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DOE OSTI2017

Cold sintering process of Li 1.5 Al 0.5 Ge 1.5 (PO 4 ) 3 solid electrolyte

Abstract The recently developed technique of cold sintering process (CSP) enables densification of ceramics at low temperatures, i.e., <300°C. CSP employs a transient aqueous solvent to enable liquid phase‐assisted densification through mediating the dissolution‐precipitation process under a uniaxial applied pressure. Using CSP in this study, 80% dense Li 1.5 Al 0.5 Ge 1.5 (PO 4 ) 3 (LAGP) electrolytes were obtained at 120°C in 20 minutes. After a 5 minute belt furnace treatment at 650°C, 50°C above the crystallization onset, Li‐ion conductivity was 5.4 × 10 −5 S/cm at 25°C. Another route to high ionic conductivities ~10 −4 S/cm at 25°C is through a composite LAGP ‐ (PVDF‐HFP) co‐sintered system that was soaked in a liquid electrolyte. After soaking 95, 90, 80, 70, and 60 vol% LAGP in 1 M LiPF 6 EC‐DMC (50:50 vol%) at 25°C, Li‐ion conductivities were 1.0 × 10 −4 S/cm at 25°C with 5 to 10 wt% liquid electrolyte. This paper focuses on the microstructural development and impedance contributions within solid electrolytes processed by (i) Crystallization of bulk glasses, (ii) CSP of ceramics, and (iii) CSP of ceramic‐polymer composites. CSP may offer a new route to enable multilayer battery technology by avoiding the detrimental effects of high temperature heat treatments.

Berbano, Seth S.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Characterizing particle-based thermal storage performance using optical methods for use in next generation concentrating solar power plants

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) generation is an attractive option for low-emission power generation; however, the high costs of thermal storage associated with concentrating solar create a large barrier for their use and adaptation into modern life. Lowering their operation costs, while maintaining high thermal storage and transfer performance is essential. Solid particle-based heat exchange systems can reduce CSP cost but are often less efficient. Efforts to increase their performance have led to use of binary size particle mixes. Presented is an optical-based thermal analysis technique used to measure near-wall thermal conductivity of particle beds essential in determining their heat exchanger efficiency. Modulated Photothermal Radiometry is used to make dynamic temperature measurements, allowing for the extraction of the most relevant thermal properties like thermal conductivity, specific heat, and effusivity. The system uses a modulated laser source causing a damped periodic heat flux, resulting in a frequency and thermal property dependent surface temperature, of which is measured using radiometry. Lock-In techniques are used to extrapolate the amplitude of the signal. Plotting the amplitude against the root angular frequency allows for effusivity measurement by ratio to a known sample. Using specific heat measurements from literature and density measurements, the thermal conductivity of the particle mixes can be calculated. The simplicity of MPTR to probe through the depth of the bed is ideal for use in CSP for dynamic thermal performance monitoring.

Corona, Javier↗

DOE OSTI2022

Chapter 2: Evaluating a Concentrating Solar Power Plantas an Extended-Duration Peaking Resource

We explore the ability of a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant with thermal energy storage (TES) to provide peaking capacity. We focus on future power systems, wherein net load patterns may be significantly different than they are today (e.g., due to higher renewable-energy penetrations). We examine 28 locations in the southwestern United States over an 18-year period. The hourly operation of the CSP plants are simulated to determine their potential to provide energy during an eight-hour peak-load window for each day up to 365 days per year. Our result shows that for the large majority of locations and years, CSP plants with certain configurations (i.e., in terms of solar field and TES sizes) can provide nearly 100% peak-load capacity. We examine also the amount of supplemental energy (e.g.,by using natural gas as a supplemental thermal-energy source) that would be required to ensure that a CSP plant could serve the eight highest-load hours of every day of the year. We find that in most cases, a CSP plant supplemented with natural gas would require less than 5% of the fuel that is used by a natural-gas fired power plant providing the same level of reliable capacity. A series of sensitivity analyses show that these results are robust to the number of peak-load hours and days that are considered and the configuration of the CSP plant.

