Validated model of thermochemical energy storage based on cobalt oxides

Thermal Energy Storage (TES) can play a critical role through provision of reliable energy supply and increase the market penetration of renewable energy sources. Thermochemical Energy Storage (TCES) based on reversible reactions offers distinguished advantages in comparison with sensible and latent heat storage: higher energy density, higher temperature range and possibility of seasonal storage. TCES systems based on the redox cycle of metallic oxides shows significant potential for integration with Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants using air as the heat transfer fluid, which also acts as a reactant for the redox reaction. A pilot scale thermochemical storage reactor designed for a CSP plant has been developed and tested in the framework of a collaborative European funded project “RESTRUCTURE” at the Solar Tower Julich (STJ). TCES system is proposed with the aim of achieving higher energy storage capacity and higher storage temperature. Numerical modeling of a TCES prototype presented in this study is a contribution towards this effort. The present work is focused on the innovative one-dimensional modeling of a TCES system based on the redox cycle of cobalt oxides (Co3O4/CoO), coated on the ceramics honeycomb structures. The numerical model for TCES involved the energy balance and reaction kinetics describing the redox reaction of cobalt oxides, to simulate the phenomena of thermochemical storage. The simulation results were presented as the temperature profiles at different positions inside the storage vessel and they were validated against experimental data published in literature by other groups. This validation proved that this model can simulate the overall thermochemical storage process with reasonable accuracy. The simulation tool was also used to perform the parametric analysis of the storage module, which provides guidance to optimize the performance of the storage system. Moreover, due to its good compromise between reliability and computational time, the established 1-D thermochemical storage model can be integrated with the CSP plant model for dynamic analysis of the whole system, which is the aim of this study.