Thermal Heat Storages

Sensible heat storages store heat by changing the temperature of a material or a mixture of materials. Beside simple (hot) water storages, usually used in domestic heating systems, liquids, gases but also solids are used as a storage medium. For packed bed heat storages, solids in the form of mineral and ceramic bulk material are used as heat storage medium. The direct contact with corrosive flue gases results in high efficiencies. The use of high-level temperature waste heat in industrial processes is a typical application, whereby the energy efficiency of factories can be increased. Just as the power and heat production of power plants can be decoupled.

Latent heat storages use the phase change of a material to store heat. For an efficient application the optimal utilisation of the temperature constant phase change between the solid and liquid phase is important. This special characteristic increases the storage density compared to sensible heat storages. Furthermore it allows a fitted and improved energy management of the heat sink and the heat source. Latent heat storages can be therefore an essential component in procedural technical processes to increase the energy efficiency and economic efficiency in a varied range of application.

Thermochemical Heat Storages store heat through reversible chemical reactions or physical sorption processes. This means enthalpy is being released or stored by using chemical or physical processes. Such systems dispose of high energy store densities and low reservoir losses.