capacity value↗

DOE OSTI2018

A Guide to Implementing Concentrating Solar Power in Production Cost Models

Concentrating solar power (CSP) is a unique form of renewable energy because it can be integrated with thermal energy storage (TES). CSP-TES can provide value to the power grid by supplying a dispatchable source of renewable energy and potentially other grid services such as operating reserves. These characteristics of CSP-TES are often incompletely captured in utility-planning or technology-valuation analyses. We describe an approach for representing the dispatchability of CSP-TES accurately in production cost models, while considering the resource-dependent nature of the technology. We also discuss the challenge of properly representing the ability of CSP-TES to provide operating reserves because of the technology's energy-limited nature. We apply our modeling methods to illustrate how the value of providing dispatchable energy and ancillary services can be captured together and independently. This approach can be applied to most commercial, academic, and open-source production cost models to value CSP-TES appropriately in power system planning studies.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2020

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF IMPACT AND ABRASION EROSIONS AT LOW VELOCITIES AND COMPARISON TO CFD SIMULATIONS

Wear and erosion damage of materials due to interaction of the surface with solid particles is a major issue in various industries. This phenomenon is common in mining, and oil and gas production, causing damages worth millions of dollars annually. Erosion is becoming a critical issue in renewable technologies as well such as concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) systems. In some CSP systems, solid particles can be used to absorb solar energy and enhance the heat storage. However, these particles may cause significant amount of wear to system components while falling down the power tower at high temperatures. This damage can be costly, and therefore, investigating solid particle erosion in CSP systems is of utmost importance. In collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories, the erosion durability of particle-based Generation 3 (GEN3) CSP system are being investigated both experimentally and numerically. In order to develop models to predict the life time of such systems, erosion under low temperature and low particle impact velocity conditions are investigated. Impact erosion and abrasion erosion experiments are conducted for low velocity and low temperature conditions for various candidate particles and containment materials. The impact erosion testing is conducted for three different containment material including Stainless Steel 316, special refractory material, and Inconel 740H with CARBOBEAD HSP 40/70 ceramic particles and UNIWEST 430 silica quartz erodent particles. All this data will enable us to better model the erosion behavior of these materials and provides a data base to investigate erosion at high temperatures experienced in CSP systems. At low temperatures and low velocities the softer refractory material exhibited greater erosion by an order-of-magnitude when compared to the harder Inconel 740H and Stainless Steel 316 materials. The overall erosion ratio for all the candidate materials was of the order of 10 -7 kg/kg. We also investigated wear in containment materials from sliding of particles over the surfaces at very low angles, also referred to as abrasion. For the velocities expected in a typical 1MW CSP plant, visible surface wear was noted, but the overall mass loss per unit surface area was found to be dependent on the hardness of the containment material tested. In this manuscript, we also present Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations and erosion prediction of low velocity impact erosion. These results are compared with the experimental data to evaluate the ability of available erosion models for predicting erosion under these conditions.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2020

Evaluation of Ceramic Heat Exchanger for Next-Generation Concentrated Solar Power

The U.S. Department of Energy has identified a third generation of concentrated solar power (Gen3 CSP) technologies to minimize cost of CSP produced electricity. By developing these technologies further, it is forecasted that Gen3 CSP will meet the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) SunShot target of 6 cents/kWh to compete with dominant, conventional nonrenewable energy sources (1). The focus for advancing CSP systems for Gen3 is to increase overall system efficiency. Thus, reevaluating second-generation systems, superheated steam-turbine power cycles, and implementing more advanced power cycles is essential. Specifically, it has been identified that a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) Brayton cycle can increase the net thermal-to-electric efficiency to over 50% for CSP power tower configurations (2). Compared to conventional superheated steam Rankine cycle systems, more extreme operating conditions are required and pose critical barriers to overcome in the field of materials and manufacturing for Gen3 CSP.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Flux Sensor Measurement and Calibration Requirements for High-Intensity Heat Flux Applications: A Trade Study

Stakeholders of CSP and non-CSP high-intensity broadband flux measurements were surveyed and interviewed to obtain flux sensor design and calibration requirements. Existing sensor technologies and existing calibration facilities were then compared against this standard. Stakeholders require a flux sensor designed for >5,000 kW/m2 flux measurements, >1,000 life cycles, <500 ms response time, >60-minute exposure at maximum flux, and <5% measurement uncertainty. Stakeholders also require a sensor with minimal cost, short procurement lead time, and a high-intensity broadband flux calibration. Commercial CSP stakeholders primarily rely on infrared (IR) temperature measurements of receiver equipment to control CSP plant process operation, whereas CSP research and development (R&D) and non-CSP stakeholders rely on accurate flux gauge measurements for a variety of applications. It was determined that existing flux sensor technologies and calibration facilities do not comprehensively meet stakeholder needs. This study suggests a more robust circular foil gauge with a high-intensity solar flux calibration comprehensively meets stakeholder flux measurement needs. Improved circular foil gauge designs and an improved flux sensor calibration facility are discussed.

