SOCRATCES project was presented at ECOS 2019

Various partners of the SOCRATCES project (USE, POLITO, UNIZAR, CERTH, CNR and AUTH) have attended the 32nd edition of the International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact on Energy Systems (ECOS 2019), which was held in Wroclaw (Poland) on June 23-28, 2019.

This is a well established conference in the area of energy systems, with about 400 attendees from all over the world. The SOCRATCES partners have presented various papers in parallel sessions dedicated to thermal storage and analysis of energy systems. A mini-symposium on thermal and cryogenic energy storage has been also organized. Further details on the conference are available on the web site.

UNIZAR presented two research works related with SOCRATCES project. Some developments in the simulation of the two main components of the installation, carbonator and calciner (with CALIX participation), were performed. In the case of carbonator (“On the modelling of a lime carbonator operating in a concentrated solar power plant for energy storage”), the modelling of a future commercial-scale carbonator was described, in the frame of a new solar-based plant. The reactor was considered with a downward entrained flow design, and the model encompasses fluid dynamics, chemical kinetics and energy balance. The results, provided along a 1-D discretization, comprise conversion rates, gas temperatures and flow rates, and heat transfer rates to the external cooling fluid. The round trip efficiency of the energy storage technology was assessed for different carbonator dimensions. The research work about calciner (Energy consumption minimization for a solar lime calciner operating in a concentrated solar power plant for thermal energy storage) was focused on the modelling of a multi-stage solar calciner in the frame of a new solar-based CSP plant. The reactor was built by several downward entrained flow design reactors, and the model encompassed fluid dynamics, chemical kinetics and energy balance. Several proposal were analyzed and the results comprised conversion rates, gas temperatures and flow rates, and heat transfer rates inside the reactor.

CNR presented the work “Role of acoustic fields on the fluidized bed carbonation for TCES in CSP applications”. In particular, the presentation was delivered by Dr. Ammendola, in the Mini-Symposium “Thermal and Cryogenic Energy Storage”, whose aim was to bring together academics and industry to review recent advances in the field of thermal energy storage, to present the latest research findings, discuss future research directions and development priorities, and build collaborations in this research area.

POLITO presented two research works related with SOCRATCES project. The first one, presented by Vittorio Verda, deals with use of thermoeconomics to address optimal design of thermodynamic cycles coupled with thermochemical energy storage included in concentrated solar power plant. The second one, presented by Elisa Guelpa, is related with the selection of optimal design of supercritical CO2 power cycle.