SOCRATCES (DIT.AD017.055)
Thematic area
Engineering, ICT and technologies for energy and transportation
Project area
Tecnologie energetiche a basse emissioni (DIT.AD017)Structure responsible for the research project
Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie per l'Energia e la Mobilità Sostenibili (STEMS)
Project manager
PAOLA AMMENDOLA
Phone number: 081 7682237
Email: paola.ammendola@irc.cnr.it
Abstract
Lime (CaO) has been long proposed as an energy intensive material for the storage of energy in a chemical form by means of carbonation/calcination cycles. This Calcium-looping process (CaL) is the basis of a proven pilot-scale technology for CO2 capture, which is accomplished by carbonation of CaO and its regeneration in a calciner reactor operated under high CO2 partial pressure and high temperature. The wide availability of limestone (<10EUR/ton) is a key factor for the feasibility of the CaL process. However, the huge potential for lime also to store energy has been inhibited by its propensity to sinter at the high temperatures of the standard CaL cycle for CO2 capture, which reduces dramatically its multicycle conversion. SOCRATCES will be built on previous R&D results of the partners indicating that the Calcium-looping process (CaL) process can be integrated into CSP plants for thermochemical energy storage and power generation by means of a simple closed CO2 loop.
Goals
High global efficiencies (>45%) are achieved under new CaL conditions implying carbonation under high temperature (>850ºC) at high CO2 partial pressure compatible with high efficiency power blocks. Moreover, fast calcination is carried out at temperatures < 700ºC by the Flash Calcination technology, which allows using mature and inexpensive solar receiver technology. The new CSP-CaL integration yields high storage energy density (3.2 GJ/m3) with possible long time gaps between load and discharge. SOCRATCES is aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of this integration by erecting a pilot-scale plant that uses cheap, abundant and non-toxic materials as well as mature solar and fluidized bed reactor technologies. SOCRATCES will confer the EU a leading role on the development of efficient and nontoxic CSP with low cost storage (<12EUR/kWh) and LCOE <7cEUR/kWh. SOCRATCES global objective is to develop a prototype that will reduce the core risks of scaling up the technology and solve challenges; further understanding and optimise the operating efficiencies that could be obtained; with the longer term goal of enabling highly competitive and sustainable CSP plants.
Start date of activity
01/01/2018
Keywords
renewable energy, CSP, calcium looping
Last update: 02/12/2024