Geopolymer Concrete Performance Study for High-Temperature Thermal Energy Storage (TES) Applications

Mohammad Rahjoo, Guido Goracci, Pavel Martauz, Esther Rojas and Jorge S. Dolado
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Mohammad Rahjoo: Centro de Física de Materiales, CSIC-UPV/EHU, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
Guido Goracci: Centro de Física de Materiales, CSIC-UPV/EHU, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
Pavel Martauz: Považská Cementáreň Cement Plant (PCLA), 01863 Ladce, Slovakia
Esther Rojas: Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA-CIEMAT), 28040 Madrid, Spain
Jorge S. Dolado: Centro de Física de Materiales, CSIC-UPV/EHU, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: Solar energy is an energy intermittent source that faces a substantial challenge for its power dispatchability. Hence, concentrating solar power (CSP) plants and solar process heat (SPH) applications employ thermal energy storage (TES) technologies as a link between power generation and optimal load distribution. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-based materials are widely used in sensible TES, but their use is limited to operation temperatures below 400 to 500 °C because of thermal degradation processes. This work proposes a geopolymer (GEO)-based concrete as a suitable alternative to OPC concrete for TES that withstands high running temperatures, higher than 500 °C. To this end, thermophysical properties of a geopolymer-based concrete sample were initially measured experimentally; later, energy storage capacity and thermal behavior of the GEO sample were modeled numerically. In fact, different thermal scenarios were modeled, revealing that GEO-based concrete can be a sound choice due to its thermal energy storage capacity, high thermal diffusivity and capability to work at high temperature regimes.

Keywords: concentrated solar power; thermal energy storage; CSP; TES; OPC; geopolymer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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