McLaughlin, Luke (ORCID:0000000303711310)↗

DOE OSTI2023

Summary Paper: An Initial Heliostat Supply Chain Analysis

This paper summarizes the prior analysis, key findings, and recommendations from the published report titled “Initial Heliostat Supply Chain Analysis” [1]. Globally, the growing demand for concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies, primarily for electricity generation plants has been met with supply chains primarily composed of plentiful commodity materials such as steel, aluminum, and glass. Often the commodity materials can be sourced in the domestic market where power plant will be constructed. Although specialty components are required for CSP solar fields —including mirror panels used for heliostat applications—these specialty components constitute about 30-50% of total system installed costs [2]. Only a few companies and countries, including the United States, have developed the capacity to supply such specialty components. The U.S. heliostat supply chain at present is comprised of few companies (e.g., CSP developers), component suppliers, and is its infancy. By 2035, with current and aggressive solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity expansions, there is the potential for 500,000–1,500,000 direct and indirect jobs in the areas of manufacturing, installation and development, and operations and maintenance (O&M) [3]. Utilizing the CSP capacity estimations the recent NREL report [4], the construction of 39 gigawatts (GW) of CSP (assuming mainly power tower) in the U.S. could lead to approximately 195,000 manufacturing, construction, and O&M jobs. This does not include the longer-term jobs and economic impact (e.g., taxes from plant operations staff) from operating the plants once constructed. It is recommended that further CSP component and system supply chain analysis and modelling be undertaken.

Kurup, Parthiv (ORCID:0000000217356703)↗

DOE OSTI2023

Heliostat Consortium: Update on Resource, Training, and Education Development and Women+ in Concentrating Solar

One of the major barriers to Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) industry growth in the U.S. is the lack of accessibility of expert knowledge, a lack of a stable workforce pipeline, and little public awareness of the technology area. Improved Resource, Training, and Education (RTE) is needed to address these gaps, to draw workers into the field from diverse technology areas and backgrounds, and to reduce the learning curves of newcomers into the industry. As part of the RTE topic under the NREL-led Heliostat Consortium (HelioCon), a public online resource database has been created to support information sharing across the heliostat and CSP community. Here, information will be presented on the existing and planned database resources, including introductory information about CSP and heliostats, a reference library of texts and publications, educational videos, a CSP power tower plant database and case studies, a contact list of component suppliers and developers, and a list of available software/metrology tools. Women+ in Concentrating Solar is a newly created organization to promote the education, professional development, and advancement of underrepresented genders in the Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) community in a way that includes diverse backgrounds, attitudes, and perspectives. The main objectives of the groups are to provide the following opportunities for underrepresented genders: 1) organize events to provide networking opportunities and community building, 2) boost partnerships and scientific collaboration, 3) create resources to facilitate knowledge and experience sharing, 4) provide mentorship programs to support those new to the industry, 5) bring visibility to underrepresented genders and attract more to the field, and 6) promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and engage minorities and underrepresented groups. Initial activities being pursued by the group include creating an expert database to support event organizers in recruiting speakers with representation of all gender identities, hosting online networking and webinar events, organizing conference events including seminars and networking/social events, and establishing a mentorship program to connect members in the CSP community across the globe. The group is open to all genders and has grown to over 60 members in its first few months.

