Integration of calcium looping and calcium hydroxide thermochemical systems for energy storage and power production in concentrating solar power plants

Energy storage is a key factor in the development of renewables-based electrical power systems. In recent years, the thermochemical energy storage system based on calcium-looping has emerged as an alternative to molten salts for energy storage in high-temperature concentrated solar power plants. This technology still presents some challenges that could be solved by integrating the thermochemical energy storage system based on calcium hydroxide. This work studies a novel concentrated solar power system integrating calcium-looping and calcium hydroxide thermochemical energy storage systems. The results show that the combined use of hydration -dehydration cycles in the calcination-carbonation processes of the calcium looping for energy storage could partially solve the issue related to the multicyclic deactivation of calcium oxide. The improvement in the con-version of calcium oxide during carbonation is demonstrated experimentally when hydration-dehydration cycles are combined. Numerical simulations demonstrate the technical feasibility of the integrated process, with effi-ciencies ranging between 38-46%, improved with the increase in calcium oxide conversion in the carbonator, showing the potential of the proposed integration.