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Nuclear fusion is expected to be a clean and almost-unlimited power source in the near future. The first net power demonstration plant (DEMO) is planned to start operation in 2050. The supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO) Brayton cycle is an excellent candidate for integration with a fusion power plant, such as DEMO, because of its high efficiency at intermediate temperatures and low interaction of coolant with tritium. This work analyses a set of S-CO Brayton cycle layouts for its integration in a DEMO-like fusion power plant, considering the specific requirements and heat availability characteristics. A framework has been developed to integrate the PROCESS code and the numerical solver EES to study the thermal and economic aspects of integrating the different S-CO cycle layouts. In total, 14 layouts have been studied and grouped into a more conservative (DEMO1, pulsed operation) and more advanced (DEMO2, steady-state operation) fusion reactors. The PROCESS code has been used to obtain the DEMO 2018 Baseline, which defines the available power from each heat source and their boundary conditions. This code has also been used to assess the cost of the optimal layout. Thermal storage has been added to the DEMO1 scenario to avoid standby times that could negatively affect the cycle equipment lifetime and efficiency. Besides, these boundary conditions have been extended to account for possible technical improvements by the time of its construction in the DEMO2 scenario. A sensitivity analysis of the most characteristic parameters of the cycles shows a strong dependence on the turbine inlet temperature for all layouts, which is constrained by the reactor material limits. The cycle efficiency (electric power produced before consumptions non-related to the cycle) has been selected as the figure of merit for the optimisation. The results show a 38% cycle efficiency for DEMO1 and 56% for DEMO2 scenarios. These efficiencies drop to 20% and 38% values, respectively, when the reactor and cooling loop power consumptions are considered. These values are obtained for current fusion reactor conceptual designs. The economic analysis shows the economic viability of DEMO2 scenarios. ; The authors would like to thank J. Morris, M. Kovari and the rest of the PROCESS team of UKAEA for discussion and guidance on using the UKAEA systems code PROCESS for this work. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (grant FPU17/06273), the H2020 Marie-Sklodowska Curie programme (grant agreement No. 708257) and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 805162).

Buildings are responsible for one-third of the world's energy consumption, of which 60% is due to heating and cooling. To accomplish the low-carbon energy goal in the building sector, thermal energy storage offers a number of benefits by reducing energy consumption and promoting the use of renewable energy sources. This manuscript reviews recent advances in the development of thermal energy storage materials for building applications oriented towards zero energy buildings. Volumetric heat capacity of sensible, latent and thermochemical energy storage materials developed for low-to-moderate temperature applications are reviewed and assessed with a special focus on their technical characteristics and development stage. This encompasses most recent publications, international programmes and projects, and commercially available solutions. Physical, thermodynamic, kinetic and chemical properties are addressed, as well as costs. Advantages, drawbacks and challenges of the diverse alternatives are discussed. The analysis shows that solutions with the highest potential for competitive energy efficiency measures are based on latent and sensible energy storage systems, which present a volumetric thermal energy storage density up to 430 and 250 MJ/m3 respectively. Their applications in free-cooling ventilation systems, solar energy storage solutions for short and long-term storage periods, and demand-side management strategies towards the road to zero energy buildings are highlighted as promising, leading to a reduction of energy consumption of more than 30%. On the other hand, thermochemical energy storage does not yet show clear advantages for building applications, despite the potentially high energy density (up to 1510 MJ/m3) and heat availability for long-term storage periods. Currently, there is no available material for thermochemical energy storage that satisfies all the requirements for building operations. Besides, thermochemical solutions require different tanks and heat exchangers that should be carefully addressed for small-scale applications. Additional research efforts are needed to optimise operation conditions, efficiency, costs and system designs. ; European Union SOE1/P3/P0429EU ; Ministerio de Economía y Competitivdad CTQ2014-52763 -C2 -2-R

