Advancing Thermal Energy Storage Technology

Thermal energy storage systems to capture and store waste heat for later use when operating a manufacturing facility or large building could reduce costs for combined heat and power systems.

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Capstone Turbine Corp. have received $380,000 from the DOE Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) to refine Argonne's high-efficiency, fast charging/discharging latent heat thermal energy storage system (TESS) for use in building applications and process/manufacturing industries.

The TESS is a "thermal battery" developed originally for storing heat in concentrated solar power applications, funded by DOE's Solar Energy Technology Office. Argonne's TESS incorporates a phase change material in a high thermal conductivity porous preform, resulting in a composite material system that has enhanced thermal performance. One of the TESS's most valuable features is its tunability for specific applications through the selection of appropriate phase change material. Additionally, TESS's high thermal energy density results in a small footprint.

"Storing thermal energy and using it during periods of high electricity pricing can result in significant cost savings. This is particularly important for process/manufacturing industries and building applications, as it reduces costs and increases energy efficiency." - Dileep Singh, principal investigator and senior materials scientist/group manager in Argonne's Applied Materials division

Capstone Turbine Corporation manufactures combined heat and power (CHP) systems used in environments that can support reuse of process-related waste heat to improve system performance efficiencies and reduce operational costs. This project focuses on integrating Argonne's TESS into a Capstone C200 CHP system, specifically, using thermal modeling and simulations to optimize system design; fabricating and integrating the TESS to the C200 system; testing the performance of the integrated TESS-C200 system and conducting a techno-economic analysis to establish performance/cost benefits of the integrated system.

According to Argonne Principal Investigator Dileep Singh, "Storing thermal energy and using it during periods of high electricity pricing can result in significant cost savings. This is particularly important for process/manufacturing industries and building applications, as it reduces costs and increases energy efficiency."

EurekAlert!, the online, global news service operated by AAAS, the science society: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/dnl-aac101918.php