Thermal Energy Storage for the Supercritical CO2 Brayton Cycle

This paper examines the operation of a simple sensible thermal energy storage (TES) unit for use in concentrated solar power (CSP) plant applications using supercritical CO2 (sCO2) as the heat transfer fluid. The heat transfer characteristics of the system are described and it is shown that an advancing heat front, with a very high temperature gradient, is achieved through proper design. Typical charge and discharge times of 6 hours are studied to show how this method can be used in practical applications. It is shown that the TES can be effectively matched to a conceptual CSP plant to allow it to operate at night or during periods of reduced sunlight.Copyright © 2015 by ASME