What is thermochemical storage? ​

Thermochemical energy storage is like using a rechargeable fuel which in our case is a salt. Instead of burning it to produce heat, the heat comes from a recharging and discharging process that can be run over many times. ​

To charge the salt an endothermic process is needed. To put it very simply, the salt is dried using heat. The dry salt contains a lot of stored chemical energy. The salt can then be ‘discharged’ by mixing it with water release this chemical energy as heat.

The unique part with SaltX storage is that it’s possible to store the dried salt at room temperature when not in use.​ The technology allows thermal energy to be stored chemically and can be released again hours, days or even months later by just adding water.​

The salt can be charged using renewable energy via an electric heater, solar or waste heat. The main requirement is that this charging heat needs to be 550°C (1022°F) or above.  The discharge of the thermochemical storage releases heat up to 450°C (900°F), great for industrial processes and for power generation by turning a steam turbine.

How do we charge the salt?

-with new calcining technology

How do we discharge the salt?

-with fluidised bed technology

​Nanocoated salt – An innovation made by SaltX

The salt is based on a limestone-based material with patented nanocoating. The nanocoating prevents the material from becoming sticky and helps to retain the original crystalline form of the salt. ​

With nanocoating, it is possible to charge and discharge the energy many times and to have a system with a long lifetime value.

The advantage of treating the limestone-based material with nanocoating is that the material is non-corrosive (prevents rusting). With a non-corrosive material, the building of the storages is not dependent on high quality materials which makes the SaltX storage a very cost-effective solution. SaltX nanocoated salt is non-toxic and can be reused or recycled. ​