molten salt power tower

    In a molten salt power tower, two-axis tracking mirrors (heliostats) redirect sunlight to the top of a tower where a heat exchanger (receiver) is located. “Cold” molten salt at 290 ºC is pumped from a sump - gravity fed from a cold-salt storage tank located at the bottom of the tower - to the receiver where the salt is heated by concentrated sunlight from 290 ºC to 565 ºC. The hot salt returns to grade level and flows into a hot tank. To generate electric power, hot salt is pumped from a sump – gravity fed from the hot storage tank - through a steam generator to produce high-pressure superheated steam to power a turbine-generator set. Molten-salt power towers have cost-effective thermal storage systems that allow electricity to be produced (dispatched) when it is needed (in cloudy weather, at night, even 24 hours a day), decoupling it from solar collection.