Calcium bromide hydration for heat storage systems

Abstract

A chemical reaction is a common and simple way to produce heat for a heat storage system. The reaction produces heat energy without the use of electricity or fuel. The goal of this study was to develop a heat storage system for use in automobiles, which is able to provide heat rapidly via a hydration reaction. A heat storage system without an evaporator stores high-density heat and has a high heat output rate since the solid–liquid product that is formed is transferred as a heat medium to the object that requires heat. The exothermic heat produced from the solid–liquid reaction was measured, and the relationship between the equivalence ratio and the reaction heat was evaluated. The heat output and heat recovered by the heat storage system, which comprised a reaction vessel and a heat exchanger, were measured. We selected solid CaBr₂ because it was the best metal halide for a hydration reaction and had a high heat yield from the dissolution reaction. With this system, we were able to achieve a heat recovery rate of 582 kJ/L_-H2O. We found no degradation in the chemical composition of CaBr₂ after it being recycled 100 times.