Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Development of graphite foam infiltrated with MgCl 2 for a latent heat based thermal energy storage (LHTES) system

Journal Article · · Renewable Energy
Thermal energy storage (TES) systems that are compatible with high temperature power cycles for concentrating solar power (CSP) require high temperature media for transporting and storing thermal energy. To that end, TES systems have been proposed based on the latent heat of fusion of the phase change materials (PCMs). However, PCMs have relatively low thermal conductivities. In this paper, use of high-thermal-conductivity graphite foam infiltrated with a PCM (MgCl2) has been investigated as a potential TES system. Graphite foams with two porosities were infiltrated with MgCl2. The infiltrated composites were evaluated for density, heat of fusion, melting/freezing temperatures, and thermal diffusivities. Estimated thermal conductivities of MgCl2/graphite foam composites were significantly higher than those of MgCl2 alone over the measured temperature range. Furthermore, heat of fusion, melting/freezing temperatures, and densities showed comparable values to those of pure MgCl2. Results of this study indicate that MgCl2/graphite foam composites show promise as storage media for a latent heat thermal energy storage system for CSP applications.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) - Office of Solar Energy Technology (SETO) - SunShot Initiative
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1391670
Journal Information:
Renewable Energy, Journal Name: Renewable Energy Journal Issue: C Vol. 94; ISSN 0960-1481
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English