Cheaper Energy From Sand – TESS

May 21, 2015; by Flavia Rotondi and Alessandra Migliaccio

Italian Company Uses Sun-Heated Sand to Produce Energy

Magaldi Group is using sand to produce and store energy in a 100-kilowatt thermal power demonstration plant in Salerno, a short drive from the famous Amalfi Coast. Production is set to start later this year.

“If you’ve ever walked on the beach in the sun and burned your feet,” you know how sand takes on heat, founder and Chairman Mario Magaldi, who has put 10 million euros ($11 million) into the project so far, said in an interview. “With wind farms you only have energy when it’s windy, with solar, only when there’s sun. With this technology you can concentrate energy into one receiver and use it when there’s no more sun.”

The plant is a concentrated solar power, or CSP, system, which uses mirrors to focus sunlight to heat sand. The hot sand then produces steam which can run turbines and generate electricity.

CSP technology, which is widely used in Spain, the U.S, Middle East and Asia, often uses heated molten salt to produce energy, while the Magaldi plant uses common silica sand, which owners say is cheaper.

The plant can produce about 500 kilowatts of energy with one turbine, or enough to power a small town. More turbines can be added for increased power. The facility can also work at night.

“We have about 270 tons of sand stored in the plant’s receiver, so when the sun goes down the plant can keep producing steam for another six hours using the thermal energy stored inside,” says Matteo Mauro, engineer for the company.

Magaldi says the technology behind the plant could be useful in remote areas in need of energy. He says the company is in touch with possible clients in Australia, South Africa and Central America.

 

A commercial prototype in Australia next year

Nov. 10th 2015, By Andrew Spence

Latent Heat Storage has developed a low cost thermal energy storage system based on the latent heat properties of silicon derived from sand.­

The device – known as TESS – is being developed in South Australia with the help of an AUD $400,000 government grant to take it from prototype to commercial reality.

The TESS device stores electricity as thermal energy by heating and melting containers full of silicon. The high latent heat capacity and melting temperature of silicon makes it ideal for the storage of large amounts of energy.

Latent Heat Storage Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Whalley said storage was the next big challenge for energy generation worldwide.

“Renewable energy sources generally spill energy due to supply and demand mismatches, so we’ve designed the TESS device to capture this ‘spilt’ energy for later use or release to the grid,” Whalley said.

“Our system also means that energy consumers will be able to purchase stored electricity off-peak at low tariffs, which ultimately means cheaper energy.”

A key benefit of the TESS device is its capability to handle an increasing workload from 500kW applications through to an industrial scale of up to several hundred megawatt hours – enough to power about 7000 homes for a day.

The patented device is small enough to fit inside a 20-foot shipping container but is readily scalable as demand requires.

TESS is suitable for grid and off-grid applications and has been designed to overcome the intermittent nature of renewable energies such as wind and solar by providing a stable energy output suitable for base load power.

It can be integrated anywhere within an electricity network and is suitable for commercial and industrial businesses where heat and electricity are required such as hotels, schools and hospitals.

“After three years of research and development, our key objective now is to complete building a commercial prototype of the TESS device and start showcasing its potential to global markets,” Whalley said.

A commercial prototype will be ready in early 2016 to be used as a selling tool to potential clients and Whalley said devices would initially be built to meet the needs of individual sites rather than mass produced.

The Australian Government grant, through its Entrepreneur’s Programme, has been matched by Latent Heat Storage shareholders to generate $800,000 of total project funding.

The device has been developed in partnership with Adelaide-based engineering consultancy ammjohn, and final year engineering students at the University of Adelaide.

Whalley said the commercial introduction of energy storage systems would encourage more renewable energy generation such as wind farms and solar arrays.

“Energy prices are increasing around the world while storage technology costs are reducing, so we’re approaching the tipping point where energy storage systems are finally becoming commercially viable,” he said.

“We are developing an energy storage system to meet market demand … we anticipate that this will result in exponential growth of the energy storage market worldwide.”

http://www.theleadsouthaustralia.com.au/industries/research-development/sandy-solution-for-renewable-energy-storage/

 

NEWS

Members of Sandia National Laboratories visited the STEM® system installed in Sicily
Rome, 27 April 2017.

Clifford Ho, a scientist from Sandia National Laboratories, visited the Integrated Energy hub of A2A Group in San Filippo del Mela (Sicily) where Magaldi Group installed its STEM® technology: an innovative concentrating solar power (CSP) system with TES (Thermal Energy Storage) able to collect solar energy and convert it into thermal energy to be used immediately or stored and extracted when desired. STEM® is the first CSP system worldwide using a fluidized sand bed as a thermal energy storage medium.

Ho stated: “Magaldi’s work with fluidized particle receivers is well-aligned with Sandia’s efforts to develop particle-based technologies to reach higher temperatures and increased efficiencies for CSP, which will advance the current state of the art. Magaldi’s fluidized particle technology is unique in that it allows for heating and storage of sand-like particles – along with high-temperature steam generation – in a single, ground-based unit.

from magaldi.com/en/news-media/news/magaldi-group-presents-its-stem-system-to-scientists-from-a-u.s.-national-l