Dolomite: A low cost thermochemical energy storage material

The thermal energy storage properties of dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2, from three sources (commercial, mined, and synthetic) are investigated as a potential solid-gas thermochemical energy store for concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) plants. The reversible carbon dioxide release/absorption cycle can be...

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Main Authors: Humphries, Terry, Moeller, Kasper, Rickard, William, Sofianos, M. Veronica, Liu, Shaomin, Buckley, Craig, Paskevicius, Mark
Format: Journal Article
Published: R S C Publications 2019
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT160100303
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/74755
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author Humphries, Terry
Moeller, Kasper
Rickard, William
Sofianos, M. Veronica
Liu, Shaomin
Buckley, Craig
Paskevicius, Mark
author_facet Humphries, Terry
Moeller, Kasper
Rickard, William
Sofianos, M. Veronica
Liu, Shaomin
Buckley, Craig
Paskevicius, Mark
author_sort Humphries, Terry
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The thermal energy storage properties of dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2, from three sources (commercial, mined, and synthetic) are investigated as a potential solid-gas thermochemical energy store for concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) plants. The reversible carbon dioxide release/absorption cycle can be used to store and release large quantities of thermal energy that can be harnessed near 550 °C. To enable carbon dioxide absorption, a novel molten salt eutectic NaCl:MgCl2 mixture was added to the dolomite, which proved effective. Curiously, the mined (unrefined) sample proved to have the best calcination/carbonation properties with a stable cyclic stability of ~50 mol% CO2 over 10 cycles. A morphological investigation by scanning electron microscopy reveals the mined sample contains impurities (e.g. quartz) that prevent detrimental agglomeration of dolomite and its reaction products (CaCO3 and MgO). High levels of porosity in the mined dolomite also provide short gas-solid reaction pathways during carbonation. A commercial dolomite source contained too many impurities, resulting in the formation of high levels of Ca2SiO4 that acted as a Ca-sink, lowering CO2 capacity. Finally, a high purity synthetic dolomite sample displayed high levels of agglomeration and phase segregation, lowering reversible CO2 capacity, which was attributed to a lack of impurities that restrict agglomeration.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:02:16Z
publishDate 2019
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-747552020-12-14T05:54:26Z Dolomite: A low cost thermochemical energy storage material Humphries, Terry Moeller, Kasper Rickard, William Sofianos, M. Veronica Liu, Shaomin Buckley, Craig Paskevicius, Mark The thermal energy storage properties of dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2, from three sources (commercial, mined, and synthetic) are investigated as a potential solid-gas thermochemical energy store for concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) plants. The reversible carbon dioxide release/absorption cycle can be used to store and release large quantities of thermal energy that can be harnessed near 550 °C. To enable carbon dioxide absorption, a novel molten salt eutectic NaCl:MgCl2 mixture was added to the dolomite, which proved effective. Curiously, the mined (unrefined) sample proved to have the best calcination/carbonation properties with a stable cyclic stability of ~50 mol% CO2 over 10 cycles. A morphological investigation by scanning electron microscopy reveals the mined sample contains impurities (e.g. quartz) that prevent detrimental agglomeration of dolomite and its reaction products (CaCO3 and MgO). High levels of porosity in the mined dolomite also provide short gas-solid reaction pathways during carbonation. A commercial dolomite source contained too many impurities, resulting in the formation of high levels of Ca2SiO4 that acted as a Ca-sink, lowering CO2 capacity. Finally, a high purity synthetic dolomite sample displayed high levels of agglomeration and phase segregation, lowering reversible CO2 capacity, which was attributed to a lack of impurities that restrict agglomeration. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/74755 10.1039/c8ta07254j http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT160100303 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE0775551 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP150100730 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ R S C Publications fulltext
spellingShingle Humphries, Terry
Moeller, Kasper
Rickard, William
Sofianos, M. Veronica
Liu, Shaomin
Buckley, Craig
Paskevicius, Mark
Dolomite: A low cost thermochemical energy storage material
title Dolomite: A low cost thermochemical energy storage material
title_full Dolomite: A low cost thermochemical energy storage material
title_fullStr Dolomite: A low cost thermochemical energy storage material
title_full_unstemmed Dolomite: A low cost thermochemical energy storage material
title_short Dolomite: A low cost thermochemical energy storage material
title_sort dolomite: a low cost thermochemical energy storage material
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT160100303
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT160100303
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT160100303
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/74755