concentrating solar↗

DOE OSTI2013

Benefits of Colocating Concentrating Solar Power and Wind

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2017

Chapter 11: Concentrating Solar Power

This chapter summarizes the applications of the supercritical CO2 (sCO2) Brayton cycle in concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. The design and operation of CSP plants are reviewed to highlight the requirements for the power cycle and attributes that are advantageous for the solar-thermal application. The sCO2 Brayton cycle offers the potential of higher cycle efficiency versus superheated or supercritical steam cycles at temperatures relevant for CSP applications. In addition, Brayton cycle systems using sCO2 are anticipated to have smaller weight and volume, lower thermal mass, and less complex power blocks compared with Rankine cycles due to the higher density of the fluid and simpler cycle design. The simpler machinery and compact size of the sCO2 process may also reduce the installation, maintenance, and operation cost of the system. Power cycle capacities in the range of 10-150 MWe are anticipated for the CSP application. In this chapter, we explore sCO2 Brayton cycle configurations that have attributes that are desirable from the perspective of a CSP application, such as the ability to accommodate dry cooling and daily cycling, as well as integration with thermal energy storage.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Demonstrating SolarPILOT’s Python API Through Heliostat Optimal Aimpoint Strategy Use Case

SolarPILOT is a software package that generates solar field layouts and characterizes the optical performance of concentrating solar power (CSP) tower systems. SolarPILOT was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as a stand-alone desktop application but has also been incorporated into NREL’s1 System Advisor Model (SAM) in a simplified format. Prior means for user interaction with SolarPILOT have included the application’s graphical interface, the SAM routines with limited configurability, and through a built-in scripting language called “LK.” This paper presents a new, full-featured, Python-based application programmable interface (API) for SolarPILOT, which we hereafter refer to as CoPylot. CoPylot provides access to all SolarPILOT’s capabilities to generate and characterize power tower CSP systems seamlessly through Python. Supported capabilities include (i) creating and destroying a model instance with message reporting tools; (ii) accessing and setting any SolarPILOT variable including custom land boundaries for field layouts; (iii) programmatically managing receiver and heliostat objects with varied attributes for systems with multiple receiver or heliostat types; (iv) generating, assigning, and modifying solar field layouts including the ability to set individual heliostat locations, aimpoints, soiling rates, and reflectivity levels; (v) simulating solar field performance; (vi) returning detailed results describing performance of individual heliostats, the aggregate field, and receiver flux distribution; and, (vii) exporting Python-based model instances to multiple file formats. CoPylot enables Python users to perform detailed CSP tower analysis utilizing either the Hermite expansion technique (analytical) or the SolTrace ray-tracing engine. In addition to CoPylot’s functionality, Python users have access to the over 100,000 open-source libraries to develop, analyze, optimize, and visualize power tower CSP research. This enables CSP researchers to perform analysis that was previously not possible through SolarPILOT’s existing interfaces. This paper discusses the capabilities of CoPylot and presents a use case wherein we demonstrate optimal solar field aiming strategies.

41 EE - Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)↗

DOE OSTI2012

Simulating the Value of Concentrating Solar Power with Thermal Energy Storage in a Production Cost Model

Concentrating solar power (CSP) deployed with thermal energy storage (TES) provides a dispatchable source of renewable energy. The value of CSP with TES, as with other potential generation resources, needs to be established using traditional utility planning tools. Production cost models, which simulate the operation of grid, are often used to estimate the operational value of different generation mixes. CSP with TES has historically had limited analysis in commercial production simulations. This document describes the implementation of CSP with TES in a commercial production cost model. It also describes the simulation of grid operations with CSP in a test system consisting of two balancing areas located primarily in Colorado.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2015

Concentrating Solar Power and Water Issues in the U.S. Southwest

Concentrating solar power (CSP) systems utilize the sun's energy to create heat that is used to generate electrical power. CSP systems in the United States are installed primarily in the Southwest, with 92% of plants that are operational, under construction, or under development located in three western states--Arizona, California, and Nevada. This report provides an overview of CSP development in these states, or the 'Southwest' for the purposes of this discussion, with a particular focus on the water supply issues associated with CSP. The Western Governors' Association (WGA) commissioned staff from the Western States Water Council (WSWC) to collaborate with staff from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to prepare this report. The WGA has long supported the effective management of the West's water resources, as well as the development of a clean, diverse, reliable, and affordable energy supply consisting of traditional and renewable energy resources. This report is specifically intended to help inform these goals, especially as WGA continues to underwrite a Regional Transmission Expansion Planning project, undertaken by the WSWC and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), to better understand energy development within the existing and future water resource constraints of the West. This report builds upon earlier research conducted by NREL, the University of Colorado-Boulder, and Stanford University that was supported through the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA) and presents information gathered through extensive research and literature reviews, as well as interviews and outreach with state water administrators and energy regulators, WECC and other experts familiar with CSP development in the Southwest.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Project 1: COLLECTS Project and Project 2: M&V for Saputo Cheese Project: Cooperative Research and Development (Final Report)