Thermochemical energy storage (TCES) is considered as a promising technology to accomplish high energy storage efficiency in concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. Among the various possibilities, the calcium-looping (CaL) process, based on the reversible calcination-carbonation of CaCO stands as a main candidate due to the high energy density achievable and the extremely low price, nontoxicity, and wide availability of natural CaO precursors such as limestone. The CaL process is already widely studied for CO capture in fossil fuel power plants or to enhance H production from methane reforming. Either one of these applications requires particular reaction conditions to which the sorbent performance (reaction kinetics and multicycle conversion) is extremely sensitive. Therefore, specific models based on the conditions of any particular application are needed. To get a grip on the optimum conditions for the carbonation of limestone derived CaO in the CaL-CSP integration, in the present work is pursued a multidisciplinary approach that combines theoretical modeling on reaction kinetics, lab-scale experimental tests at relevant CaL conditions for TCES, process modeling, and simulations. A new analytic equation to estimate the carbonation reaction rate as a function of CO partial pressure and temperature is proposed and validated with experimental data. Using the kinetics analysis, a carbonator model is proposed to assess the average carbonation degree of the solids. After that, the carbonator model is incorporated into an overall process integration scheme to address the optimum operation conditions from thermodynamic and kinetics considerations. Results from process simulations show that the highest efficiencies for the CaL-CSP integration are achieved at carbonator absolute pressures of ∼3.5-4 bar, which leads to an overall plant efficiency (net electric power to net solar thermal power) around 41% when carbonation is carried out at 950 °C under pure CO. ; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CTQ2014-52763-C2, CTQ2017- 83602-C2 ; European Union 727348

The Calcium-Looping (CaL) process has emerged in the last years as a promising technology to face two key challenges within the future energy scenario: energy storage in renewable energy-based plants and CO2 capture from fossil fuel combustion. Based on the multicycle calcination-carbonation reaction of CaCO3 for both thermochemical energy storage and post-combustion CO2 capture applications, the operating conditions for each application may involve remarkably different characteristics regarding kinetics, heat transfer and material multicycle activity performance. The novelty and urgency of developing these applications demand an important effort to overcome serious issues, most of them related to gas-solids reactions and material handling. This work reviews the latest results from international research projects including a critical assessment of the technology needed to scale up the process. A set of equipment and methods already proved as well as those requiring further demonstration are discussed. An emphasis is put on critical equipment such as gas-solids reactors for both calcination and carbonation, power block integration, gas and solids conveying systems and auxiliary equipment for both energy storage and CO2 capture CaL applications. ; European Union 727348 ; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CTQ2017- 83602-C2 -1-R, -2-R

Libro de Actas del XVI Congreso Ibérico y XII Congreso Iberoamericano de Energía Solar, 20 – 22 de junio de 2018 Madrid, España ; La integración de sistemas termoquímicos de energía en plantas CSP está ganando interés en los últimos años. De entre los posibles sistemas termoquímicos, el proceso de Calcium-looping (CaL), basado en la calcinación/carbonatación multicíclica de CaCO3, está considerado como uno de los más prometedores. Tras la aparente sencillez del proceso se encuentran una serie de retos que deben ser resueltos para que la tecnología pueda alcanzar una escala comercial. En el presente trabajo se muestra un análisis crítico del estado actual de la tecnología con el objetivo de evaluar los retos y oportunidades que presenta la integración del CaL como sistema de almacenamiento termoquímico en plantas CSP. El proyecto SOCRATCES, financiado dentro del programa H2020, tiene como principal objetivo desarrollar un prototipo a escala piloto de la integración CSP-CaL en Sevilla (España). ; Thermochemical energy storage is gaining attention in last years to be integrated in CSP plants. Among the various possibilities, the Calcium-looping (CaL) process, based on the multicyclic calcination/carbonation of CaCO3, is considered as one of the most promising systems. However, for a commercial deployment of CSP, several challenges must be solved. This work presents a critical analysis on the status of the technology with the aim of evaluating the main challenges and opportunities of the CSP-CaL integration. The SOCRATCES project, founded from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, aims to develop a CSP-CaL prototype at pilot scale in Seville (Spain).

