Compositions, devices, systems and methods for concentrating solar power

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10266739-B2
Application number	US-201614987683-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 4, 2016
Priority date	Jan 2, 2015
Publication date	Apr 23, 2019
Grant date	Apr 23, 2019

Abstract

Compositions, devices, systems, and methods directed to concentrating solar power are disclosed. In certain aspects, the disclosure is directed to a heat storage material comprising a transformative alloy composition (internal core component) Al—B—Si—Fe/Al 2 O 3 —B 2 O 3 —SiO 2 —Fe 3 O 4 embedded in a SiC outer coating.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A thermal energy storage composition comprising an inner core of Al—B—Si—Fe embedded in an outer coating of silicon carbide (SiC), wherein the inner core is oxidized to generate Al 2 O 3 —B 2 O 3 —SiO 2 —Fe 3 O 4 .

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the thermal energy storage composition is in the form of a plurality of rods or beads.

3. A solar energy conversion device comprising the thermal energy storage composition of claim 1 within a thermal storage unit.

4. The device of claim 3 , further comprising a plurality of heliostats for focusing solar energy, a solar receiver coupled to the heliostats, a cold storage tank coupled to the thermal storage unit, a hot storage coupled to the cold storage tank for storing the thermal energy composition, and an energy conversion system coupled to the hot storage tank.

5. The device of claim 3 , wherein the thermal energy storage composition is used for a concentrating solar power apparatus operating at a temperature between 600° C. and 1500° C.

6. The device of claim 4 , wherein the energy conversion system is selected from the group consisting of a Rankine Cycle conversion system and a Brayton Cycle conversion system.

7. The device of claim 4 , further comprising a secondary concentrator.

8. The device of claim 4 , further comprising at least one turbine engine.

9. The device of claim 4 , further comprising a heat exchange system.

10. The device of claim 4 , further comprising a heat recovery system.

11. The device of claim 4 , wherein the solar receiver comprises a low pressure fluid chamber.

12. The device of claim 4 , wherein the solar receiver comprises a high pressure fluid chamber or a solar absorber.

13. A solar power apparatus, comprising:
a solar collector that collects solar energy;
a solar receiver, operatively connected to the solar collector, wherein the receiver receives collected energy from the solar collector;
a thermal storage transfer medium in the solar receiver, the medium containing an Al 2 O 3 —B 2 O 3 —SiO 2 —Fe 3 O 4 alloy embedded in a SiC coating, wherein the solar energy from the solar collector is transferred to the embedded alloy;
a storage container coupled to the solar receiver;
a system for conveying the embedded alloy containing the solar energy from the thermal storage transfer medium to the storage container;
a Brayton Cycle power generation system coupled to the storage container; and
a system for transferring the solar energy from the embedded alloy in the storage container to the Brayton Cycle power generation system.

Assignees

• Univ Texas

Inventors

• Bronson Arturo
• Kumar Vinod
• Shantha-Kumar Sanjay
• Sepulveda Arturo

Classifications

• Y02E70/30

  Systems combining energy storage with energy generation of non-fossil origin · CPC title

• F03G6/003

  having a Rankine cycle (F03G6/065 takes precedence) · CPC title

• Y02E10/41

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• F28D20/02

  using latent heat · CPC title

• F24J2/34

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic