(1) 2 H2SO4(l)  2 H2O(g) + O2(g) + 2 SO2(g) 850 (charge) 9,600 ation/reduction reactions have received
2 H2O(l) + 3 SO2(g)  2 H2SO4(aq) + S(s,l) attention because air provides an abun-
(2) S(s,l) + O2(g)  SO2(g) 1,200 (discharge) dant source of the oxygen reactant. Using
N2 + H2  NH3 200 2,706 air also eliminates the need to store the
decomposed reactants between charge
Rankine systems typically employ a molten salt storage and discharge steps. The challenges of concentrating solar
system. CSP installations with molten salt storage operate energy to achieve temperatures above 1,000°C and finding
at about 600°C, which limits the choice of power block and materials capable of long-term exposure to these extreme
limits the achievable thermal efficiencies to about 40%. conditions make lower-temperature redox reactions an
The development of noncorrosive salts or TCES attractive option. Manganese-based (3–5) and cobalt-based
systems capable of operating at higher temperatures is an (6) oxides, for example, decompose in air at temperatures
active area of research that could unlock the use of higher- around 900°C.
efficiency power block arrangements, such as combined Metal oxides are receiving substantial attention in the
cycles or supercritical CO2 (sCO2) cycles. Combined cycle TCES community. While the theoretical and experimental
power systems, composed of a Brayton (air) cycle followed performance of many pure and mixed metal oxides have
by a Rankine (steam) cycle, are currently employed com- been explored, barium, cobalt, and manganese oxides are
mercially for electricity generation. They achieve thermal some of the most promising performers based on their oper-
efficiencies of 50–60% and operate at temperatures of ating temperatures, material costs, and preliminary measure-
800–1,500°C. ments of chemical performance in cyclical oxidation and
Supercritical CO2 cycles have received interest from the reduction reactions (4, 5).
CSP community as a potential next-generation power block Current research efforts focus on mixed-metal oxides.
option. Since sCO2 has a higher density than steam, sCO2 Perovskites are metal oxides of the form ABO3, where A
turbines can be much smaller than conventional air or steam and B are two or more different metals. Perovskites with
turbines of the same power level. Operating temperatures for more than one metal occupying the A and/or B sites can
sCO2 turbines are 800–1,000°C and thermal efficiencies are have unique properties. Researchers at Sandia National
reported to be about 50% (1). Given the smaller turbine size, Laboratories have developed perovskite materials based
the lower thermal efficiency (compared to combined cycles) on LaxSr1-xCoyMn1-yO3 (LSCM) and LaxSr1-xCoyFe1-yO3
may be a worthwhile concession. (LSCF) that have an experimentally demonstrated energy
TCES is typically compared to other forms of thermal density of 245 kJ/kg (7). More recently, they demonstrated
energy storage using volumetric energy density and volu- higher energy densities, in the vicinity of 390 kJ/kg, with
metric power density. These metrics must exceed those CaTi0.2Mn0.8O3 and CaAl0.2Mn0.8O3 (8).
for commercialized molten salt or phase-change materials Carbonates. Carbonates also garner attention as stor-
to be considered a viable commercial pursuit. Exergetic age media, in part because of their use as carbon capture
efficiency is another key metric, which ultimately impacts materials. Unlike metal oxides, however, carbonates require
the cost competitiveness of a TCES system. The U.S. Dept. storage of the gas-phase reactant (CO2), which must be
of Energy (DOE) has identified a thermochemical storage considered as part of an overall process design and techno
subsystem capital cost target of $15/kWhth as a means of economic assessment. Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) has a
achieving electricity prices of $0.06/kWhe (2). reasonable decomposition temperature (~ 850°C) and low
cost. Recently, the suitability of SrCO3-based materials with their fast kinetics and high energy densities. In a conceptual
decomposition temperatures around 1,150°C for a com- system (Figure 4), a high-temperature hydride decomposes
bined cycle power block have been explored (9). and a low-temperature hydride absorbs the hydrogen. At
The challenge of metal oxide carbonation chemistry is the the core of making this concept a reality is finding a cheap
loss of surface area during cyclical operations. Over time, the low-temperature hydride — a challenge that has also been
active materials tend to sinter, become denser, and eventually encountered in the hydrogen storage community.
become deactivated. Additionally, product layers form on the It is worth working to overcome these challenges
surface during carbonation, which impedes diffusion of CO2, because of the inherent benefits of a self-regulating system
slows the reaction kinetics, and ultimately reduces the con- that transfers hydrogen between a low-temperature and a
version that can be achieved over a reasonable time frame. high-temperature metal hydride (12). During discharge,
To make matters worse, the less-dense carbonate species will the temperature decreases in the high-temperature reactor,
clog the pores of the calcium oxide material due to volu- causing hydrogen to be absorbed by the high-temperature
metric expansion (lower density) of the calcium carbonate. metal hydride to release heat. As discharge progresses, the
Materials called polymorphic spacers, which exhibit negative system pressure decreases and hydrogen evolves from the
thermal expansion, have been found to help prevent sintering low-temperature metal hydride and flows toward the high-
(10). Another strategy is the use of a steam hydration treat- temperature metal hydride. Conversely, when the system
ment step to regenerate active surface area (11). is charging, the high-temperature metal hydride is heated;
Metal hydroxides and hydrates. Group 1 and Group 2 hydrogen evolves and flows toward the low-temperature
metals have also been used to form hydroxides and hydrates. metal hydride where it is absorbed.
Hydration of a Group 1 or Group 2 metal oxide is strongly Other TCES reactions. General Atomics has investigated
exothermic, while decomposition is conversely endothermic. the use of a cycle based on the disproportionation of sulfur
The advantage of this approach is that water is readily avail- dioxide to form sulfuric acid and elemental sulfur aided by
able and can be stored in its condensed phase. Unfortunately, an iodine catalyst (Figure 5). Sulfuric acid can be thermally
the use of water in a high-temperature process also requires decomposed to sulfur dioxide, while elemental sulfur can be
vaporization, which consumes energy. Salt-based hydroxides burned in oxygen to release 9,281 kJ/kg of thermal energy.
and hydrates will likely see more use in seasonal thermo- Unique to this chemistry is that sulfur can be combusted at a
chemical storage schemes for low-temperature, off-grid higher temperature (~ 1,200°C) than the solar charging step
residential applications, which have been a major develop- (~ 850°C). A disadvantage of this approach is the need for
ment thrust in the European Union. three reaction steps and the toxicity of the sulfur constitu-
Metal hydrides. Metal hydrides are intriguing because of ents. Cost projections, however, indicate that this concept
could meet the SunShot metrics of less than $15/kWhth for
750-kWth 100-kWe the subsystem (13).
Concentrated Engine
Solar
Ammonia synthesis as a TCES medium is also under
development (see pp. 36–41). This method leverages fluid
components that exhibit automatic phase separation based
on the difference in density between the liquid ammonia and
the nitrogen and hydrogen gases. Storage of the gas phase
Thermocline
Low-Temperature
remains a challenge.
Hydride High-Temperature
Storage Hydride Solar Power
Thermochemical + O2 Block
Field SO2
Reactor SO2 + H2O
H2SO4 SO2 Sulfur