Project 1: Combined Power's Hyperlight Energy and NLR will collaborate on the DOE Concentrating Optics for Lower Levelized Energy CosTS (COLLECTS) project, DE-FOA-0001268. COLLECTS funding opportunity announcement (FOA) seeks to further concentrated solar power (CSP) system technologies by soliciting disruptive, transformative projects for the concentrating solar collectors in the CSP plant. These innovative projects will seek to surpass the targets set out in the SunShot Vision Study, enabling CSP to be cost-competitive with conventional forms of electric power generation. Projects will target the design and manufacturing of novel solar collectors with the ability to significantly reduce the solar field contribution to the overall levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of the CSP plant, and which have not been previously specifically targeted by CSP FOAs. Project 2: Hyperlight will perform measurement and verification (M&V) of Green House Gases and NLR will evaluate energy consumption reduction.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2013

Summary of: Simulating the Value of Concentrating Solar Power with Thermal Energy Storage in a Production Cost Model (Presentation)

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2012

Uterine Artery Embolization Combined with Local Methotrexate and Systemic Methotrexate for Treatment of Cesarean Scar Pregnancy with Different Ultrasonographic Pattern

Purpose: This study was designed to compare the effectiveness of systemic methotrexate (MTX) with uterine artery embolization (UAE) combined with local MTX for the treatment of cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) with different ultrasonographic pattern, and to indicate the preferable therapy in CSP patients. Methods: The results of 21 CSP cases were reviewed. All subjects were initially administrated with systemic MTX (50 mg/m{sup 2} body surface area). UAE combined with local MTX was added to the patients who had failed systemic MTX. The transvaginal ultrasonography data were retrospectively assessed, and two different ultrasonographic patterns were found: surface implantation and deep implantation of amniotic sac. The management and its effectiveness for patients with the two ultrasonographic patterns were studied retrospectively. Ultrasound scan and serum {beta}-hCG were monitored during follow-up. Data were analyzed with the Student's t test. Results: Nine patients were successfully treated with systemic MTX. The remaining 12 cases were successfully treated with additional UAE combined with local MTX. According to the classification by Vial et al. of CSP on ultrasonography, most surface implanted CSPs (8/11, 72.7%) could be successfully treated with systemic MTX, whereas most deeply implanted CSPs (9/10, 90%) had failed systemic MTX but still could be successfully treated with additional UAE combined with local MTX. All patients recovered without severe side effects. Most patients with a future desire for reproduction achieved subsequent pregnancy. Conclusions: For CSP patients suitable for nonsurgical treatment, UAE combined with local MTX would be the superior option compared with systemic MTX in the cases with deep implantation of amniotic sac.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

DOE OSTI2022

Real-time dispatch optimization for concentrating solar power with thermal energy storage

Concentrating solar power (CSP) plants present a promising path towards utility-scale renewable energy. The power tower, or central receiver, configuration can achieve higher operating temperatures than other forms of CSP, and, like all forms of CSP, naturally pairs with comparatively inexpensive thermal energy storage, which allows CSP plants to dispatch electricity according to market price incentives and outside the hours of solar resource availability. Currently, CSP plants commonly include a steam Rankine power cycle and several heat exchange components to generate high-pressure steam using stored thermal energy. The efficiency of the steam Rankine cycle depends on the temperature of the plant's operating fluid, and so is a main concern of plant operators. However, the variable nature of the solar resource and the conservatism with which the receiver is operated prevent perfect control over the receiver outlet temperature. Therefore, during periods of solar variability, collection occurs at lower-than-design temperature. To support operator decisions in a real-time setting, we develop a revenue-maximizing non-convex mixed-integer, quadradically-constrained program which determines a dispatch schedule with sub-hourly time fidelity and considers temperature-dependent power cycle efficiency. The exact nonlinear formulation proves intractable for real-time decision support. Here we present exact and inexact techniques to improve problem tractability that include a hybrid nonlinear and linear formulation. Our approach admits solutions within approximately 3% of optimality, on average, within a five-minute time limit, demonstrating its usability for decision support in a real-time setting.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