Design and lab-scale testing of a mid-term thermochemical energy storage as a support to district heating networks

This paper presents the design and first lab-scale testing of a thermochemical storage reactor that utilizes composite adsorbents, i.e. silica gel/CaCl2. The development activity included the preparation and characterization of the storage materials and the identification of the optimal packing ratio of the reactor. The lab-scale testing was performed to evaluate the performance of the reactor and the composite adsorbent under various conditions, in terms of operating temperature and dynamic response. The results show that the reactor is capable of efficiently storing and retrieving thermal energy, with high energy storage densities and fast response times. The reactor design and performance results presented provide a valuable foundation for future work aimed at developing practical, large-scale systems for integration into the district heating network.