Decomposition Disproportionation Combustion
p Figure 4. EMC Solar designed a conceptual TCES system in which a
high-temperature hydride decomposes and a low-temperature hydride
absorbs the hydrogen. To charge the system, sunlight enters the calcium
hydride thermochemical reactor to release hydrogen. As hydrogen is H2SO4 Sulfur
released, it flows toward the low-temperature metal hydride. Along the
way, the hydrogen passes through a thermocline, where it heats a sensible p Figure 5. In General Atomic’s sulfur energy storage concept, sulfuric
energy storage medium (e.g., sand). In times of power demand, hydrogen acid decomposes into SO2, H2O, and O2. The SO2 disproportionates into
is absorbed by calcium in the high-temperature reactor to release heat. The either sulfuric acid or elemental sulfur. If energy is needed, the elemental
thermocline serves as a preheater for the hydrogen, which is released from sulfur can be combusted, which is strongly exothermic, to release a
the low-temperature metal hydride. Source: Adapted from (12). substantial amount of energy.
Article continues on next page
Reactor designs exit temperatures of the reactor and the power block would
Reactor design is an area of solar TCES that will require ideally be approximately equal and as close to ambient
more attention. Ströhle, et al., at ETH-Zurich have analyzed as possible.
thermochemical storage from a design perspective to under- Simulations of these manganese oxide storage systems
stand how best to integrate the subsystem with the power indicate that a significant portion of the usable stored energy
block. Using a manganese oxide-based redox chemistry is actually the sensible heat of the materials — up to 91% in
as a representative test case, they determined two general packed-bed parallel configurations (3). This finding could
concepts for integration of a TCES subsystem with a power inform future designs of hybrid TCES systems that use
block (3): low-cost inert materials (e.g., ceramics) for sensible energy
• a parallel configuration, in which during charging the storage and optimized, high-performing chemically reactive
heat-transfer fluid flow is split between the storage sub materials to enhance performance.
system and the power block (Figure 6) The reactor must also be integrated with a solar energy
• a serial configuration, in which the heat-transfer fluid source, using either a direct or indirect subsystem. The DLR
goes through the storage subsystem first and then flows (the German acronym for the Institute of Solar Research)
through the power block (Figure 7). laboratory in Jülich, Germany, employs an indirect sub
The choice of a parallel or serial configuration for the system: silcon carbide receivers heat air, which then
integration of the storage and power block subsystems dic- exchanges heat downstream with the reaction.
tates the type of reactor best suited for TCES. For example, The DLR laboratory has also investigated direct heating
a fluidized bed has a relatively uniform temperature profile; methods using rotary kilns, which receive concentrated
the outlet gases exit hot and then could flow into a power sunlight and carry out the decomposition reaction. Neises,
block that would harness the heat (i.e., a serial configura- et al., demonstrated 30 cycles using Co3O4/CoO in a rotary
tion). In a parallel scheme, fluids would flow into either a kiln, with roughly 400 kJ/kg stored per cycle (6). More
reactor (perhaps a packed-bed reactor) or the power block, recently, Singh, et al., demonstrated the use of a honey-
with the goal of exiting at the lowest temperature possible comb reactor concept in a solar furnace for the Co3O4/CoO
to extract the maximum amount of energy available. The cycle (15).
(a) Charging (a) Charging Heat

Exchanger
Heat Thermochemical
Exchanger Storage Reactor
Solar Power Solar Power

Field Block Field Block
Thermochemical
Storage Reactor
(b) Discharging (b) Discharging Heat

Exchanger
Heat Thermochemical
Exchanger Storage Reactor
Solar Power Solar Power

Field Block Field Block
Thermochemical
Storage Reactor
p Figure 6. In the parallel configuration, energy from the solar field is p Figure 7. In the serial configuration, energy from the solar field is
absorbed by a heat-transfer fluid during the charging step (a), which drives absorbed by a heat-transfer fluid during the charging step (a), which first
a reaction in the thermochemical storage reactor and provides thermal drives a reaction in the thermochemical storage reactor and then provides
input to the power block. During discharging (b), the reverse reaction thermal input to the power block. During discharging (b), the reverse reac-
heats a heat-transfer fluid, which supplies energy to the power block. tion heats a heat-transfer fluid, which supplies energy to the power block.
Source: Adapted from (3). Source: Adapted from (3).
Looking to the future of solar TCES thermal energy for TCES could be obtained from waste
Metal oxide redox cycles that use air as the source of heat or geothermal sources and used for residential heat-
oxygen are currently among the most attractive chemis- ing applications and/or industrial drying, separations, or
tries for solar TCES, primarily because they do not require endothermic reactions. Industrial processes that produce
storage of the gaseous reactant. Work is needed to develop substantial amounts of reactive gases such as carbon diox-
new materials for energy storage, as well as to demonstrate ide might find that carbonation of a solar-charged Group 1
a complete TCES subsystem. Pilot-scale trials will need to or Group 2 metal oxide in a cycle similar to those described
demonstrate that heat can be stored indefinitely and effi- previously could provide heat and eliminate the need to
ciently released on-demand. burn fossil fuels.
Questions linger related to the integration of the stor- Although the solar thermochemical research com-
age subsystem with the power block, process control, and munity has largely focused on temperatures greater than
the interplay between sensible heat and chemical energy 600°C for solar TCES, these high temperatures present
release in functional designs. High-temperature power storage chemistries, service life, and materials of construc-
blocks are more efficient, but higher temperatures expo- tion challenges. However, many thermal separations (e.g.,
nentially increase radiative losses and limit the choices thermal distillation) account for a significant portion of the
for materials of construction. Challenges associated with overall energy consumption of a chemical process. Existing
high-temperature materials and the desire to achieve higher storage chemistries that work at low temperatures could be
conversion efficiencies are driving researchers toward an integrated into such processes with appropriate design and
800–1,000°C operating temperature range. These tempera- demonstration effort.
tures could supply heat to sCO2-based power blocks — a Process intensification and energy efficiency are major
substantial improvement over the current state-of-the-art thrusts in the continuing evolution of the chemical process
molten salt storage systems, which operate at lower tempera- industries (CPI). As industry looks to cut operating costs and
tures (around 600°C). minimize fossil energy consumption, chemical engineers
TCES could find application beyond CSP and power should be on the lookout for opportunities to incorporate
generation, such as for storing and supplying heat. The TCES into existing processes. CEP
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Leveraging
the Ammonia Industry
for Solar Energy Storage
Keith M. Lovegrove Concentrating solar power (CSP) with energy storage
ITP Thermal Pty Ltd.
Adrienne S. Lavine could help meet our zero-emission energy needs.
Univ. of California, Los Angeles This article explains how the Haber-Bosch process
Hamarz Aryafar
California State Polytechnic
for ammonia synthesis could be used for
Univ., Pomona low-cost energy storage in CSP plants.
Chen Chen
Univ. of California, Los Angeles
T
he Paris Climate Agreement aims to limit the human- Ammonia as an energy storage medium
induced global temperature rise to less than 2°C. Solar thermochemical energy storage (TCES) exploits a
Meeting that goal will require a global energy system chemically reversible reaction by using solar energy to heat
with net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner. Renewable an endothermic reactor. The reaction products are stored,
energy sources, such as wind and photovoltaics (PV), will and when energy is needed, it can be recovered as heat given
help make a zero-emission energy system a reality. How- off by an exothermic reactor that reconstitutes the origi-
ever, the variable nature of these energy sources limits their nal reactants. In addition to ammonia, reactions involving
practical use for electricity generation. hydroxides, carbonates, hydrides, and sulfates, as well as
Integrating energy storage with energy production is the methane reforming, have been investigated as TCES media
key to a zero-emission energy system future. Energy storage (see pp. 30–35) (1–3).
can be built into a concentrating solar power (CSP) system, Annual global production of ammonia is more than
without increasing the cost of the delivered energy. The stan- 160 million m.t., making ammonia the second-most-
dard industry approach of producing electricity with energy common chemical commodity produced (after ethylene).
storage is to heat a molten mixture of potassium and sodium The Haber-Bosch process for ammonia synthesis has been
nitrate salts to high temperatures using the solar concentra- used industrially for over 100 years, and at scale in most
tors. The thermal energy can be stored or used on-demand in industrialized countries. The U.S., for example, has more
heat exchangers to produce steam to power steam turbines. than 50 ammonia plants (4).
The CSP industry is expanding, but is still a decade behind An industrial ammonia plant, as a whole, is a major
PV in deployed capacity. energy-consuming system. Typically, plants use natural gas
This article introduces the concept of leveraging the as a feedstock and as fuel to drive the operation. Much of the
Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis process as a potential plant is dedicated to the energy-intensive process of steam
lower-cost energy storage alternative to molten salts in reforming of natural gas to produce hydrogen and nitrogen
CSP plants. gas mixtures. (For more details on the ammonia production
process, read the Sept. 2016 CEP Back to Basics article indefinitely, ammonia TCES has several other advantages:
“Introduction to Ammonia Production,” pp. 69–75). • The simple reaction has no side reactions, so there is
The Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis reactors are exo- no need for elaborate control systems or nonstoichiometric
thermic. The reaction heat is usually captured as superheated mixtures to maintain complete reaction reversibility.
steam that is used for cogeneration of electricity or other • The constituents are inexpensive and remain stable at
plant processes. This approach could, instead, be employed the proposed operating temperatures.
to operate a standalone CSP plant. The feedstock of hydro- • The large differences between the densities of ammonia
gen and nitrogen could be produced by the decomposition (liquid at the operating pressure) and nitrogen and hydro-
of ammonia, driven by solar energy from a concentrating gen gases enable their storage in the same tank with natural
solar thermal (CST) system, with the reactants continuously phase separation.
recycled. • Because of the natural phase separation in the storage
Ammonia has been shown to be a viable solar TCES tank, the availability of the feedstocks for the two reactors is
medium over three decades of research at Australian independent of the degree of completion in the other reactor.
National Univ. (ANU). Researchers at ANU demonstrated • The vast industrial experience in ammonia synthesis
24-hr operation of a complete system, with a dish concentra- can be tapped.
tor, endothermic and exothermic reactors, and a storage ves- Conventional ammonia synthesis reactions are run at
sel (5). The Univ. of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has high pressures (up to 300 bar). Because high pressure favors
continued this work (6, 7). UCLA researchers are investigat- the synthesis reaction, the reaction can be conducted at
ing cost-effective gas containment technologies, the use of higher temperatures, which increases reaction rates. To adapt
ammonia synthesis to enable production of 650°C steam for the conventional method to a closed-loop ammonia TCES
a supercritical steam Rankine cycle, and integration of the system, high pressure is applied to both the endothermic
endothermic reactor within a CSP tower receiver (8). reactors and the reactant storage volume to avoid a large
loss of work during gas compression. Designing the entire
How it works system for high-pressure operation is a major engineering
In an ammonia TCES process (Figure 1), ammonia is challenge of developing the technology.
dissociated endothermically (NH3 + 66.8 kJ/mol ↔ 1/2 N2 +
3/2 H2) as it absorbs solar energy during the daytime. When Integrating reactors and solar receivers
energy is required, the reverse reaction releases energy to Under pressure, the endothermic ammonia dissociation
heat a working fluid, such as steam, to produce electricity. step requires a temperature of around 700°C to achieve near-
A key feature of the process is the recuperative heat complete dissociation at reasonable reaction rates. A central
exchangers paired with
the endothermic and exo Ammonia Dissociation
Reactor
thermic reactors, which lower (Endothermic Reactor/Receiver) Power Block
the endothermic reaction (Steam)
products’ temperature to
Ammonia Synthesis
near ambient and then raise Reactor
their temperature prior to (Exothermic Reactor)
the synthesis reaction. As a

