Thermal Energy Storage Test Bed (TESBed)

The National Solar Thermal Test Facility, the host for TESBed, is the premier test and demonstration site for solar thermal technologies.

Thermal Energy Storage Test Bed (TESBed)

Sandia, in partnership with the National Laboratory of the Rockies and the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc., has assembled a multidisciplinary team of thermal energy storage (TES) developers, engineers, researchers and industrial heat off-takers to design and construct TES test facilities at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility. Targeted sectors include iron and steel, cement and concrete, chemical and petrochemical, forest products, and food and beverage industries.

The project aims to advance TES solutions for industrial adoption, accelerating the development of technologies that optimize thermal processes, improve energy efficiency, and enhance U.S. industry competitiveness in global markets. The project will also foster a team of research experts to ensure new lab capabilities address the complexities of various industrial sub-sectors and benefit American industry.

TESBed will support:

Multiple Energy Sources

  • Modular systems
  • Two-tank particle systems
  • Components

Steam boiler and high pressure pumps

Integrated Applications

  • Air
  • Steam
  • Supercritical CO2

STEAM POWER — Steam generated from a bank of cooling towers at the San Juan Power Plant in northwestern New Mexico portrays one connection between water supply and energy. Like household air conditioners, cooling towers transfer heat from the power plant to the environment. Removing the heat allows the steam from the plant’s turbines to condense from a gas into a liquid. Researchers are seeking ways to capture it and reduce the amount of water used by fossil fuel-fired power plants. (Photo by Vince Tidwell)

Industrial Applications

  • Air drying
  • Calcination
  • Steam heating
  • Combined heat and power
  • Waste recovery heat

Primary Phases of Work include:

Sandia will work with industry to define the test facility specifications, data structures and formats, the methodology and process for testing standards, and the business structure for enduring support and maintenance.

Sandia will contract with an engineering procurement and construction firm to perform a FEED study and provide formal pricing, schedule, and logistics. Meanwhile, the Sandia team will develop a procurement and construction plan to expand existing capabilities.

Sandia will commission the site and demonstrate the new capabilities for standardized testing of TES technologies, TES interfaces with industrial equipment, and combined heat and power.

Sandia National Laboratories, the host for TESBed, will lead a team of partners including EPRI and the National Laboratory of the Rockies. Sandia will provide the facility for testing and demonstration; EPRI will lead the development of test standards; and NLR will develop thermal energy storage, emulated energy inputs and grid modeling capabilities. NLR will also support instrumentation and control systems, as well as implement cloud-based data storage and management systems.

 

Partners

Image of Sandia_Logo_Stacked_Color
National Laboratory of the Rockies logo
Image of EPRI

Contact

Jeremy Sment, Principal Investigator
jsment@sandia.gov

Margaret Gordon, Manager, Integrated Solar and Thermal Energy Systems
megord@sandia.gov