A Prototype Steam Storage System for Power Production
Abstract
Use of solar energy on a large scale is mainly
limited to the sun duration hours, weather conditions and
adequate solar thermal storage technology. A means of
addressing this problem using local materials is provided. A
prototype pressure storage system was designed using auto
cad 2010 and fabricated using locally available materials.
The steam storage system was tested using ASME 2000b
guidelines for boiler and pressure vessels at a small scale.
The maximum continuous rating for the storage system was
60 kg maximum instantaneous demand 40 kg ,
storage capacity 50 kg and mean off peak load of 100 W
was realized. The maximum test temperatures of operation
obtained using seamless galvanized iron pipe was 264.7 o C
and 140 o C using polypropylene pipes. The steam storage
system operated between 1.0 Pa and 1.0 Pa. Its
charging duration was twenty minutes and would discharge
at the rate of 50 l continuously after full charge with solar
irradiance between 800 W/ and 1020 W/ . The length
of complete discharge for the heat transfer fluids was found
to range between 4.4 hours. and 6.9 hours. The power output
for the heat transfer fluids were in the range of 251.8 W and
486.9W. The steam storage system was found to have an
efficiency of 93.5 % and a thermal capacity of 4.54 k J.
This system presents a means of storing solar energy in form
of steam during low energy demand and its conversion to
power during high peak demand twenty four hours a day
depending on the size of the storage and application and
hence addressing the problem of variability and low density
of solar energy.