result, transport and storage
of the reactants and prod-
Heat Heat
ucts is conducted at ambient Exchanger Exchanger
temperature.
In addition to eliminating N2/H2
Solar Concentrators
piping networks and their (Dishes or Heliostats)
Gas
associated thermal losses and
the ability to store energy Liquid
NH3
u Figure 1. In an ammonia thermochemical storage system, high-
temperature solar concentrators decompose ammonia. The products
of the decomposition, hydrogen and nitrogen, are stored underground • Storage of Reactants
at ambient temperature. When energy is needed, the gases are fed to at Ambient Temperature
the ammonia synthesis reactors, which give off heat that is used to • High-Pressure Underground
create high-pressure steam for power generation. Storage of Gases
receiver with heliostats or parabolic dish CST systems are trator (Figure 2). The 15-kWsol receiver/reactor consists
best suited to achieving this temperature. Trough or linear of 20 catalyst-filled Inconel 601 reactor tubes mounted to
Fresnel concentrators may also be considered, although manifolds that provide parallel flow of the reactants (9).
temperatures may reach only around 500°C and the level of The tubes form a cone inside an insulated cavity in the
dissociation will be lower. To increase dissociation, however, receiver structure.
the phase separation of ammonia from the reactant mix in The system successfully handled startup, shutdown,
storage could enable recirculation of unreacted ammonia. and operation under intermittent clouds. It operated at up to
Tower receivers with heliostat concentrators are cur- 30 MPa and 700°C; the temperature was controlled by vary-
rently favored by the CSP industry. Parabolic dish concen- ing the flowrate of the ammonia feed. Flow was distributed
trators offer the highest optical efficiencies, but they are the among the tubes by tuning their pressure drop characteristics
least commercially mature because they have so far lacked during manufacturing.
a proven thermal energy storage solution. The ammonia
TCES system, with its ambient-temperature energy transport An ammonia dissociation reactor in a tower receiver
feature, could enable CSP plants composed of multiple dish Because much of the growth in CSP deployment has
concentrators. involved tower receivers, our research focuses on the techni-
Researchers at ANU designed a receiver reactor for cal feasibility of operating a 100-MWe tower system with
ammonia dissociation on a 20-m2 parabolic dish concen- six or more hours of storage.
Ammonia dissociation within a tower receiver has yet
Dish Concentrator
to be demonstrated. Our research considers the conceptual
design of such a receiver. We examined the molten salt
tower receiver in the well-known U.S. National Renew-
Receiver/Reactor able Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) System Advisor Model
(SAM) as a starting point (10). This receiver is designed for
a 100-MWe, 10-hr storage plant with a surrounding heliostat
field (similar to the Crescent Dunes plant in Nevada).
Our goal was to develop a conceptual design for an
ammonia dissociation receiver that fits within the same size
cylindrical envelope as the SAM receiver (17.7 m wide,
20.4 m high) and that has the same thermal capacity under
the design conditions (670 MWth).
The conceptual design uses multiple tubular packed-bed
pu Figure 2. This
dish concentrator catalytic dissociation reactors, similar to the parabolic dish
prototype includes receiver designed at ANU, that are 2.7 m long with 5-cm-
a 15-kWsol solar wide beds (Figure 3). We assumed the same iron-cobalt
dissociation reactor catalyst used successfully in the ANU dish. We also assumed
that is integrated
into the receiver.
q Figure 3. The central receiver (left) of this conceptual design would
include a dissociation receiver (center) composed of multiple tubular
packed-bed catalytic dissociation reactors arranged in skirts (right).
that these endothermic reactors will operate at 30 MPa, as be stored in a connected ground-level containment vessel.
required by the exothermic heat-recovery process. The pressure of the storage system will cycle between
In addition to containing the pressure, the dissociation maximum and minimum values as the system is charged by
reactor/receiver must be able to convert sufficient quantities ammonia decomposition and discharged by ammonia syn-
of ammonia to meet the thermal power requirement at a rea- thesis. If the synthesis reaction is operated at a fixed design
sonable operating temperature. We established that around pressure (or between narrow limits), feed gas will need to
33,000 such tubes would be needed to absorb the 670 MWth be compressed much of the time. The gas storage would be
design input, and that the reactant temperature would need to designed for an economically optimal storage pressure that
start at 450°C and increase to 700°C at the exit. is independent of the reaction system.
The tubes would be mounted at a downward angle The storage options were evaluated based on attributes
(7 deg. from horizontal) in a series of tight skirts (Figure 3). such as estimated cost, location flexibility, potential for
The angle is intended to match the incident solar flux to the contamination of the surrounding environment, poten-
requirements of the reaction. An angle equal to the rim angle tial for contamination of the gas store, and ease of gas
from the receiver to the outermost heliostat would allow injection/extraction. Based on the initial evaluation, we
radiation from those heliostats to penetrate to the center of identified mined salt caverns and large-diameter shafts as the
the receiver, while radiation from closer heliostats would most promising storage options.
land along the length of the tubes.
To enhance the receiver’s thermal efficiency, the tubes Gas storage: Salt caverns
are arranged so that the lower-temperature inlet condition Salt caverns can be mined in either salt domes or salt
is at the outermost point and the higher temperatures are beds (Figure 4). Mining a salt cavern is simple and employs
toward the inside. The gaps between adjacent skirts serve as established processes, such as solution mining or leaching,
cavities that shield the highest-temperature portions of the whereby fresh water is pumped into the salt dome or bed and
reactor tubes from the surroundings, reducing radiation and brine is extracted. Over 2,000 salt caverns are used for hydro-
convection heat losses. The downward-angled tubes form a carbon and gas storage in North America, including about
stagnant, stably stratified air space inside the cavities, which 500 in Texas alone. Caverns are typically located at depths of
also reduces convection losses. 200–2,000 m and can be as large as 500,000 m3, and they are
We predict this design will achieve a receiver thermal capable of tolerating pressures up to about 50 MPa.
efficiency of 94%. The rock salt of the cavern walls is chemically inert to
hydrogen, and it is one of the only rock formations with
Gas storage permeability low enough to contain hydrogen gas. Pure
For deployment, our receiver design would require the hydrogen or hydrogen-rich gas mixtures have been stored in
