points by adgjlsfhk1 3 days ago | 0 comments
Realistic designs for this can achieve 450C delta t. Your energy store can store at ~1000C (slightly below rock melting point), and run steam turbines with a hot side of 600C and a cool side of 150C.
Over the season, your sand drops from ~1000 to ~600 (which is fine since your power needs drop in the spring)
[–] cyberax 3 days ago
[–] pfdietz 2 days ago
At 600 C one can use stainless steel, but things rapidly become expensive and problematic beyond that. 1000 C would require Inconel or something.
At 1000C steel will react with _water_.
To be clear, I'm not talking about cooling a small crucible but a structure that is at least 20 meters in size.