• Energy Research

Thermodynamic cycles requiring high operating temperatures (≥750 °C up to 1200 °C) are currently being explored to improve the sun-to-electricity conversion efficiency of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants. This is calling for the design of new efficient high-temperature (≥750 °C) Thermochemical Energy Storage (TCES) systems, which are fundamental for supplying power on demand during off-sun periods. Recently, Fe-doped CaMnO3 oxides have been proposed as TCES candidate materials, and the determination of their thermodynamics properties via thermogravimetric (TG) analysis allowed evaluation of their heat storage capacity at a very small scale (mg scale). A 10 % Fe-doped CaMnO3 composition (CaMn0.9Fe0.1O3-δ – CMF91) emerged as optimum candidate material for TCES application due to its large heat storage capacity complemented by enhanced thermal stability over multiple oxidation/reduction cycles. To advance in the thermal characterization of these materials at a multigram scale, here we carried out bench-scale reactor tests using CMF91 under conditions considered representative of future CSP plants. The redox-active material has been extruded in the form of porous pellets through a simple production method that required the use of carboxymethylcellulose as a removable binder and water. With the bench-scale reactor tests, the CMF91 pellets showed fully reversible reduction-oxidation in cycles between 500 and 1100 °C under relevant operating pO2 conditions without any deterioration of the pellet's structural integrity. Remarkably, the material exhibited the same δ(T, pO2) profile at this significantly larger scale (~40 g) than the one derived from thermodynamics. Nevertheless, slight differences in oxygen release/uptake profiles between cooling and heating branches can be tracked down to an excess heat generation in the perovskite bed not efficiently extracted by the carrier gas. These results demonstrate that CMF91 oxide is ideally suited for thermal energy storage applications with a large total (thermochemical and sensible) heat storage capacity (~ 916 kJ/kgABO3 or ~ 400 kWh/m3) and good scalability. © 2022 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska- Curie grant agreement N◦ 74616. Support of the ACES2030-CM from “Comunidad de Madrid” and European Structural Funds to (P2018/EMT-4319), and the Spanish “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” through Research Challenges project ARROPAR-CEX (ENE2015-71254-C3-1-R) are also fully acknowledged. M. S´anchez is grateful to Spanish “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” by funding through internship FPI (BES-2016-077031). It is greatly acknowledged the Technical Research Support Unit of the Institute of Catalysis and Petroleum Chemistry (ICP-CSIC). The authors fully appreciate the advice provided by Prof. Pedro Avila and Dr. Raquel Portela from the SpeICat group of ICP-CSIC, about the procedure for pellets preparation. Supporting Information Peer reviewed

MgO/H2O/Mg(OH)2 chemical heat storage of waste energy from industrial processes is a promising technology in view of a more efficient use and saving of primary energy sources. A new approach was used to develop a hybrid heat storage material made of magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) and exfoliated graphite (which is used to improve the heat transfer with its high thermal conductivity). Mg(OH)2 nanoplatelets were directly grown on graphite surface via a deposition–precipitation method to increase the compatibility between the two materials. The material thus obtained, named DP-MG, was experimentally tested to determine its heat storage and output capacities. An improvement of the material efficiency was obtained with a higher storage capacity at lower reaction temperature and a higher heat output rate.

This study aims to assess the stability of silica gel/polymer composites designed for open-cycle air dehumidification, humidification, and heat storage by employing a comprehensive set of characterization methods. To evaluate their resistance to various environmental factors, the materials were subjected to a series of aging treatments: (i) repeated adsorption/desorption cycles under representative operational conditions; (ii) post-drying at 30 °C, 40 °C, and 60 °C; (iii) immersion in water for 30 days; (iv) exposure to a salt–fog environment for 30 days; and (v) accelerated aging by alternation between wet and dry cycles. Prolonged exposure to liquid water significantly reduced the material’s stability, resulting in an 83% reduction in tensile strength after 30 days of immersion. However, discontinuous exposure to liquid water at low drying temperatures did not critically affect the material’s mechanical properties during wet/dry cycles. Furthermore, post-drying (performed at 22 °C and 50% RH) allows the recovery of mechanical performance, with a tensile strength reached comparable to those of the unaged composites. Similarly, adsorption/desorption cycles in water vapor did not trigger degradation in the material, with its water vapor adsorption capacity remaining comparable to the unaged material after 100 cycles. The results confirm the reliability of these composite materials as to their potential uses in open-cycle dehumidification, humidification, and heat-storage applications.

