Heavy industries like cement, steel, chemicals, and paper require large amounts of heat and, for the most part, that heat comes from burning fossil fuels. Other sectors of the economy have been making progress in reducing carbon emissions, but heavy industry has not found easy answers for supplying the heat it needs for manufacturing.
Researchers at MIT have developed a way to supply heat that only uses electricity, which in principle can come from carbon-free sources. The idea is to use thermal batteries. These are basically an electrically conductive equivalent of ceramic firebricks, which have been used to store heat for centuries in fireplaces and ovens.
A spinout company called Electrified Thermal Solutions has demonstrated that its firebricks can store heat efficiently for hours and release it by heating air or gas up to 3,272 degrees Fahrenheit.
The firebrick arrays are contained in insulated, off-the-shelf metal boxes. The standard system can collect and release about 5 megawatts of energy and store about 25 megawatt-hours. The thermal battery can run hotter and last longer than any other electric heating solution on the market.
Using this technology can be a way to take advantage of the low cost of electricity in off-peak hours. In the so-called wind belt in the middle of the U.S., electricity prices can even be negative at times. Using the firebrick technology – called the Joule Hive Thermal Battery – it can be possible to provide industrial heating capability at very competitive prices, and that doesn’t even factor in the positive climate impact.
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Decarbonizing heavy industry with thermal batteries
Photo, posted April 19, 2019, courtesy of Hans M. via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio
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