Selection and characterization of recycled materials for sensible thermal energy storage

Alternative low cost materials are evaluated through the valorization of by-products derived from mining and metallurgical industry for solid sensible heat based energy storage systems. They were used either as received or formulated as aggregates in mortars, and their thermal and mechanical properties were characterized. A selection methodology was applied in order to compare them with available materials found in the literature for applications as (STES) materials, and with materials from Cambridge Educational Software (CES) Selector database. It was demonstrated that these recycled materials have a high potential for these thermal energy storage applications.

► Low cost materials from mining and metallurgical industries were evaluated. ► Studied materials have high energy density and medium thermal conductivity. ► They are compared with other materials using the material's selection methodology. ► Studied materials are cost effective for STES for an application such as CSP industrial TES.