Investigation on a Vermiculite-Based Solar Thermochemical Heat Storage System for Building Applications

Industrial processes and the building sector (e.g., for space and water heating) are responsible for the majority of the total energy consumed for heat. Although fossil fuels remain to dominate the heating sector, renewable heating technologies have been lately widely deployed. Thermochemical energy...

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Main Authors: Yanan Zhang, Ziwei Chen, Cagri Kutlu, Yuehong Su, Saffa Riffat
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ubiquity Press 2022-05-01
Series:Future Cities and Environment
Subjects:
Online Access:https://futurecitiesandenvironment.com/articles/153
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author Yanan Zhang
Ziwei Chen
Cagri Kutlu
Yuehong Su
Saffa Riffat
author_facet Yanan Zhang
Ziwei Chen
Cagri Kutlu
Yuehong Su
Saffa Riffat
author_sort Yanan Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Industrial processes and the building sector (e.g., for space and water heating) are responsible for the majority of the total energy consumed for heat. Although fossil fuels remain to dominate the heating sector, renewable heating technologies have been lately widely deployed. Thermochemical energy storage (TES) can be a promising advanced technology in addressing the mismatch between renewable energy supplies and the end-user’s demand. In this paper, a novel 'Vermiculite-based Solar Thermochemical Heat Storage' (VS-THS) system was proposed for domestic space heating applications, which could also overcome the intermittency challenges and realise long-term solar energy storage. A small-scale prototype was set up to evaluate the energy storage performance of the proposed system using a patented ChainStore panel to accommodate vermiculite-based composite. The unique design of the ChainStore arrangement offers great heat and mass transfer and good flexibility for system resizing in the case of varying the building energy demand. Due to the low regeneration temperature (63 °C) and high energy storage density (253.8 kWh/m3) of the vermiculite-based adsorbent impregnated with MgSO4 and CaCl2, it was chosen as the THS composite in the experiments. The experimental results showed that the proposed VS-THS is feasible for domestic space heating, with the highest space heating supply temperature of 37.6 °C, and the system COP in the reaction process is 7.9–10.4. In addition, the results also demonstrate that the composite of vermiculite impregnated with MgSO4 and CaCl2, with a good water adsorption performance. This proposed concept of VS-THS could be sized for different building applications.
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spelling doaj.art-d791bbbf41d3415284c8677210fe98bd2022-12-22T03:26:08ZengUbiquity PressFuture Cities and Environment2363-90752022-05-018110.5334/fce.15393Investigation on a Vermiculite-Based Solar Thermochemical Heat Storage System for Building ApplicationsYanan Zhang0Ziwei Chen1Cagri Kutlu2Yuehong Su3Saffa Riffat4Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, University of NottinghamDepartment of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, University of NottinghamDepartment of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, University of NottinghamDepartment of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, University of NottinghamDepartment of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, University of NottinghamIndustrial processes and the building sector (e.g., for space and water heating) are responsible for the majority of the total energy consumed for heat. Although fossil fuels remain to dominate the heating sector, renewable heating technologies have been lately widely deployed. Thermochemical energy storage (TES) can be a promising advanced technology in addressing the mismatch between renewable energy supplies and the end-user’s demand. In this paper, a novel 'Vermiculite-based Solar Thermochemical Heat Storage' (VS-THS) system was proposed for domestic space heating applications, which could also overcome the intermittency challenges and realise long-term solar energy storage. A small-scale prototype was set up to evaluate the energy storage performance of the proposed system using a patented ChainStore panel to accommodate vermiculite-based composite. The unique design of the ChainStore arrangement offers great heat and mass transfer and good flexibility for system resizing in the case of varying the building energy demand. Due to the low regeneration temperature (63 °C) and high energy storage density (253.8 kWh/m3) of the vermiculite-based adsorbent impregnated with MgSO4 and CaCl2, it was chosen as the THS composite in the experiments. The experimental results showed that the proposed VS-THS is feasible for domestic space heating, with the highest space heating supply temperature of 37.6 °C, and the system COP in the reaction process is 7.9–10.4. In addition, the results also demonstrate that the composite of vermiculite impregnated with MgSO4 and CaCl2, with a good water adsorption performance. This proposed concept of VS-THS could be sized for different building applications.https://futurecitiesandenvironment.com/articles/153thermochemical heat storagevermiculite-based salt hydratechainstorespace heatingsolar energyopen system
spellingShingle Yanan Zhang
Ziwei Chen
Cagri Kutlu
Yuehong Su
Saffa Riffat
Investigation on a Vermiculite-Based Solar Thermochemical Heat Storage System for Building Applications
Future Cities and Environment
thermochemical heat storage
vermiculite-based salt hydrate
chainstore
space heating
solar energy
open system
title Investigation on a Vermiculite-Based Solar Thermochemical Heat Storage System for Building Applications
title_full Investigation on a Vermiculite-Based Solar Thermochemical Heat Storage System for Building Applications
title_fullStr Investigation on a Vermiculite-Based Solar Thermochemical Heat Storage System for Building Applications
title_full_unstemmed Investigation on a Vermiculite-Based Solar Thermochemical Heat Storage System for Building Applications
title_short Investigation on a Vermiculite-Based Solar Thermochemical Heat Storage System for Building Applications
title_sort investigation on a vermiculite based solar thermochemical heat storage system for building applications
topic thermochemical heat storage
vermiculite-based salt hydrate
chainstore
space heating
solar energy
open system
url https://futurecitiesandenvironment.com/articles/153
work_keys_str_mv AT yananzhang investigationonavermiculitebasedsolarthermochemicalheatstoragesystemforbuildingapplications
AT ziweichen investigationonavermiculitebasedsolarthermochemicalheatstoragesystemforbuildingapplications
AT cagrikutlu investigationonavermiculitebasedsolarthermochemicalheatstoragesystemforbuildingapplications
AT yuehongsu investigationonavermiculitebasedsolarthermochemicalheatstoragesystemforbuildingapplications
AT saffariffat investigationonavermiculitebasedsolarthermochemicalheatstoragesystemforbuildingapplications