support of a gas storage system. A TCES system capable salt caverns at several sites around the world. Praxair oper-
of driving a 100-MWe generator for six hours would need
a 1,300-MWth storage system. The nitrogen and hydrogen
gas mixture has an energy density of about 400 MJ/m3 at
the proposed storage conditions of 298 K and 30 MPa and
requires roughly 12,000 m3 of storage volume. To be conser-
vative, we assumed 20 MPa pressure and 33% cushion gas
(i.e., the amount of gas that must be left in situ to preserve
the integrity of the storage space), which increases the stor-
age volume to about 24,000 m3.
The high pressure required to contain the gas could
necessitate a costly conventional steel pressure-containment
Cavern Salt Deposit
system. Therefore, we explored strategies to cost-effectively
contain the gas. We considered a variety of underground stor-
age solutions that exploit the surrounding geology to provide
the bulk of the pressure containment — including storage in
depleted oil or gas wells, aquifers, salt caverns, rock caverns,
and buried pre-stressed reinforced concrete pressure ves-
p Figure 4. Salt caverns are a viable and economical option for gas
sels — as well as several technologies for boring and lining
storage because the surrounding rock provides adequate pressure
underground holes. Because the liquid ammonia has a much containment, the salt deposits are inert to hydrogen, and the permeability
smaller volume than the gaseous phase (N2 + 3H2), it could of the salt is low enough to contain hydrogen.
5.5 m Pressure Pipe bolts and then backfilled with earth and rock to complete the
pressure containment.
Backfill Shaft-drilling companies estimate a volume cost of
with Rock
around $400/m3 for the storage system, which translates to
12-mm an energy storage cost of $4.80/kWhth if no cushion gas is
Reinforced
Earth Steel Case
Concrete Cap
required, or $7.20/kWhth if 33% cushion gas is assumed.
1,000 m
Rock Bolts Driving power cycles
to Reinforce Cap
The overall ammonia production process is energy inten-
Steel Plate sive. However, ammonia synthesis reactors actually produce
Cement
energy as heat.
Grout Conventional ammonia synthesis reactors generally con-
sist of adiabatic reactor beds connected in series in one or
more pressure vessels. Heat is extracted from the reactants
p Figure 5. The surrounding rock provides the majority of the pressure between beds to drop the reactants’ temperature to below the
containment for gas storage in an underground shaft. Shafts are not subject chemical equilibrium state. Bayonet-type heat exchangers
to the location constraint of salt caverns.
are used to produce steam at around 450°C. The steam can
ates a 470,000-m3 (71 million-Nm3) salt cavern hydrogen be used in standard steam turbine power blocks that achieve
storage facility at 15 MPa in Texas (11). reasonable conversion efficiencies.
A 2008 U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) report on the The overall economic performance of a CSP system is
economic feasibility of syngas storage (12) estimated a salt strongly linked to the conversion efficiency of its power
cavern facility would cost around $50/m3. For a 24,000-m3 cycle, which can be improved by higher input temperatures.
facility, this translates to a very low thermal storage cost State-of-the-art steam turbine power cycles employ steam at
of about $1/kWh of storage capacity. Because size is not pressures above 22.1 MPa (i.e., supercritical steam). Super-
a limiting factor, a salt cavern could be suitable for longer critical steam temperatures are typically higher than 600°C.
periods of storage at plants that are larger than our concep- A primary goal of our research was to experimentally
tual design. demonstrate heating of supercritical steam by ammonia syn-
Suitable salt deposits are present on every continent, and thesis. Our aim was to heat the steam at 26 MPa from 350°C
there is sufficient overlap between areas with salt deposits to 650°C. We achieved this using a tubular packed-bed reac-
and areas of high solar radiation. The availability of salt tor with counterflow heat-transfer tubes for the steam. The
deposits is sufficient to allow ammonia CSP systems to reactants experienced a rapid temperature increase of around
provide a large fraction of electricity in countries with high 50°C near the inlet, and the steam exited at a temperature
incident solar radiation. Nevertheless, siting
CSP plants in areas with suitable salt deposits is Table 1. The cost of an ammonia-based concentrating solar power (CSP)
a significant constraint. plant with energy storage is in range of the DOE’s targets for 2020.
Fixed Costs $/kWth Cost for 6 hr, $/kWhth
Gas storage: Underground shafts
Reactor 22.11 3.69
The use of large-diameter shafts for gas
storage removes the site choice constraint Recuperating Heat Exchanger 17.07 2.85
(Figure 5). Drilling is an established technology, Compressor 27.86 4.64
although it has not yet been used for gas stor- Chilled Separator and 19.50 3.25
age. The mining industry drills shafts that are other Balance of Plant (BOP)
7.5 m wide and reach depths of 1,000 m. Offset for Boiler* –26.38 –4.40
For a gas storage application, the shaft Variable Costs Salt Cavern Shaft Drilling
would be lined with a relatively thin (about
Underground Storage Volume — 1.50 7.20
12 mm) steel lining and grouted with cement,
Ammonia Inventory — 1.50 1.00
and top and bottom plates would be welded in
place. The top plate would be located a suf- Total — 13.0 18.2
ficient distance below ground level to resist the * The ammonia TCES system heats steam in the synthesis reactor directly, so a separate
steam generating heat exchanger is not required, as it is with a molten-salt-based storage,
internal pressure and would be coupled to the for example. Thus, the equivalent cost of such a heat exchanger can be counted as a credit
surface by a pressure pipe. The top would be to the overall capital cost of ammonia-based TCES. The boiler heat exchanger cost has
been estimated.
reinforced with a suitable concrete cap and rock
within about 15°C of the peak reactant temperature. edge and capabilities. Salt caverns and drilled shafts could
This approach and temperature characteristic could also meet the needs of high-pressure storage at an economically
be applied to other advanced power cycles under develop- feasible cost.
ment, such as those based on supercritical CO2. Recent work has demonstrated that ammonia synthesis
can heat supercritical steam from 350°C to 650°C, improv-
Economics ing the potential efficiency of conversion. And, it has also
The goal of the DOE SunShot program, which funds our been shown that endothermic dissociation reactors can be
research, is to reduce the total levelized cost of solar energy integrated into dish or tower receivers with high thermal
to $0.06/kWh of electrical energy produced by 2020 (6). efficiency. Together, these advances have moved ammonia-
Within the SunShot effort, the target for thermal energy stor- based TCES closer to becoming a reality for CSP. CEP
age is an installed cost of $15/kWhth of capacity.

