Multicycle activity of natural CaCO3 minerals for thermochemical energy storage in Concentrated Solar Power plants

Abstract

Thermochemical energy storage in Concentrated Solar Power plants by means of the Calcium-Looping process is a promising novel technology that would allow for a higher share of renewables. A main benefit of this technology is the use of widely available, non-toxic and environmentally friendly calcium carbonate minerals as raw materials to store energy. Efficient integration of the Calcium-Looping process into Concentrated Solar Power plants involves the endothermic calcination of CaCO3 in the solar receiver while the exothermic carbonation of CaO is carried out at high temperature under high CO2 partial pressure. The heat released by this reaction is carried out by the excess CO2 and employed for power generation by means of a closed CO2 cycle. This work explores the multicycle Calcium-Looping performance of naturally occurring CaCO3 minerals such as limestone, chalk and marble for thermochemical energy storage in Concentrated Solar Power plants. Despite their similar composition (almost pure CaCO3), these minerals exhibit a significant difference in their Calcium-Looping multicycle activity, which may be attributed to differences in particle size and microstructure. Pore plugging at the Calcium-Looping conditions for thermochemical energy storage tested in our work is a main limiting mechanism on the multicycle CaO carbonation activity.