Castable Cement Can Prevent Molten-Salt Corrosion in CSP

NREL's study demonstrated that castable cements on metals are a protective barrier that can prevent permeation of molten salts toward metallic surfaces. The silica-based castable cement Aremco 645-N, when sprayed with boron nitride, can protect containment metallic alloys from attack by molten chlorides at high temperatures (650 degrees C) in short-term tests. Improved thermal energy storage technology could increase the performance of CSP and reduce costs, helping to reach the goal of the U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative to make solar cost-competitive with other non-renewable sources of electricity by 2020.