Adsorption Heat Storage
Systems for the Industrial Decarbonization
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52825/isec.v2i.3420Keywords:
Adsorption Heat Storage Systems, Industrial Decarbonization, Zeolite, Hydrothermal Stability, Energy DensityAbstract
The decarbonization of industrial heat supply requires advanced thermal energy storage technologies capable of operating beyond the temperature limits of conventional sensible heat storage systems. Adsorption-based heat storage offers significantly higher energy density, negligible self-discharge, and the ability to provide process heat at temperature levels exceeding 100 °C. Within the German research project Adsorptive Heat Storage Systems for the Industrial Heat Transition (AdWaeWe), systematic laboratory-scale experiments were conducted using binder-free zeolite Köstrolith NaYBFK (NaY) in an open adsorption system. The investigations covered adsorption inlet temperatures ranging from 40 to 90 °C at water vapor partial pressures of 20 and 50 mbar, with regeneration temperatures of 100 and 180 °C. Depending on the operating conditions, the system achieved a temperature lift of up to 107 K at an adsorption inlet temperature of 40 °C, a volumetric energy density of up to 150 kWh m⁻³, and a peak outlet temperature exceeding 180 °C at an adsorption inlet temperature of 90 °C. In addition to the performance evaluation, the long-term hydrothermal stability of the adsorbent material was investigated under two aging methods and compared with zeolite Köstrolith 13XBFK (NaX) as a reference. Under severe hydrothermal aging conditions, NaX exhibited a gradual reduction in adsorption capacity of approximately 25% over 100 cycles, whereas NaY maintained nearly constant water uptake, heat release, and outlet temperature throughout the same cycling period. The results demonstrate the high potential of binder-free zeolite NaY as a robust adsorbent material for industrial adsorption heat storage applications.
Downloads
References
[1] A. Palacios et al., “Thermal Energy Storage Technology Roadmap for Decarbonising Medium-Temperature Heat Processes—A Review,” Sustainability, vol. 17, no. 21, p. 9693, Oct. 2025, doi: 10.3390/su17219693.
[2] D. Lefebvre and F. H. Tezel, “A review of energy storage technologies with a focus on adsorption thermal energy storage processes for heating applications,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 67, pp. 116–125, Jan. 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2016.08.019.
[3] Y. Zhang and R. Wang, “Sorption thermal energy storage: Concept, process, applications and perspectives,” Energy Storage Materials, vol. 27, pp. 352–369, May 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.ensm.2020.02.024.
[4] H. Kerskes, F. Bertsch, B. Mette, A. Wörner, and F. Schaube, “Thermochemical Energy Storage,” Chemie Ingenieur Technik, vol. 83, no. 11, pp. 2014–2026, Nov. 2011, doi: 10.1002/cite.201100091.
[5] T. Gbenou, A. Fopah-Lele, and K. Wang, “Recent Status and Prospects on Thermochem-ical Heat Storage Processes and Applications,” Entropy, vol. 23, no. 8, p. 953, Jul. 2021, doi: 10.3390/e23080953.
[6] M. Tatlier, G. Munz, and S. K. Henninger, “Relation of water adsorption capacities of zeo-lites with their structural properties,” Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, vol. 264, pp. 70–75, Jul. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2017.12.031.
[7] P. A. S. Moura et al., “Water adsorption and hydrothermal stability of CHA zeolites with different Si/Al ratios and compensating cations,” Catalysis Today, vol. 390–391, pp. 99–108, May 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.cattod.2021.11.042.
[8] H. Kerskes, “Integrales Konzept zur solarthermischen Gebäudeheizung mit Sorptions-wärmespeicher,” Universität Stuttgart Institut für Thermodynamik und Wärmetechnik (ITW), Stuttgart, Forschungsbericht FZKA-BWPLUS BWK 25006, Sep. 2007.
[9] R. Weber, S. Asenbeck, H. Kerskes, and H. Drück, “SolSpaces – Testing and Perfor-mance Analysis of a Segmented Sorption Store for Solar Thermal Space Heating,” Ener-gy Procedia, vol. 91, pp. 250–258, Jun. 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2016.06.214.
[10] B. Mette, H. Kerskes, H. Drück, and H. Müller-Steinhagen, “Experimental and numerical investigations on the water vapor adsorption isotherms and kinetics of binderless zeolite 13X,” International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 71, pp. 555–561, Apr. 2014, doi: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2013.12.061.
[11] B. Mette, “Experimentelle und numerische Untersuchungen zur Reaktionsführung ther-mochemischer Energiespeicher,” Universität Stuttgart, Stuttgart, 2014.
[12] A. Ristić, F. Fischer, A. Hauer, and N. Zabukovec Logar, “Improved performance of binder-free zeolite Y for low-temperature sorption heat storage,” J. Mater. Chem. A, vol. 6, no. 24, pp. 11521–11530, 2018, doi: 10.1039/C8TA00827B.
[13] K. Geilfuß and B. Dawoud, “Analytical investigation of a zeolite-NaY-water adsorption heat and cold storage and its integration into a steam power process,” Energy, vol. 195, p. 116977, Mar. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.116977.
[14] J. Jänchen, K. Schumann, E. Thrun, A. Brandt, B. Unger, and U. Hellwig, “Preparation, hydrothermal stability and thermal adsorption storage properties of binderless zeolite beads,” Int. J. Low-Carbon Tech., vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 275–279, Dec. 2012, doi: 10.1093/ijlct/cts037.
[15] F. Fischer, W. Lutz, J.-C. Buhl, and E. Laevemann, “Insights into the hydrothermal stabil-ity of zeolite 13X,” Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, vol. 262, pp. 258–268, May 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2017.11.053.
[16] G. Storch, G. Reichenauer, F. Scheffler, and A. Hauer, “Hydrothermal stability of pelletized zeolite 13X for energy storage applications,” Adsorption, vol. 14, no. 2–3, pp. 275–281, Jun. 2008, doi: 10.1007/s10450-007-9092-7.
[17] B. Auer and S. Rönsch, “Rapid Aging of Binder‐Free Zeolite NaY Beads in Thermal En-ergy Storage Applications,” Chem Eng & Technol, vol. 45, no. 9, pp. 1598–1604, Sep. 2022, doi: 10.1002/ceat.202200141.
[18] H. Schmit, S. Pöllinger, T. Schubert, E. Lävemann, and S. Hiebler, “Application oriented material characterisation and simulation for adsorption thermal energy storage,” Front. Therm. Eng., vol. 5, p. 1513507, May 2025, doi: 10.3389/fther.2025.1513507.
[19] D. M. Ruthven, Principles of adsorption and adsorption processes. New York: Wiley, 1984.
Published
How to Cite
Conference Proceedings Volume
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Amelia Torres, Henner Kerskes, Konstantinos Stergiaropoulos
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.