34 articles
Aluminium-silicon phase-change material
An aluminium-silicon phase-change material (Al-Si PCM) is a metal alloy storing latent heat at high temperature, studied chiefly for concentrated solar power and industrial waste-heat recovery.
Antora Energy
Antora Energy is an American energy storage company founded in 2018 and based in San Jose, California, that builds thermal batteries storing electricity as heat in blocks of solid carbon.
Archimede solar power plant
Archimede is a 5 MW concentrating solar power plant in Sicily, inaugurated by Enel in 2010 as the first to use molten salts as heat transfer fluid.
Calcium looping thermal energy storage
Calcium looping thermal energy storage (CaL-TCES) stores heat in the reversible reaction of calcium oxide and carbon dioxide, driven by concentrated solar radiation and released on carbonation.
Calcium oxide/calcium hydroxide thermochemical storage
Calcium oxide/calcium hydroxide thermochemical storage is a thermal energy storage method using the reversible reaction of calcium oxide with steam, operating at roughly 400 to 550 °C.
Composite phase-change materials
Composite phase-change materials (CPCMs) are thermal storage materials combining a phase-change material, such as paraffin wax, with conductive supports to overcome low conductivity, leakage, and poor stability.
Concrete thermal energy storage
Concrete thermal energy storage (CTES) is a sensible heat storage technology in which concrete blocks cast around steel pipes store heat at up to 400 °C.
Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project
The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project is a 110 MW concentrating solar power plant near Tonopah, Nevada, the first full-scale molten-salt power tower built in the United States.
Fatty acid eutectic phase-change material
A fatty acid eutectic phase-change material is a minimum-melting blend of two or more fatty acids, used for latent heat storage in buildings, solar stills, and waste heat recovery.
Gemasolar
Gemasolar, originally the Solar Tres project, is a 19.9 MW concentrated solar power plant in Seville, Spain, commissioned in 2011 with 15 hours of molten salt storage.
High-temperature phase-change materials
High-temperature phase-change materials are substances that store thermal energy as latent heat while melting and solidifying above about 300 °C, for use in concentrated solar power and industrial waste-heat recovery.
Hitec salt
Hitec salt, sold under the trademarked name Hitec, is a molten mixture of potassium nitrate, sodium nitrite, and sodium nitrate used for heat transfer, developed by DuPont in 1938.
Ice Energy
Ice Energy is an American energy storage company founded in 2003, known for the Ice Bear, which makes ice overnight to cool buildings without running the AC compressor.
Liquid metal thermal energy storage
Liquid metal thermal energy storage is a high-temperature storage method in which molten metals such as sodium, lead, or tin move heat into and out of a solid storage medium.
Metal hydride thermal energy storage
Metal hydride thermal energy storage is a thermochemical method that stores heat through reversible hydrogen absorption in metal hydrides, offering high storage density for solar plants and waste heat.
Metal oxide redox thermal energy storage
Metal oxide redox thermal energy storage is a thermochemical technology that stores heat in the reversible reduction of a metal oxide and releases it on reoxidation with air.
Metal-organic framework thermal energy storage
Metal-organic framework thermal energy storage stores and releases heat using MOFs, porous crystals that hold phase change materials in their pores or act as adsorbents in heat-storage cycles.
Molecular solar thermal energy storage
Molecular solar thermal energy storage, also called solar thermal fuels, is a technology in which photoswitchable molecules store sunlight as chemical energy and release it as heat on demand, with no reagents or by-products.
Molecular solar thermal system with norbornadiene–quadricyclane
The norbornadiene–quadricyclane (NBD/QC) system is a molecular solar thermal energy storage scheme in which norbornadiene absorbs light and converts to strained quadricyclane, releasing stored energy as heat on demand.
Molten chloride salt thermal energy storage
Molten chloride salt thermal energy storage is a high-temperature storage technology using liquid chloride salts such as NaCl-KCl-MgCl2, stable above 400–800 °C for power generation.
Molten salt thermal storage
Molten salt thermal storage is a high-temperature energy storage method that stores heat in liquid salt tanks, used mainly in concentrating solar power plants to generate steam for turbines.
Molten-silicon thermal energy storage
Molten-silicon thermal energy storage is a grid-scale storage concept that stores electricity as heat in silicon at 1414 °C, discharging it as heat or electricity.
Phase change material storage
Phase change material storage, one of three main classes of thermal energy storage, stores heat as latent heat while a medium melts or solidifies near its melting point.
Phase-change material slurry
A phase-change material slurry (PCS) is a pumpable fluid with phase-change particles dispersed in a carrying liquid, storing latent heat and holding more energy than water.
Pumped thermal electricity storage
Pumped thermal electricity storage (PTES), also called pumped heat energy storage (PHES), stores grid electricity as heat in cheap materials like rocks or molten salts, then reconverts it with a heat engine.
Rondo Heat Battery
The Rondo Heat Battery is an electric thermal energy storage system by Rondo Energy of Alameda, California, storing renewable electricity in refractory brick as high-temperature industrial heat.
Salt hydrate thermal energy storage
Salt hydrate thermal energy storage stores heat in water-containing salts, as phase change materials absorbing latent heat on melting or as thermochemical storage via reversible dehydration reactions.
Sand battery
A sand battery is a large-scale thermal energy storage system that stores renewable electricity as heat in sand for later use as hot water, steam, or hot air.
Steam accumulator
A steam accumulator, also called a Ruths accumulator, is an insulated pressure vessel that stores hot water and releases it as steam when pressure drops.
Sugar alcohol phase-change material
A sugar alcohol phase-change material is an organic PCM based on polyols such as erythritol and mannitol, storing latent heat at 80–230 °C but limited by high supercooling.