Table 1 presents the estimated cost of a 1,300-MWth
storage system. The overall cost of salt cavern storage and Acknowledgments
shaft drilling would be $13/kWhth and $18/kWhth, respec- The information, data, and work presented in this article was funded by
tively. For 6-hr storage, the ammonia TCES system cost is the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Dept. of Energy
(DOE), Award No. DE-EE0006536. The authors gratefully acknowledge the
within the SunShot target range. support.
Figure 6 compares the specific cost of installed storage
capacity as a function of the storage capacity in hours. The
specific cost includes the variable cost of storage and the Literature Cited
fixed cost amortized over the number of storage hours. 1. Pardo, P., et al., “A Review on High Temperature Thermo
At 10–15 hr of storage, the effective cost of installed chemical Heat Energy Storage,” Renewable and Sustainable
storage capacity drops well below the SunShot target for Energy Reviews, 32, pp. 591–610 (Apr. 2014).
both salt cavern and shaft storage. The marginal cost of 2. Romero-Paredes, H., et al., “Thermochemical Storage of Solar
Energy by Means of Sulfates: A Review,” in “Proceedings of the
storage in a salt cavern is sufficiently low, which suggests
13th SolarPACES Conference,” Seville, Spain (2006).
that the technology could be suited to meeting peak demands 3. Levy, M., et al., “Solar Energy Storage via a Closed-Loop
through several days of continuous clouds. Chemical Heat Pipe,” Solar Energy, 50 (2), pp. 179–189 (1993).
4. Brown, T., “The Ammonia Monitor,” https://ammoniaindustry.
Closing thoughts com/ammonia-monitor (accessed Apr. 18, 2017).
Solar energy systems with built-in energy storage will 5. Dunn, R., et al., “A Review of Ammonia-Based Thermochemical
Energy Storage for Concentrating Solar Power” Proceedings of
be key to achieving the decarbonization of the energy sector the IEEE, 100 (2), pp. 391–400 (Feb. 2012).
needed to keep global temperatures from rising more than 6. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, “SunShot
2°C. CSP integrated with thermal storage could be a good Initiative Goals,” U.S. Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC,
solution to this challenge. Ammonia TCES is especially http://energy.gov/eere/sunshot/mission (accessed Apr. 20, 2017).
attractive because of the vast established industry knowl- 7. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, “Con-
centrating Solar Power: Efficiently Leveraging Equilibrium
Mechanisms for Engineering New Thermochemical Storage,”
50 U.S. Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC, http://energy.gov/eere/
45 sunshot/concentrating-solar-power-efficiently-leveraging-equilib-
rium-mechanisms-engineering-new (accessed Apr. 20, 2017).
40
8. Lavine, A., et al., “Thermochemical Energy Storage with Ammo-
Specific Cost, $/kWhth
35 nia: Aiming for the SunShot Cost Target,” in “Proceedings of