Large-scale thermochemical energy storage (TCES) is gaining relevance as an alternative to current thermal energy storage systems in Concentrated Solar Power plants. Among the different systems, the reversible reaction between CaO and CO2 stands out due to the wide availability and low cost of the raw material: limestone. Direct solar absorption of the storage media would improve the efficiency of solar-to-thermal energy storage due to reduced thermal transfer barriers, but the solar optical absorption of CaCO3 is poor. In this work, we propose the use of a Ca-rich calcarenite sedimentary rock so-called albero as an alternative to limestone. We demonstrate that this reddish material exhibits an average solar absorptance that is approximately ten times larger than limestone. Moreover, the multicycle carbonation/calcination performance under different experimental conditions has been studied by thermogravimetry, and similar values to those exhibited for limestone have been obtained. Besides, the material is cheap (6 €/ton), and simulations showed that the use of this material would significantly improve the overall CaL-CSP efficiency at the industrial level. ; This work has been funded by the grants CTQ2017-83602-C2-1-R and -2-R (MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and ERDF A way of making Europe by the European Union), and grant PDC2021-121552-C21 (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and European Union Next Generation EU/PRTR). Financial support from projects P18-FR-1087 and US-1262507 (Junta de Andalucía-Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidad-Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucía 2014–2020) and INTRAMURALCSIC grant numbers 201960E092 and 202060I004 is acknowledged. ; Peer reviewed

The integration of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) in combined cycles is a subjects of increasing attention. Combined cycles require high temperature at the gas turbine inlet (typically over 1000 °C), which hinders plant operation in the absence of direct solar radiation using currently commercial storage technologies based on molten salts (with a temperature limit around 600 °C). Thus, solar power share in current Integrated Solar Combined Cycles (ISCC) is typically lower than 20%, while most of the thermal power required is provided by natural gas. The present manuscript proposes the integration in combined cycles of a Thermochemical Energy Storage (TCES) system based on the Calcium-Looping process, which can release the stored energy at temperatures above 1000 °C. The storage charging step uses the heat provided by a CO2 stream previously heated in a high-temperature solar receiver. The configuration of the solar receiver-calciner is fundamental to determine the amount of storable energy. Results from the conceptual model simulation predict overall plant efficiencies above 45% (excluding solar side losses), suggesting a high potential for the development of this novel integration that would allow enhancing the solar share in combined cycles. ; European Union, Horizon 2020, grant agreement No 727348, project SOCRATCES ; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO-FEDER) CTQ2017- 83602-C2 (-1-R and -2-R)

The Calcium Looping performance of limestone for thermochemical energy storage has been investigated under novel favorable conditions, which involve calcination at moderate temperatures under CO2 at low pressure (0.01 and 0.1 bar) and carbonation at high temperature under CO2 at atmospheric pressure. Calcining at low CO2 pressures allows to substantially reduce the temperature to achieve full calcination in short residence times. Moreover, it notably enhances CaO multicycle conversion. The highest values of conversion are obtained for limestone samples calcined under 0.01 bar CO2 at 765 °C. Under these conditions, the residual conversion is increased by a factor of 10 as compared to conditions involving calcination under CO2 at atmospheric pressure. The enhancement of CaO conversion is correlated to the microstructure of the CaO samples obtained after calcination. As seen from SEM, BET surface and XRD analysis, calcination under low CO2 pressure leads to a remarkable decrease of pore volume and CaO crystallite size. Consequently, CaO surface area available for carbonation in the fast reaction-controlled regime and therefore reactivity in short residence times is promoted. ; Ministerio de Economı́a y Competitividad CTQ2017-83602-C2-1-R ; Ministerio de Economı́a y Competitividad CTQ2017-83602-C2-2-R ; Junta de Andalucı́a-Consejerı́a de Economı́a, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad-Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) US-1262507 ; European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme 727348, project SOCRATCES