Central Salt Marine & Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI) and Indian state of Gujurat (the state considered as the California of India) is planning to construct a Model Concentrated solar project utilizing Molten Salt Technology for energy storage.
This model Solar farm will be set up in 10-20 acres of land said Dr Pushpito Ghosh the director Director of CSMCRI. This project will come online by March 2013.
Why Molten Salt Technology was used?
Though a variety of fluids have been tested to transport the sun's heat, including water, air, oil, and sodium, but molten salt was selected as best.
Molten salt is used in solar power tower systems because it is liquid at atmosphere pressure, it provides an efficient, low-cost medium in which to store thermal energy, its operating temperatures are compatible with today's high-pressure and high-temperature steam turbines, and it is non-flammable and nontoxic.
The Advantage of Molten salt systems are they have a ability to store heat for a long time and can be used to transfer heat from the system even at night for power generation.
This Indian Model CSP project will be a great boost to India's salt industry which produces nearly 21 Metric Tonne annualy and of that about 60% goes to industrial applications.
