The shape of the elemental system in a porous medium designed for thermochemical energy storage

Here we document how the design of the elemental component of a designed reactor for thermochemical energy storage can be improved for better energy performance and less pumping power. The pore channels are made of cylinders with walls are covered by salt reacting with the water vapor molecules of the blown humid air. The design of such open systems is changed to dendritic configurations while keeping the salt and fluid volumes constant. Morphing the configuration from I-shaped to Y-shaped architectures allows to increase the heat exchanges. Additional improvements are obtained when the geometric features of the dendritic configurations are chosen to follow constructal design. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.