There is a broad range of possible applications for compact thermal energy storage: from keeping temperatures of transported goods constant to the seasonal storage of solar thermal energy in dwellings. The challenge is to couple the compact thermal storage materials development work to the targeted applications. The material performance needs to be understood, materials need to be tested in application boundary conditions and the material performance, in combination with properly designed components, should be tuned to the desired system performance in the application.

The main objectives of the Task are to 1) better understand the factors that influence the storage density and the performance degradation of CTES materials, 2) characterize these materials in a reliable and reproducible manner, 3) develop methods to effectively determine the State of Charge of a CTES, and 4) increase the knowledge base on how to design optimized heat exchangers and reactors for CTES technologies. This publication highlights two projects Task experts worked on in 2022.