Entropy generation and Carnot efficiency comparisons of high temperature heat transfer fluid candidates for CSP plants

Heat transfer fluid is a critical component in a concentrating solar power plant. A large quantity of heat transfer fluid is required to transfer heat between the solar collector and the power block, thus it is crucial to select the most appropriate heat transfer fluid in order to maximize the system performance. The present study compared the performances of five molten-salt eutectic mixtures in regarding with the entropy generation rate and the Carnot efficiency of using them as heat transfer fluids. All the five molten-salt eutectic mixtures have thermal stability temperatures above 600 °C. Effects of the tube lengths in the steam generation heat exchanger and the receiver heat exchanger as well as the heat transfer fluid flow rate on both the entropy generation rate and the Carnot cycle efficiency were investigated. The results indicate that the carbonate salts has the worst performances compared to the other eutectic mixtures. The three chloride salts have slightly higher entropy generation rate and 5% higher Carnot efficiency than the Solar Salt. Therefore the three chloride salts are suggested to be used in advanced concentrating solar power tower plants as potential high temperature heat transfer fluids.