Cost Optimum Parameters for Rock Bed Thermal Storage at 550–600 °C: A Parametric Study

A major advantage of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants is their ability to store thermal energy at a cost far lower than that of current battery technologies. A recent techno-economic study found that packed rock bed thermal storage systems can be constructed with capital costs of less than 10 United States dollar (USD)/kWh_t, significantly cheaper than the two-tank molten salt thermal storage currently used in CSP plants (about 22–30 USD/kWh_t). However, little work has been published on determining optimum rock bed design parameters in the context of a CSP plant. The parametric study in this paper is intended to provide an overview of the bed flow lengths, particle sizes, mass fluxes, and Biot numbers which are expected to minimize the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for a central receiver CSP plant with a nominal storage capacity of 12 h. The findings show that rock diameters of 20–25 mm will usually give LCOE values at or very close to the minimum LCOE for the combined rock bed and CSP plant. Biot numbers between 0.1 and 0.2 are shown to have little influence on the position of the optimum (with respect to particle diameter) for all practical purposes. Optimum bed lengths are dependent on the Biot number and range between 3 and 10 m for a particle diameter of 20 mm.