TY - EJOU AU - Li, Kai AU - Zhang, Yongheng AU - Sun, Kai AU - Rong, Mingkuan TI - Design of Anti-Condensation System for Tower Solar Thermal Power Plant Coupled with Heat Pumps T2 - Energy Engineering PY - VL - IS - SN - 1546-0118 AB - This study designs a supercritical CO2 heat pump anti-condensation system for a 50 MW tower solar thermal power plant in northwest China to prevent molten salt solidification in pipelines and storage tanks. A thermodynamic model is established to analyze the effects of key parameters (heat release power, maximum/minimum cycle pressure, heat source temperature, and isentropic efficiency) on the coefficient of performance (COP), with the simulation model validated against literature experimental data. Heat dissipation loss of the low-temperature molten salt tank is calculated to determine system capacity, and an economic comparison is conducted among the proposed heat pump, electric tracing, coal-fired boiler, and gas boiler. Results indicate that COP increases with higher heat release power, heat source temperature, and isentropic efficiency, but decreases with rising maximum cycle pressure. The minimum cycle pressure shows a non-monotonic effect due to density variations near the critical point. The heat pump system achieves a round-trip thermal efficiency of 35%–40%, and its annual operating cost is lower than conventional anti-condensation methods, offering a clean and economically viable solution for molten salt freeze protection. KW - Heat pump; supercritical carbon dioxide; freeze protection; coefficient of performance (COP); heat loss calculation DO - 10.32604/ee.2026.078939