Storage of Low Grade Solar Thermal Energy by Adsorption of Organics

In this work the efficiency of new systems for adsorptive energy storage for low grade solar thermal energy is evaluated. They are based on different adsorption systems with alcohols as adsorbates on activated carbon as adsorbent. They showed superior storage characteristics compared to the reference working pair water / zeolite 13X. The maximum efficiencies of the systems methanol and ethanol on activated carbon lie in the same range as the efficiency of the reference pair, but are reached at lower regeneration temperatures. Therefore, these systems are perfectly suited for the storage of low grad heat from collector types like the flat-plate collector or vacuum-collectors.