A significant concentrated solar energy (CSP) venture in China chosen Sulzer, a worldwide fluid engineering firm, to produce each the new and the chilly molten salts pumps for the set up. The deliberate 100-MW photo voltaic venture will characteristic expertise designed to ship electrical energy from photo voltaic vitality 24 hours a day. Molten salts have been used within the nuclear business for nearly 70 years, and Sulzer has been concerned within the design and manufacture of the pumps that switch the high-temperature fluids across the cooling circuits. The firm was concerned in pioneering the expertise for use within the photo voltaic business greater than 15 years in the past, enabling warmth vitality to be saved in a single day.
A significant concentrated solar energy (CSP) tower venture in China has chosen Sulzer to produce each the new and the chilly molten salts pumps. Source: Shutterstock Molten salt is pumped to photo voltaic collectors (tower or parabolic mirror fields) the place its temperature will increase from round 300C to as much as 600C. The high-temperature salt is then saved in a tank and transferred to a warmth exchanger, the place the thermal vitality is used to create steam that may generate energy utilizing a turbine/generator. This circuit acts as a thermal battery, which permits photo voltaic vegetation to ship energy round the clock in good photo voltaic situations. Sulzer has a observe document of delivering sizzling and chilly molten salt pumps to photo voltaic installations world wide, together with current initiatives in China. The 100-MW CSP Tower venture is the primary of its sort to make use of Sulzer pumps for each the new and the chilly circuits. The three chilly molten salt pumps shall be fitted with 2.6-MW motors, and will lengthen 18 meters beneath the bottom plate into the chilly molten salt tank. These shall be matched with two sizzling pumps, with all of the pumps being manufactured in Sulzer’s Suzhou, China, plant, situated in Jiangsu Province. The most vital problem on this venture was the elevated working strain required within the molten salt circuits. Sites with smaller outputs usually function at round 50 bar, however this venture wanted a 100-bar provide strain from the pumps.
Sulzer has a protracted observe document of delivering sizzling and chilly molten salt pumps to photo voltaic installations world wide, together with current initiatives in China. Source: Sulzer Each pump is constructed to order and this venture needed to be engineered to account for the elevated strain and the marginally bigger energy requirement. Compared to the extra widespread, decrease strain pumps, there are a number of essential factors, such because the throttle bushing and bush bearing design, that must be fastidiously assessed, correctly engineered and examined earlier than the manufacturing course of can start. In this case, the end-user needed to attain sure targets within the supply of this venture. They needed worldwide manufacturers to produce the important thing tools, which ideally could be manufactured in China and cost-effective in comparison with the competitors. Sulzer mentioned engineering of the bare-shaft pump shall be accomplished in Europe and the manufacturing shall be an in depth collaboration between services in Belgium and China. In addition, the corporate will supply a complete assist package deal for the merchandise that shall be delivered by way of its native service middle. By deciding on Sulzer for each the new and chilly pumps, the top consumer may also streamline its spare elements stock. As a part of the contract Sulzer’s native engineers shall be readily available to assist the set up and commissioning of the tools. Due to their size, the pumps shall be assembled on website earlier than set up within the storage tanks. This set up follows a number of different profitable initiatives in China for Sulzer, together with three sizzling pumps for one other 100-MW CSP, in addition to six sizzling, and 5 chilly, pumps for a 42-MW parabolic trough set up. —POWER edited this content material, which was contributed by Sulzer and DMA Europa, the corporate’s advertising and marketing company.
