Development of a Pilot Plant for TCS with Ca(OH)2 -based granules

The reversible reaction Ca(OH)2 + 104 kJ/mol CaO + H2O is considered promising due to its multiple advantages such as high energy density and multiple cyclability. In addition, the raw material has a low cost and general availability around the globe. As a thermochemical system, it can be stored for long periods without thermal losses, what makes it suitable to be used as seasonal storage and thus help to match the discrepancy between the renewable energy production in summer and heat demand in winter. In this presentation, we demonstrate the operation of a newly-developed pilot plant specifically designed for mechanically enhanced Ca(OH)2 granules. For this plant, a directly heated 10-kWth moving bed reactor was developed. In addition, the infrastructure necessary to store and transport 200 kg of Ca(OH)2-based granules was designed and set into operation. Future work will address the analysis of the performance of the reactor and material during charge and discharge. Furthermore, it will analyse the process integration for a CHP plant. The outcomes of this investigation, including the operation of the pilot plant, will reveal important information to adopt operation strategies that optimises the use of this thermochemical storage syste