By: Alexandria Addesso
In an age when war for oil is common ground, and even justifiable to the masses, alternative sources of renewable energy are hot commodities. Solar energy has garnered much attention over the past decade but the installation of solar panels, are still on the steep side in terms of cost.
In 2015 the ANSTO Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of science in Australia, was given to researchers from the University of South Australia for their discoveries in molten salt energy storage.
Yet molten salt energy storage is not quite new, it is just becoming more important because of its cost effectiveness and versatility.
From 1995-1999 the Solar Two project experimented with such energy storage. Currently, molten salts are being utilized at solar thermal power plants to store heat from the sun during the day and in turn used to generate electricity at night.
In 2014 Halotechnics, a company that develops economically viable renewable energy storage, announced they would build a whopping one-megawatt plant that will store energy in molten salts.
So how is molten salt utilized to store energy? The molten salt can be used as both a heat transfer fluid and a thermal energy storage method. The salt stores energy from the sun that can be used at night or when weather is bad. The energy is converted to electricity the hot salt is pumped to a conventional steam-generator to produce superheated steam for a turbine and or generator as used in any conventional coal, oil or nuclear storage facility.
In an age when war for oil is common ground, and even justifiable to the masses, alternative sources of renewable energy are hot commodities. Solar energy has garnered much attention over the past decade but the installation of solar panels, are still on the steep side in terms of cost.
In 2015 the ANSTO Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of science in Australia, was given to researchers from the University of South Australia for their discoveries in molten salt energy storage.
Yet molten salt energy storage is not quite new, it is just becoming more important because of its cost effectiveness and versatility.
From 1995-1999 the Solar Two project experimented with such energy storage. Currently, molten salts are being utilized at solar thermal power plants to store heat from the sun during the day and in turn used to generate electricity at night.
In 2014 Halotechnics, a company that develops economically viable renewable energy storage, announced they would build a whopping one-megawatt plant that will store energy in molten salts.
So how is molten salt utilized to store energy? The molten salt can be used as both a heat transfer fluid and a thermal energy storage method. The salt stores energy from the sun that can be used at night or when weather is bad. The energy is converted to electricity the hot salt is pumped to a conventional steam-generator to produce superheated steam for a turbine and or generator as used in any conventional coal, oil or nuclear storage facility.
