Muspell Project
The Muspell project aims to transform Thermal Energy Storage Systems (TESS) by introducing a novel, efficient design featuring advanced materials and a seamless integration of heat pump capabilities. This approach promises enhanced flexibility, energy density, and cross-sectoral sustainability impacts.
Approach
Accessing thermal energy today relies heavily on fossil fuels. With the global shift towards sustainable energy, the use of intermittent sources like wind, solar, tidal, and wave introduces production fluctuations, resulting in energy availability gaps. Moreover, the challenge persists in many industries where the substantial waste heat generated annually hampers energy efficiency. Despite efforts to redirect waste heat in industrial parks, challenges endure due to factors like temperature levels and demand schedules, limiting sector coupling opportunities.
To tackle these challenges, the innovative Muspell TESS captures and stores waste heat in the industrial sector, providing versatile energy for various processes and aligning with fluctuating demand schedules. By capitalising on intermittent energy sources during peak availability, the TESS can be charged when electricity is cost-effective. Furthermore, it can be used during periods of electricity scarcity or high costs, enabling a flexible and energy-dense system for deployment within the industrial sector. This advancement enhances sector coupling possibilities and facilitates the integration of industrial parks with district heating, paving the way for a versatile, sustainable, and fully integrated energy system.
By seamlessly incorporating cutting-edge and environmentally-friendly thermo-chemical materials (TCM), Muspell TESS excels in storing energy and utilising heat pump capabilities to deliver mid-temperature heat during discharge. Moreover, due to its additional high-temperature-high-power phase-change materials (PCM) storage module the TESS can address heat demand fluctuations.
The Muspell project addresses critical drawbacks of existing TCM-based TESS, such as inflexibility and low power output, by implementing 2 innovative approaches:
1. The flexibility is increased through a PCM heat storage that mediates between the constant power output of the TCM module and the heat demand profile of the supplied process
2. The overall power of the TESS is enhanced by employing a novel modular flat plate-heat exchanger (HX) design, addressing main dynamic limitations with a high TCM-HX contact area and short conductive lengths.
Development
1. Modelling the Future of Thermal Storage
The first stage of the project focuses on the foundational elements, specifically the modelling, design, and testing of a compact, low-to-medium temperature TESS. The goal is to refine the storage concepts, develop dynamic models for feasibility assessments, and design a functional lab-scale prototype using state-of-the-art existing materials. Rigorous testing and validation conducted in this phase will validate the proposed concepts and set the stage for pioneering advancements in materials and the subsequent industrial-scale deployment of sustainable energy solutions.
2. Advancing Tomorrow's Thermo-Chemical Materials
A critical phase in the Muspell project centres on the development and characterisation of novel sorption materials designed for high energy density in targeted temperature applications. By engaging in material synthesis, characterisation, evaluation of sorption properties, kinetics, and stability, the objective is to establish a robust foundation for successfully integrating optimised TCMs into the TESS application.
3. Heat-Crafting Next-Gen Phase Change Materials
An additional focus is placed on advancing thermal management solutions through the synthesis, characterisation, and optimisation of PCMs. This comprehensive approach involves the synthesis of layered hybrid perovskites, characterising thermodynamic properties, measuring thermal conductivity and viscosity, and examining stability and kinetics for optimal performance. The aim is to enhance PCM performance by strategically employing binary mixtures, doping, and incorporating innovative elements such as nanoparticles and porous matrices. Material shaping will be conducted to optimise the PCM's form and microstructure for efficient heat exchange, in collaboration with external partners.
4. Empowering Markets for a Sustainable Future
The final phase of the project consists of an in-depth exploration of the market, economic, and environmental implications of the TESS. This analysis will provide a detailed overview of existing thermal storage media and technologies within the selected industry and district heating. The evaluation will specifically focus on assessing the economic viability, utilisation, and supporting processes of TESS applications. The work involves identifying key performance indicators and critical success factors, simulating TESS applications in industrial scenarios, and integrating the technology into energy systems at a wide scale. Economic and environmental impact analyses will be conducted, addressing production costs, storage costs, potential savings, and environmental considerations in alignment with the EU's Green Deal objectives, particularly the Fit for 55 targets and the REPowerEU Plan.
