Fluidized bed reactor for thermochemical heat storage using Ca(OH)2/CaO to absorb the fluctuations of electric power supplied by variable renewable energy sources: A dynamic model

A simplified dynamic model of a Ca(OH)(2)/CaO-containing fluidized bed reactor was developed by combining a continuously stirred tank reactor model in the solid phase with a series of continuously stirred tank reactors in the gas phase for mass transport. The heat supplied to the thermochemical heat storage system was allowed to fluctuate to evaluate the absorption of variable renewable energy fluctuation. In addition, the performance of the fluidized bed was assessed using nitrogen or steam as the fluidizing gas. For nitrogen, the fluctuation of bed temperature increased with the increasing time step of heat change. The bed temperature was affected by the magnitude of the fluctuation of the supplied heat more strongly for nitrogen than for steam, mainly because the rate of dehydration under these conditions was more strongly dependent on temperature than in the case of steam. The thermochemical heat storage efficiency (calculated by considering reaction heat) and energy storage efficiency (calculated by considering reaction heat and sensible heat) equaled 14.1% and 34.1% for steam and 29.9% and 62.7% for nitrogen, respectively. The differences between the efficiencies for steam and nitrogen were ascribed to the latent heat of H2O. Sensitivity analysis showed that both efficiencies increased with increasing heat supply because of the concomitant decrease in the time required to heat the system to the reaction temperature. During this time, thermochemical heat storage did not occur, which resulted in lower efficiency. Therefore, the fluctuation from variable renewable energy can be absorbed by using thermochemical heat storage.

Automated summary

A simplified dynamic model for a Ca(OH)(2)/CaO-containing fluidized bed reactor was developed, with assessment of its performance using nitrogen or steam as the fluidizing gas. The study showed that thermochemical heat storage can improve efficiency by absorbing fluctuations from variable renewable energy.