Periodical variations experienced by buildings’ energy demand and supply might be tackled by means of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems. Among these, thermochemical heat storage (TCHS) by means of thermochemical material (TCM) is one of the most promising, allowing the greatest energy storage density per unit volume, negligible heat losses and long- term storage. As part of the Horizon Europe project “ECHO”, a preliminary 2D model of the TCHS system was developed with the software COMSOL Multiphysics as a tool to support the real-scale prototype design, anticipating the behaviour of the system, as well as the implementation of the control algorithm. The model was implemented to work in both charge (dehydration) and discharge (hydration) without having to change the reaction kinetics equation from time to time, only based on the instant-by-instant boundary conditions. This ability to switch from hydration to dehydration and vice versa at any time makes it possible to estimate the performance of the TCM even in the event of not being completely hydrated or dehydrated, and also to establish some relationship between the TCM charging and discharging times.
Development of a numerical model of CaCl2 hydration and dehydration reaction for thermochemical energy storage
Baccega, E
;Bottarelli, M
2025
Abstract
Periodical variations experienced by buildings’ energy demand and supply might be tackled by means of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems. Among these, thermochemical heat storage (TCHS) by means of thermochemical material (TCM) is one of the most promising, allowing the greatest energy storage density per unit volume, negligible heat losses and long- term storage. As part of the Horizon Europe project “ECHO”, a preliminary 2D model of the TCHS system was developed with the software COMSOL Multiphysics as a tool to support the real-scale prototype design, anticipating the behaviour of the system, as well as the implementation of the control algorithm. The model was implemented to work in both charge (dehydration) and discharge (hydration) without having to change the reaction kinetics equation from time to time, only based on the instant-by-instant boundary conditions. This ability to switch from hydration to dehydration and vice versa at any time makes it possible to estimate the performance of the TCM even in the event of not being completely hydrated or dehydrated, and also to establish some relationship between the TCM charging and discharging times.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
