This paper presents a parametric analysis for a medium to large size (290–500MWth receiver thermal power) central receiver plant considering the present market trends. The analysis is divided in 4 steps:

A latent heat storage nanocomposite made of stearic acid (SA) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) is prepared for thermal energy storage application. The thermal properties of the SA/MWCNT nanocomposite are characterized by SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and DSC (differential scanning...

A small glass tube containing oil and glass pebbles is constructed to evaluate rapidly the volumetric heat transfer characteristics during charging. An electrical hot-plate in thermal contact with a steel spiral coil is used to charge the oil/pebble-bed storage under different average charging...

The paper presents an analysis of thermodynamic losses in thermal reservoirs due to irreversible heat transfer and frictional effects. The focus is upon applications to large-scale electricity storage for which it is the loss in availability (or exergy) that is most relevant. Accordingly,...

This paper describes the experimental studies carried out to test thermal cycling of a real-scale PCM–air heat exchanger at ambient temperatures. To achieve this goal an experimental setup previously designed and used for testing real-scale prototypes of PCM–air heat exchangers is modified....

Several of the emerging technologies for electricity storage are based on some form of thermal energy storage (TES). Examples include liquid air energy storage, pumped heat energy storage and, at least in part, advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage. Compared to other large-scale...