Infrastructure
Throughout the Research & Development phase of the Muspell project, three laboratories will be strategically leveraged.
1. Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Germany
This laboratory will serve as the hub for building, testing, and benchmarking the lab-scale prototype for the TESS. Special emphasis will be placed on controlling temperature and pressure levels, adhering to necessary safety precautions, and using precise measurement instrumentation. In the initial stage, existing state-of-the-art TCM & PCM materials will be employed to mitigate timing and cost risks associated with the project's novel materials. In the second stage, the newly developed TCM and PCM materials will undergo rigorous testing on the prototype as they become available.
2. National Institute of Chemistry (Kemijski Inštitut), Slovenia
The Institute will spearhead material research activities, focusing on the development of innovative and environmentally friendly sorption TCMs. The research will focus on the creation of advanced materials with tailored chemical and textural properties. These synthesised materials will undergo thorough evaluation for mid-high temperature applications. The goal is to achieve a higher energy storage density and superior cycling stability under operational conditions compared to the current state-of-the-art solutions.
3. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
In this laboratory, the main focus is on developing innovative Solid-Solid Phase Change Materials (PCMs). Two material families are under consideration for exploration, each with distinctive advantages. One group is renowned for its high operating temperature and exceptional storage capacity, while the other offers a versatile range of transition temperatures and latent heats. Since these compounds are not available commercially, their synthesis will be done in collaboration with external partners. The upscaling of the synthesis process is expected to be straightforward, and the selected PCMs will be engineered to achieve critical improvements in key material properties, surpassing the capabilities of current state-of-the-art solutions. Once the novel materials are developed, they will go through a characterisations process to evaluate their performance, including assessments of exothermic transitions and transition kinetics.
Beneficiaries
1. Serving Society Holistically
The Muspell project's outcomes align with multiple Sustainable Development Goals, fostering access to clean energy while mitigating the carbon footprint across diverse industries. With a focus on material development, optimisation, and innovative system-level solutions, the project is dedicated to achieving optimal performance while minimising environmental impact. The novel TESS will sustain access to clean energy in both urban and rural areas, fostering citizen commitment to clean energy and sustainability while reducing cities’ carbon footprints. Operating as a dual-purpose thermal storage and heat pump in industrial settings, Muspell’s TESS contributes to pioneering infrastructure and sustainable investments. Finally, through circular-driven and sustainability-focused materials research and TESS manufacturing, it actively supports the establishment of sustainable consumption and production patterns by ensuring responsible sourcing and production.
2. Energy-Intensive Industries
In this sector, up to 50% of industrial energy consumption is released as waste heat. The Muspell TESS marks a significant advancement by harnessing approximately 20% of this waste heat, providing a versatile solution for on-site/off-site use to meet the heat demand in industrial and district heating. This holds particular importance for sectors like manufacturing, textiles, food processing, construction materials, transportation, and energy and environmental services, where precise temperature control, fluctuating energy demands, and the need for flexibility in managing thermal energy are critical aspects across a diverse range of processes.
3. Pioneering Technological Advancements for Hyperloop
Muspell TESS tackles several challenges essential in developing the hyperloop technology.
These include:
a. effectively managing the substantial waste heat during operations
b. designing a lightweight system for capturing and using this excess energy
c. navigating the complex process of storing and transferring thermal energy within a low-pressure environment such as the hyperloop tubes.
4. The Scientific Community
By concentrating on developing high-performance materials with minimal environmental impact, the project aims to grow awareness of the importance of analysing materials’ economic and environmental impact. It also improves material's long-term stability, ease of handling, and energy density which are three main issues behind the adoption of thermochemical thermal storage systems. Databases containing information on the new, optimised, and unexplored TCMs & PCMs will be shared to enhance existing literature, particularly encouraging institutions, universities, and industrial sector actors focused on researching and/or handling these materials to use the findings from the current project.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe EIC Pathfinder Challenges and from the Swiss Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under grant agreement No. 101114987.
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