Thermal energy and energy storage

What is thermal energy storage (TES)?

Thermal energy storage (TES) is a technology that stocks thermal energy by heating or cooling a storage medium so that the stored energy can be used at a later time for heating and cooling applications and power generation. TES systems are used particularly in buildings and in industrial processes.

Why is thermal energy storage important?

Thermal energy storage (TES) is increasingly important due to the demand-supply challenge caused by the intermittency of renewable energy and waste heat dissipation to the environment. This paper discusses the fundamentals and novel applications of TES materials and identifies appropriate TES materials for particular applications.

How is energy stored in sensible TES?

In sensible Thermal Energy Storage (TES), energy is stored by changing the temperature of the storage means. The amount of heat stored is proportional to the density, specific heat, volume, and variation of temperature of the storage material.

What are the four parts of thermal energy storage?

Following an introduction to thermal energy and thermal energy storage, the book is organised into four parts comprising the fundamentals, materials, devices, energy storage systems and applications of thermal energy storage.

Can thermal energy be stored in a heat storage media?

Thermal energy (i.e. heat and cold) can be stored as sensible heat in heat stor-age media, as latent heat associated with phase change materials (PCMs) or as thermo-chemical energy associated with chemical reactions (i.e. thermo-chemical storage) at operation temperatures ranging from -40°C to above 400°C.

What are the different types of thermal energy storage systems?

Thermal energy storage (TES) systems store heat or cold for later use and are classified into sensible heat storage, latent heat storage, and thermochemical heat storage. Sensible heat storage systems raise the temperature of a material to store heat. Latent heat storage systems use PCMs to store heat through melting or solidifying.