Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Thermodynamic and kinetic characterization of salt hydrates for thermochemical energy storage

  • Early Career Materials Researcher Research Letter
  • Published:
MRS Communications Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Inorganic salt hydrates that undergo reversible solid–gas thermochemical reactions can be used for thermal energy storage in buildings. However, characterization of the reaction enthalpy (energy storage capacity) has been a challenge owing to their microstructure and hygrothermal stability, which results in variations between literature data for the same salt and underperforming theoretical predictions. To address this, a parametric study of the simultaneous thermal analysis variables is performed to characterize phase transitions in six thermochemical materials (TCMs). This yields a set of standard experimental conditions for each TCM that maximizes energy density, while establishing design rules for salt mixtures.

Graphical abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

Data availability

All data generated and analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript and electronic supplementary information.

References

  1. Monthly Energy Review. https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/

  2. J. Lin et al., Applications of low-temperature thermochemical energy storage systems for salt hydrates based on material classification: A review. Sol. Energy 214, 149–178 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. J. Romaní et al., Evaluation of energy density as performance indicator for thermal energy storage at material and system levels. Appl. Energy 235, 954–962 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. K.E. N’Tsoukpoe, N. Mazet, P. Neveu, The concept of cascade thermochemical storage based on multimaterial system for household applications. Energy Build. 129, 138–149 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. R.-J. Clark, A. Mehrabadi, M. Farid, State of the art on salt hydrate thermochemical energy storage systems for use in building applications. J. Energy Storage 27, 101145 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. P.A.J. Donkers et al., A review of salt hydrates for seasonal heat storage in domestic applications. Appl. Energy 199, 45–68 (2017)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. P.A.J. Donkers, L. Pel, O.C.G. Adan, Experimental studies for the cyclability of salt hydrates for thermochemical heat storage. J. Energy Storage 5, 25–32 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Y. Zhang, R. Wang, Sorption thermal energy storage: Concept, process, applications and perspectives. Energy Storage Mater. 27, 352–369 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. P.A. Kallenberger et al., Alginate-derived salt/polymer composites for thermochemical heat storage. Adv. Sustain. Syst. 2, 1700160 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. H.U. Rammelberg et al., Thermochemical heat storage materials: Performance of mixed salt hydrates. Sol. Energy 136, 571–589 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. A. Serrano-Aroca, J.F. Ruiz-Pividal, M. Llorens-Gamez, Enhancement of water diffusion and compression performance of crosslinked alginate films with a minuscule amount of graphene oxide. Sci. Rep. 7, 11684 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. J. Houben et al., K2CO3 in closed heat storage systems. Renew. Energy 166, 35–44 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. N. Mazur et al., Impact of polymeric stabilisers on the reaction kinetics of SrBr2. Solar Energy Mater. Solar Cells 238, 111648 (2022)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. L.-C. Sögütoglu et al., Understanding the hydration process of salts: The impact of a nucleation barrier. Cryst. Growth Des. 19, 2279–2288 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. J. Aarts et al., Diffusion limited hydration kinetics of millimeter sized salt hydrate particles for thermochemical heat storage. J. Energy Storage 47, 103 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  16. M.-M. Druske et al., Developed materials for thermal energy storage: Synthesis and characterization. Energy Proc. 61, 96–99 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. C. Barreneche et al., Thermophysical characterization and thermal cycling stability of two TCM: CaCl2 and zeolite. Appl. Energy 137, 726–730 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. A. Cammarata et al., Hybrid strontium bromide-natural graphite composites for low to medium temperature thermochemical energy storage: Formulation, fabrication and performance investigation. Energy Convers. Manage. 166, 233–240 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Y.N. Zhang et al., Development and thermochemical characterizations of vermiculite/SrBr2 composite sorbents for low-temperature heat storage. Energy 115, 120–128 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. K.E. N’Tsoukpoe et al., A systematic multi-step screening of numerous salt hydrates for low temperature thermochemical energy storage. Appl. Energy 124, 1–16 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. R.-J. Clark et al., Experimental screening of salt hydrates for thermochemical energy storage for building heating application. J. Energy Storage 51, 104415 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. M. Molenda et al., Reversible hydration behavior of CaCl2 at high H2O partial pressures for thermochemical energy storage. Thermochim. Acta 560, 76–81 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. J. Xu et al., Dehydration kinetics and thermodynamics of magnesium chloride hexahydrate for thermal energy storage. Solar Energy Mater. Solar Cells 219, 110819 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. L. Okhrimenko et al., New kinetic model of the dehydration reaction of magnesium sulfate hexahydrate: Application for heat storage. Thermochim. Acta 687, 178569 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. R. Fisher, Y. Ding, A. Sciacovelli, Hydration kinetics of K2CO3, MgCl2 and vermiculite-based composites in view of low-temperature thermochemical energy storage. J. Energy Storage 38, 102561 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. M. Steiger, Thermodynamic properties of SrCl2(aq) from 252 K to 524 K and phase equilibria in the SrCl2–H2O system: Implications for thermochemical heat storage. J. Chem. Thermodyn. 120, 106–115 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. NIST Standard Reference Database 84. https://www.nist.gov/srd/nist-standard-reference-database-84

  28. L. Glasser, Thermodynamics of inorganic hydration and of humidity control, with an extensive database of salt hydrate pairs. J. Chem. Eng. Data 59, 526–530 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. L. Li et al., Thermal analysis of melting and freezing processes of phase change materials (PCMs) based on dynamic DSC test. Energy Build. 130, 388–396 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. W. Li, M. Zeng, Q. Wang, Development and performance investigation of MgSO4/SrCl2 composite salt hydrate for mid-low temperature thermochemical heat storage. Solar Energy Mater. Solar Cells 210, 110509 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was performed in part at the Georgia Tech Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology, a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), which is supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant ECCS-2025462). EB gratefully acknowledges financial support from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the President’s Fellowship at Georgia Tech. AKM acknowledges the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering for startup funds to perform this work. The authors also thank Dr. David Tavakoli for assistance with XRD measurements and Mr. Greg Blubaugh for calibrating the DSC.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Erik Barbosa & Akanksha K. Menon

Authors
  1. Erik Barbosa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Akanksha K. Menon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Akanksha K. Menon.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (PDF 5230 kb).

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Barbosa, E., Menon, A.K. Thermodynamic and kinetic characterization of salt hydrates for thermochemical energy storage. MRS Communications 12, 678–685 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-022-00264-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-022-00264-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation