Periodic Reporting for period 2 - THERMOBAT (A Ferrosilicon Latent Heat Thermophotovoltaic Battery)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2023-06-01 al 2024-11-30
Latent heat thermophotovoltaic batteries allow for much lower cost than state-of-the-art electrochemical batteries and can provide both heat and electricity on demand, which make them attractive for grid-scale, long-duration energy storage, and distributed dispatchable cogeneration. This project will develop the first latent heat thermophotovoltaic battery and will demonstrate the technology in a relevant environment for combined heat and power dispatchable generation.
This objective is being addressed in WP2. More than 100L of FeSiB have been produced using cheap raw materials. Moreover, the Si, B and Fe resource mapping has been elaborated, which is key to understand the cost of the manufacturing of this new PCM.
Objective 2: 100 kWh Heat Storage Box with > 1 MWh/m3 withstanding > 100 thermal cycles
This objective is being addressed in WP2. Small scaled sealed crucibles incorporating protective coatings have been developed. Experiments have confirmed the capability of 100 thermal cycling. Next step is to corroborate that this result is reproducible and can be extrapolated to larger scale sealed crucibles.
Objective 3: 1 kW TPV generator with an efficiency > 20 % and power density > 1 W/cm2 at 1200ºC
This objective is being addressed in WP3. A Germanium TPV cell have been developed with an efficiency of 11.2% and a power density of 1.4 W/cm2 under a graphite emitter at 1544ºC. Simulations suggest that efficiencies approaching 20% are attainable in practice. The first TPV module of 100 W electrical power capacity has been developed.
Objective 4: A 100 kWh LHTPV demonstrator with electric-RTE > 10 % and global-RTE > 70%
This objective is being addressed in WP4. During the first year of the project, the electric furnace was developed. Also, a new cooling approach has been developed and investigated experimentally. This new approach addresses some relevant safety issues of the original design. Moreover, the innovative character of this solution adds value to the technology, as it may generate new intellectual property rights not previously anticipated in the DoA. The different components are being integrated in the furnace.