30 Molten Salt SolarPACES 2015 Conference,” Cape Town, South Africa
(Two Tanks) (Oct. 13–16, 2015).
25
9. Lovegrove, K., et al., “A Solar-Driven Ammonia-Based
20 Drilled Shaft Thermochemical Energy Storage System,” Solar Energy, 67 (4),
15 (Average) pp. 309–316 (1999).
10. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, “System Advisor
10
Salt Cavern Model (SAM),” U.S. Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC,
5 (Average) https://sam.nrel.gov (accessed Apr. 20, 2017).
0 11. Watme, R., “Large Scale Hydrogen Storage in Salt Caverns,”
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Renewable Resources for Fuel Cells — Workshop, http://cafcp.
Length of Time of Storage, hr
org/sites/files/3_Watwe_LargeScaleHydrogenStorageCaverns.pdf
(Oct. 2010).
p Figure 6. The cost of an ammonia thermochemical energy storage 12. Apt, J., et al., “An Engineering-Economic Analysis of Syngas
(TCES) system is a function of the storage capacity in hours. The broad line Storage,” DOE/NETL-2008/1331 (July 31, 2008).
widths represent the uncertainty in the estimates.
MEET THE AUTHORS
HAMARZ ARYAFAR NICK AUYEUNG CHEN CHEN JEFF CUMPSTON
PETER KREIDER ADRIENNE LAVINE KEITH LOVEGROVE ALEXANDER MITSOS
HAMARZ ARYAFAR, PhD, is the Chief Technical Officer of Element 16 PETER KREIDER, PhD, is a research fellow in the solar thermal group at the
Technologies, Inc., and an assistant professor in the Electromechanical Australian National Univ. and is currently managing a solar thermochemical
Engineering Technology Dept. at California State Polytechnic Univ., Pomona energy storage project for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)
(Email: [email protected]). He received his PhD in aerospace engineering (Email: [email protected]). His research interests focus on reaction
from the Univ. of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He previously served as lead engineering for solar fuels and functional materials. He received his BS from
engineer for Marvel Energy, Inc. — an LA-based energy storage start-up. As a the Univ. of Colorado Boulder and PhD from Oregon State Univ., both in
postdoctoral researcher at UCLA, he investigated ammonia thermochemical chemical engineering. He is an AIChE senior member and is active in sessions
energy storage technologies. He has secured over $3.1 million in grants and related to solar energy for power generation and chemical processing at
government funding related to his research, and has three pending patent AIChE Annual Meetings.
applications for energy storage innovations.
ADRIENNE LAVINE, PhD, is a professor and past department chair of the
NICK AUYEUNG, PhD, is an assistant professor at Oregon State Univ.’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dept. at the Univ. of California, Los
School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering (Email: Angeles (UCLA) (Email: [email protected]). Her research addresses vari-
[email protected]). Prior to joining the faculty at Oregon State, ous aspects of heat transfer, including solar thermal energy storage, thermal
he worked as a postdoctoral associate focusing on solar thermochemical energy harvesting, and thermal aspects of nanoscale and macroscale manu-
conversion processes for fuels and energy storage in the Dept. of Mechani- facturing processes. She earned a PhD in mechanical engineering from the
cal and Aerospace Engineering at the Univ. of Florida. He earned his BS from Univ. of California, Berkeley. She received the Presidential Young Investigator
the Univ. of Connecticut and PhD from Oregon State Univ., both in chemical Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the F.W. Taylor Medal
engineering. He completed his PhD dissertation on thermochemical water of CIRP from the International Academy of Production Engineering. She is
splitting. For the past three years, AuYeung has been an active leader of ses- a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and has
sions related to solar energy for power generation and chemical processing served as an associate editor of the Journal of Heat Transfer and the Journal
at AIChE Annual Meetings. of Engineering for Industry.
CHEN CHEN is a doctoral student in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineer- KEITH LOVEGROVE, PhD, is the head of solar thermal for the ITP Energised
ing Dept. at the Univ. of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (Box 951597, Univ. of group and managing director of ITP Thermal Pty Ltd. (Email: keith.lovegrove@
California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095). His emphasis is on heat and itpau.com.au). He is also a board member of the Australian Solar Thermal
mass transfer. He received his master’s degree in mechanical engineering Energy Association. He received a PhD from the Australian National Univ.
from Columbia Univ. He has published two research papers on ammonia solar (ANU) in philosophy, and was previously the leader of the solar thermal
thermochemical energy storage systems. group at ANU. He has 29 years of experience in the field of solar thermal
energy and 15 years of experience teaching undergraduate and postgraduate
JEFF CUMPSTON, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at Rheinisch-Westfälische courses in energy systems and systems engineering.
Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen Univ. His research focuses include
optimization of CSP power plant layouts and optimization of energy storage ALEXANDER MITSOS, PhD, is a full professor (W3) at Rheinisch-Westfälische
scheduling to maximize revenue in variable electricity markets. He has Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen Univ. and Director of the Laboratory
conducted atmospheric monitoring at Australia’s Davis Station in Antarctica. for Process Systems Engineering (AVT.SVT) (Email: [email protected]).
Cumpston received a BS in Physics, a Bachelor of Photonics, and a PhD His research focuses on optimization of energy and chemical systems and the
in solar engineering from Australian National Univ. He was awarded the development of numerical algorithms to enable optimization. Mitsos received
Australian Solar Energy Society’s Wal Read Memorial Prize and the Australian a Diplom-Ingenieur from the Univ. of Karlsruhe and PhD from Massachusetts
Institute of Energy’s Post Graduate Research Award. Institute of Technology (MIT), both in chemical engineering. He has over
70 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has received several awards
including the 2016 AIChE Computing and Systems Technology (CAST) Div.
Outstanding Young Researcher award.
Copyright © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)

