WANG Yan, XU Jinliang, XIE Jian, et al. Molten Salt Selection for Thermal Energy Storage System of Ultra-flexible Coal-fired Power Plant[J]. 2025, 45(20): 8053-8066.
DOI:
WANG Yan, XU Jinliang, XIE Jian, et al. Molten Salt Selection for Thermal Energy Storage System of Ultra-flexible Coal-fired Power Plant[J]. 2025, 45(20): 8053-8066. DOI: 10.13334/j.0258-8013.pcsee.241662.
Molten Salt Selection for Thermal Energy Storage System of Ultra-flexible Coal-fired Power Plant
Large-scale renewable energy integration into the power grid necessitates enhanced flexibility of coal-fired power units. This study introduces a coal-fired unit integrated with a molten salt energy storage system to bolster the adaptability of the power system. We have conducted a comprehensive screening of potential molten salt working fluids to optimize the system's performance. Focusing on a 350 MW flexible coal-fired unit
we have designed the molten salt energy storage system to achieve a targeted load ramp rate of 3% of the rated power (Pe) per minute. Based on physical properties of the Solar salt (60%NaNO3+40%KNO3) and the Hitec salt (53%KNO3+40%NaNO2+7%NaNO3)
the thermodynamics of the turbine and the heat transfer of key components are analyzed. Hence
the effects of the two molten salts on the power generation efficiency
the system complexity
and the investment cost of the MSSG are investigated. It is found that due to the higher decomposition temperature of Solar salt
the MSSG with Solar salt achieves an average power generation efficiency of 36.7%
which is higher than the value of 29.2% for the system with Hitec salt. On the contrary
due to the higher melting temperature of Solar salt
it is necessary to extract water vapor from the steam turbine to preheat the feedwater of the MSSG with Solar salt requires to preheat its feedwater through water vapor extracted from the steam turbine to prevent the salt from solidifying and blocking pipelines
which complicates the system. One the other hand
the higher operation temperature of the MSSG with Solar salt decreases the mass flow rate of the salt
the inventory amount of the salt
and the sizes of heat exchangers
compared with those of the system with Hitec salt. Comprehensively
the investment cost of the Solar salt system drops by 10.0 million RMB compared with the Hitec system. Based on this investigation
the Solar salt is recommended for adoption in the MSSG to ensure efficient and safe operation
supporting the coal-fired power plant to reach the ultra-flexibility target.