4 ms·

AFAIK the solar towers actually use molten salts to store the heat in tanks so they can keep going even overnight.

• ginko 7y ago
  Not sure which salts would be used here, but I 1500C+ is pretty hot even for many salts. Sodium chloride boils a bit below that(1465C) for instance.
  • Beltiras 7y ago
    Molten salt towers don't heat above 800 iirc. If they were designed for storing more energy it would come from more mass. It goes without saying that the benefit of salt is reduced once it becomes gasified.
    • chrisbrandow 7y ago
      In a technical sense, that would depend in part on the salt. If a salt with a higher melting point existed then it could be stored at a higher temperature. I’m not meaning to “correct” your statement, because the actual practicalities of these systems Is not my expertise and there may be other much more significant factors to consider
  • semi-extrinsic 7y ago
    Even if the surface temperature of the solar collector focus point is 1500C, the molten salt flowing on the other side of that wall must be at a significantly lower temperature in order to transfer heat quickly enough from the small area. Then you will have a thermal profile in the wall, say from 1500 to 1200 C, and furthermore a thermal boundary layer in the fluid, say from 1200 to 800 C.