42 www.aiche.org/cep July 2017 CEP

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What is concentrating solar power and how does it work?

What is concentrating solar power and how does it work?

What advantages does the Crescent Dunes plant have over other renewable energy sources?

What advantages does the Crescent Dunes plant have over other renewable energy sources?

CONCENTR ATING

20 A Bright Spot for Energy Production

Photo courtesy of SolarReserve.

u Figure 1. Reflectors move throughout the day to concentrate solar

is engineered specifically for the

track the sun along one axis. Cen-

concentration line-focus col-

demand for electricity lags (12). Seawater Vacuum Vacuum Vacuum

Enhanced oil recovery

crude oil — an especially viscous oil. To aid extrac-

Fuel production and chemical processing

H2SO4 SO2 Sulfur

(a) Charging (a) Charging Heat

Solar Power Solar Power

(b) Discharging (b) Discharging Heat

Solar Power Solar Power

the synthesis reaction. As a

age is an installed cost of $15/kWhth of capacity.

35 nia: Aiming for the SunShot Cost Target,” in “Proceedings of

MEET THE AUTHORS

HAMARZ ARYAFAR NICK AUYEUNG CHEN CHEN JEFF CUMPSTON

PETER KREIDER ADRIENNE LAVINE KEITH LOVEGROVE ALEXANDER MITSOS

Copyright © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)

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20 A Bright Spot for Energy Production