Reaction of Calcium Chloride and Magnesium Chloride and their Mixed Salts with Ethanol for Thermal Energy Storage

AbstractThe use of thermochemical energy storage systems increasingly gains interest in order to meet the energy targets of the European renewable energy directive. In this study the suitability of calcium chloride, magnesium chloride and mixed salt ethanolates as heat storage materials for practical implementation was determined by investigating specific thermodynamic properties and estimating the materials’ lifetime at various operating conditions. It was proven that the reaction of the before mentioned metal salts with ethanol depends on the applied ethanol vapour pressure. The ethanol sorption increased in the following order: MgCl2 < CaCl2 < 2CaCl2*MgCl2. The enthalpies followed the same sequence. Over-stoichiometric ethanol uptake, in particular for CaCl2 and 2CaCl2*MgCl2 with increasing C2H5OH vapour pressure, was observed. However, the reaction systems CaCl2-C2H5OH and 2CaCl2*MgCl2 -C2H5OH showed the best sorption properties and cycle stability and thus have a great potential for low-grade thermal energy storage as well as cold storage due to their low reaction temperatures in comparison with salt-water-systems. In general, physically mixing of single salts from the same family with different chemical properties leads to superior thermal behaviour with higher heat storage capacities and material stabilities

Wake Shape and Height Profile Measurements in a Concave Open Channel Flow Regarding the Target in DONES

Wakes appearing downstream of disturbances on the surface of a water flow in a concave open channel were examined experimentally. The investigated channel geometry was similar to the liquid lithium target in DONES (Demonstration fusion power plant Oriented NEutron Source). The objective of the measurements was to analyze the effect of a disturbance on the downstream layer thickness. For measuring the height profiles in the channel, an optical measurement system based on laser triangulation was developed. It was shown that the wake of the undisturbed flow emerged from the nozzle corner, which was in accordance with analytical solutions. For sufficiently large disturbances at the nozzle edge, the height profiles located downstream showed symmetrical minima and maxima on both sides of the disturbance. The wake depth strongly depended on the diameter and penetration depth of the disturbance, as well as the circumferential position in the channel, which yields to a critical wake depth of one millimeter for the lithium target in DONES