Thermal Energy Storage
CADE designs and integrates thermal energy storage systems based on solids, molten salts and liquids to supply process heat and make use of variable renewable generation.
Thermal energy storage accumulates energy as heat when it is available and delivers it when the process requires it.
Industries that use steam, hot air or thermal oil and want to replace fossil fuels; photovoltaic and wind developers that need to use energy that is currently curtailed; concentrated solar power plants extending their operating hours; and operators that require flexibility in the face of grid variability.
Agri-food industryProcess industryCSP plantsRenewable developersEnergy operatorsResearch centers
Storage solutions
Thermal energy storage decouples the production of heat or electricity from its consumption. CADE applies it to two problems: decarbonizing process heat and making use of variable renewable generation.
Industrial heat
A large share of industrial heat is produced from fossil fuels at the moment it is consumed. CADE designs systems that store heat and deliver it to the process when required, as steam, hot air or thermal oil at up to 600 °C.
Steam, hot air and thermal oil · Continuous and batch processes · Trigeneration and ORC cycles · Agri-food and process industries
Renewables integration
Photovoltaic and wind generation does not match demand, and part of it is curtailed. CADE integrates thermal energy storage with direct electrical charging (power-to-heat) from photovoltaic, wind or the grid to use that energy and provide flexibility to the system.
Power-to-heat · Curtailment reduction · Hybridization with photovoltaic and wind · Grid flexibility · CSP plants
Storage technologies
The choice of storage medium depends on the operating temperature, the process fluid and the charge and discharge profile. CADE works with four technologies.
Solid-media storage
Concrete and mineral aggregates as the storage medium, charged from heat transfer fluids or directly from electricity. Technology developed by CADE, in industrial operation since 2018.
- Concrete
- Mineral aggregates
- Thermal or electrical charging
- Discharge at up to 600 °C
- …
Molten salt storage
Molten salt systems in concentrated solar power plants and in industrial processes, building on CADE’s experience in the design, integrity and operation of CSP plants.
- Molten salts
- CSP plants
- Process heat
- …
Liquid-media storage
Pressurized water and thermal oil as the storage medium for medium- and low-temperature applications.
- Pressurized water
- Thermal oil
- Medium and low temperature
- …
Smart storage
Predictive control and monitoring that match charge and discharge cycles to process demand and to the availability of the source.
- Machine learning
- IoT
- Energy management systems (EMS)
- Digital twins
- …
From integration study to operation
Sizing a thermal energy storage system depends on the process demand profile and on the charging source. CADE is involved in every phase, and data from systems in operation feed into the design of the next ones.
Feasibility
Analysis of thermal demand profiles and of the charging source, selection of the storage technology, sizing in power and capacity, and techno-economic study (CAPEX-OPEX).
Engineering
Basic and detailed engineering of the storage module, of the charging and discharging systems and of their integration with the process. Thermal modeling and simulation of cyclic behavior.
Construction
Modular fabrication, supervision of erection and instrumentation, and protocols for commissioning and for charge and discharge testing.
Operation
IoT monitoring, predictive control using machine learning and a digital twin to match charge and discharge cycles to process demand and to the availability of the source.
Technical articles
- Solids, Thermal Energy Storage
- Thermal Energy Storage
- Pilot Plants, Thermal Energy Storage
- Thermal Energy Storage