Estimating the location of plugs in molten-salt pipes

Abstract

Electric mobility will be just as meaningful and effective as the origin of the electricity these vehicles run on. Their effect on pollution and greenhouse gases reduction will not be such unless power plants are mostly based on renewable resources. Thermal power plants are a good solution to produce clean electric energy and contribute to the overall solution. In order for this to be so, it is necessary to guarantee that this type of plants operates smoothly and that the possible problems they may have can be solved. This paper deals with one of these problems: finding the plugs that may form in the pipes carrying the molten salt of the thermal energy storage system. Designing a sensor that can easily estimate the location of these plugs will contribute to reducing the number of hours a thermal power plant must be idle due to reparations.