Concentrating solar power (CSP) with integrated thermochemical energy storage (TCES) has the potential to generate cost-effective and dispatchable renewable power. TCES has many desirable features (e.g., high storage density and operating temperature) but is still in its infancy. It remains unclear which reaction should be selected for TCES; and even for a given reaction, which configuration should be used for the integrated process. To this end, we develop process models and perform system-level studies to synthesize and evaluate various reaction candidates and technology alternatives. Specifically, we determine how a specific combination of reaction and process configuration impacts the CSP-TCES performance under seasonal variability, thereby facilitating the development of TCES systems.
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of a CSP plant with TCES system.
References
Peng X, Root TW, Maravelias CT. Storing solar energy with chemistry: the role of thermochemical storage in concentrated solar power. Green Chemistry, 19, 2427-2438, 2017.
Peng X, Root TW, Maravelias CT. Optimization-based process synthesis under seasonal and daily variability: application to concentrating solar power. AIChE Journal, 65(7), e16458, 2019.
Peng X, Yao M, Root TW, Maravelias CT. Design and analysis of concentrating solar power plants with fixed-bed reactors for thermochemical energy storage. Applied Energy, 114543, 2020.