Recent Advances in Thermochemical Energy Storage via Solid–Gas Reversible Reactions at High Temperature

Abstract

The exploitation of solar energy, an unlimited and renewable energy resource, is of prime interest to support the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy alternatives. Solar energy can be used via concentrated solar power (CSP) combined with thermochemical energy storage (TCES) for the conversion and storage of concentrated solar energy via reversible solid–gas reactions, thus enabling round the clock operation and continuous production. Research is on-going on efficient and economically attractive TCES systems at high temperatures with long-term durability and performance stability. Indeed, the cycling stability with reduced or no loss in capacity over many cycles of heat charge and discharge of the material is pursued. The main thermochemical systems currently investigated are encompassing metal oxide redox pairs (MOx/MOx−1), non-stoichiometric perovskites (ABO3/ABO3−δ), alkaline earth metal carbonates and hydroxides (MCO3/MO, M(OH)2/MO with M = Ca, Sr, Ba). The metal oxides/perovskites can operate in open loop with air as the heat transfer fluid, while carbonates and hydroxides generally require closed loop operation with storage of the fluid (H2O or CO2). Alternative sources of natural components are also attracting interest, such as abundant and low-cost ore minerals or recycling waste. For example, limestone and dolomite are being studied to provide for one of the most promising systems, CaCO3/CaO. Systems based on hydroxides are also progressing, although most of the recent works focused on Ca(OH)2/CaO. Mixed metal oxides and perovskites are also largely developed and attractive materials, thanks to the possible tuning of both their operating temperature and energy storage capacity. The shape of the material and its stabilization are critical to adapt the material for their integration in reactors, such as packed bed and fluidized bed reactors, and assure a smooth transition for commercial use and development. The recent advances in TCES systems since 2016 are reviewed, and their integration in solar processes for continuous operation is particularly emphasized.

CO2 capture using solid sorbents: Fundamental aspects, mechanistic insights and recent advances

“…The high reaction temperatures required for the decomposition of SrCO3 and BaCO3 in CO2rich atmospheres render them unsuitable for post-combustion CO2 capture, but they are potential candidates for energy storage applications owing to their relatively high energy densities (reaction enthalpy per mass of alkali oxide) [69], [70].…”

The EU Training Network for Resource Recovery through Enhanced Landfill Mining—A Review

“…Consequently, within NEW-MINE, MgO-stabilized SrO was synthesized and successfully tested for heat storage via the SrO/SrCO 3 cycle [102]. This research was considered outside NEW-MINE with respect to radiation propagation in a heat exchanger transforming solar radiation into high-temperature heat [103], thermochemical energy storage in the CaO/CaCO 3 [104] [105] system and two reviews on thermochemical energy storage [106,107]. The most recent NEW-MINE publication in this field deals with thermochemical heat storage via the CuO/Cu 2 O redox cycle and describes the synthesis of granules with a gravimetric energy storage density in the range of 470 to 615 kJ kg −1 [108].…”

Experimental Investigation of a Thermochemical Reactor for High-Temperature Heat Storage via Carbonation-Calcination Based Cycles

“…As the SHS unit has already been extensively studied (Hänchen et al, 2011;Zanganeh et al, 2012), the present study focusses on the design and experimental investigation of the TCS unit-i.e., the thermochemical reactor-for performing a reversible endothermic/exothermic gassolid dissociation reaction of the form A(s) ↔ B(s) + C(g). Examples are the reduction-oxidation of metal oxides and the calcinationcarbonation of metal carbonates (André and Abanades, 2020). In the scope of this investigation, the calcination-carbonation of limestone:…”

“…Of special interest is the thermochemical heat storage, which makes use of reversible endothermic-exothermic reactions for storing high-temperature heat for long term and with superior energy storage density (Abedin and Rosen, 2011;André and Abanades, 2020;Carrillo et al, 2019;King et al, 2019;Mette et al, 2012;Peng et al, 2017;Yuan et al, 2018). Reactors for thermochemical heat storage using gas-solid reactions can be classified into directly and indirectly irradiated reactors.…”