Consortium
CTTC-UPC: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain. Project coordinator. Experiments in a lab-scale setup. Advanced modelling. Validation, analysis and optimization of the two thermocline concepts
DLR: German Aerospace Center, Köln and Stuttgart, Germany. Examination and demonstration of the two concepts in the TESIS facility at pilot scale. Material development. Heat and mass transfer model validation
EAI: Empresarios Agrupados Internacional S.A., Madrid, Spain. Engineering and design. Structural analysis. Equipment data sheets, interfaces, etc. of the entire CSP system
KB: Kraftblock, Saarbrücken, Germany. Development of high-temperature energy storage materials based on recycled raw materials compatible with molten salts in CSP facilities.
SPF: Institute for Solar Technology, Rapperswil, Switzerland. System integration using dynamic simulations with TRNSYS. Extension to a SPF python tool environment. Techno-economic studies.
The consortium is formed by a perfect balance of industry and research centers. Empresarios Agrupados Internacional, a relevant Spanish company with a strong experience in the design of CSP plants, is in charge of all engineering issues related to the mechanical design and construction of the thermocline tanks. The German company Kraftblock is responsible for the material development, a critical aspect in the design of the storage system.
Three research centers provide advanced innovative research. The UPC, a large technical university in Spain, will contribute as project coordinator, as well as in activities related to the computational and experimental studies needed to optimize the designs.
DLR, the well-known German research Center, will develop experiments in an outstanding large pilot-scale set-up of 4 MWh of thermal capacity, together with material development and model validation studies.
Finally, the Swiss research center SPF will contribute in the thermo-economic analysis of the whole CSP plant considering the optimized thermal energy storage systems developed in the project.