Sorptive Heat Storage

While generation of power and in several industrial processes large amounts of waste heat are surplus. Compact, adsorptive heat storage systems developed by Fraunhofer IGB can store heat energy, thereby bridging the gap between the time and location heat is available and when resp. where it is needed for heating and cooling applications.

Here, heat energy is stored lossless by spatial separation of two components (e.g. zeolite and water vapor) and released during a physisorptive bond of both components when heat is required. The technology has the advantage that very high specific storage densities can be achieved and due to the storage principle no loss of sensible heat occurs during the storage period. Last but not least, the adsorptive heat storages can be operated as heat transformer in order to increase the stored heat temperature level and therefore make use of low temperature waste heat which cannot be utilized otherwise. At the Energy Storage, a model of the process developed at the Fraunhofer IGB for heat storage by adsorption will be shown.