Two-step, solar thermochemical splitting of water using nonstoichiometric redox-active metal oxides has emerged as an intriguing approach for large-scale hydrogen production. Perovskites have been ...

descripción no proporcionada por scopus AC thanks the support of a fellowship from “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434). The fellowship code is LCF/BQ/PI20/11760015. JC acknowledge financial support from ACES 2030 (P2018/EMT-4319) from “Comunidad de Madrid” and European Structural Funds.

The equilibrium concentration space of the Ag–In–Te system in the part AgInTe2–Te–In2Te3 was studied through the modified solid-state electromotive force (EMF) method by dividing In2Te3–In2Te5–Ag3In97Te147 (I), In2Te5–Te–Ag3In97Te147 (II), Ag3In97Te147–Te–AgIn5Te8 (III), AgIn5Te8–Te–AgIn3Te5 (IV), and AgIn3Te5–Te–AgInTe2 (V), into separate phase regions at T ≤ 500 K. The formation of a thermodynamically stable combination of the binary and ternary phases in the (I)–(V) phase regions from a metastable phase mixture of substances was carried out at T ≤ 500 K in the R(Ag+) part of the positive electrode (PE) of the galvanic cells (GCs) of the structure: (−) C |∙| Ag |∙| SE |∙| R(Ag+) |∙| PE |∙| C (+), where C is the graphite (inert electrode), SE is the solid-state electrolyte (Ag3GeS3Br glass), and Ag is the left (negative) electrode. The Ag+ ions in the R(Ag+) region functioned as small nucleation centers for the formation of the stable phases. The spatial position of the (I)–(V) phase regions in the concentration space of the Ag–In–Te system relative to the position of silver was used to express the overall potential-forming reactions with the participation of the substances Ag, Te, In2Te5, Ag3In97Te147, AgIn5Te8, AgIn3Te5, and AgInTe2. The subsequent EMF measurements were carried out by applying the same GCs. The temperature dependences of the EMF of GCs with PE of the (I)–(V) phase regions were here used to determine, for the first time, the values of standard thermodynamic functions of the binary and ternary compounds. The determined values of the Gibbs energies of the formation of compounds are equal: GIn2Te5○=(182.7±1.9) kJ·mol−1, GAgInTe2○=(115.0±3.1) kJ·mol−1, GAgIn3Te5○=(301.5±6.5) kJ·mol−1, GAgIn5Te8○=(487.6±11.3) kJ·mol−1, and GAg3In97Te147○=(8594±189) kJ·mol−1 The correctness of the division of the equilibrium phase space of the Ag–In–Te system in the part AgInTe2–Te–In2Te3 involving the AgInTe2, AgIn3Te5, AgIn5Te8, and Ag3In97Te147 compounds was confirmed by the agreement of the calculated and literature-based thermodynamic data for In2Te5 compound. Compositions of pairs of the ternary compounds for their subsequent practical application were proposed.

For the thermochemical performance implementation of Mg(OH)2 as a heat storage medium, several hybrid materials have been investigated. For this study, high-performance hybrid materials have been developed by exploiting the authors’ previous findings. Expanded graphite (EG)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-Mg(OH)2 hybrid materials have been prepared through Mg(OH)2 deposition-precipitation over functionalized, i.e., oxidized, or un-functionalized EG or CNTs. The heat storage performances of the carbon-based hybrid materials have been investigated through a laboratory-scale experimental simulation of the heat storage/release cycles, carried out by a thermogravimetric apparatus. This study offers a critical evaluation of the thermochemical performances of developed materials through their comparison in terms of heat storage and output capacities per mass and volume unit. It was demonstrated that both EG and CNTs improves the thermochemical performances of the storage medium in terms of reaction rate and conversion with respect to pure Mg(OH)2. With functionalized EG/CNTs-Mg(OH)2, (i) the potential heat storage and output capacities per mass unit of Mg(OH)2 have been completely exploited; and (ii) higher heat storage and output capacities per volume unit were obtained. That means, for technological applications, as smaller volume at equal stored/released heat.