Compact heat storage is a necessary building block in the energy transition. The government and energy experts are now convinced of this. TNO already has numerous irons in that particular fire and is working on a range of heat storage systems. An overview.
Heat Storage in water
Everyone knows the principle behind the boiler. For some time now, there have been solutions available on the market with which heat can be stored in a water tank. In many cases, the hot-water storage forms part of a heat pump system. The disadvantage is the low energy density per volume. You need a water tank containing hundreds of litres in order to be able to store enough heat. There are even 2,000-litre tanks available, for truly larger dwellings.
TNO has long been working on improving this rather traditional method of storage. And successfully, too. Storing heat in water may involve some loss of heat, but with the help of new technology it is possible to significantly restrict that level of loss. So that’s good news. It also looks as though a commercial party will be able to start manufacturing a product in the short term that uses the improvements developed by TNO.
HEat Storage in metals
In terms of energy density and efficiency, storing heat in metals could also be a useful option. However, that is a much bigger challenge. The reason is that with this type of heat storage, temperatures of roughly 400 to 1000 degrees Celsius are involved. Because of this greater range of temperatures, the storage density could be far higher than is the case with water up to 100 degrees. This technology is currently at the research stage.
Thermochemical storage
There is a new generation of heat batteries based on thermochemistry. For the batteries to work, it is essential that the process is reversible – in other words, that water and salt can be reseparated through the addition of heat.
TNO is currently working on two thermochemical heat batteries. A team in Delft is developing a device based on sodium sulphide. Meanwhile, a team working in partnership with Eindhoven University of Technology is seeking to develop a heat battery based on potassium carbonate.
Both teams have demonstrated very convincingly that it is technically possible to store large amounts of energy in a small volume with the help of thermochemistry and to release that energy later as heat, without any energy being lost during the period of storage.
REDOX heat battery
Metal oxidises when it comes into contact with oxygen. In certain circumstances, that process of oxidisation can be reversed by adding hydrogen. That, crudely speaking, is the principle behind the REDOX heat battery. TNO has now mastered the process, but it is very much the question as to whether the principle can actually be applied in a heat battery. It is also not clear yet whether such a battery would be fully effective in a built-up environment or an industrial application. So, the research is still at an early stage.
Always on the lookout for new solutions
It is not clear at present which heat-storage technology is going to prevail. However, because each solution differs in terms of its usability and application, it is also quite conceivable that there is a market for multiple systems. And if, in the meantime, a new technology emerges that could very well lend itself to use in a heat battery, then TNO would be keen to investigate that in order to explore its potential.
The same is true of other technologies that could be used with existing solutions. Can heat storage be made less costly? Easier? Quicker? With a higher energy density? When scanning new possibilities, these are types of question that TNO constantly asks.
The full picture
“At TNO, we are not only developing different heat-storage technologies, but we are also looking carefully at the environments in which such a solution could be applied,” emphasises TNO programme manager Sten de Wit, who is involved with energy in the built-up environment.
“When we are developing a renovation concept in partnership with other parties, we look at the possible options for heat storage as an integral part of that. For example, that could involve a device that is able to operate effectively in combination with, say, a heat pump, one that can be properly regulated, and one that engineers will know exactly how to connect and set up.
We don’t simply say, ‘Here’s the technology – good luck with it!’. Heat storage is not a stand-alone entity. It’s about the operation of a total system, and here at TNO we focus a great deal on that. And that’s as it should be, because that system-based approach is a prerequisite for achieving solutions that actually work in practice.”
Want to share your ideas about different heat-storage technologies and systems? Or make a contribution?
Please contact with Sten de Wit
Is thermochemical heat storage the future?
Power plants that run on fossil fuels are able to adapt their production levels according to demand. But in the case of generators of renewable energy, such as solar panels, solar collectors, or wind... Read moreThe compact heat battery for storing energy in the home
There is currently a strong need for a compact and affordable heat battery for storing heat in homes. TNO is working on a range of technologies to make this happen. In Eindhoven, for example, a team is... Read moreA compact device that can store a surprising amount of heat
Sodium sulphide. This is the base material being used by TNO for the development of a technology that in the near future will be used for compact heat storage in homes. Although there are a few important... Read more- Artificial Intelligence
- Application areas
- Use cases
- Program line 1: Safe autonomous systems in an open world
- Program line 2: Responsible human-machine interaction
- Secure learning in money laundering detection
- Fair decision making in the job market
- Secure learning in diabetes-2 advice
- Diagnosing for printer maintenance
- Subsidence monitoring
- Fair decision making in justice
- Augmented worker for smart industry
- Energy balancing for smart homes
- Secure learning in oncology research
- Innovation monitoring in policy
- News
- Defence, Safety & Security
- Roadmaps
- Operations & Human Factors
- Climate Chambers for Research into Human Performance
- Desdemona: The ultimate motion simulator
- LT Lab: the TNO learning technology laboratory
- Performance and health monitoring
- Motion sickness and performance
- The neurobiology of Stress
- NetForce Command: an alternative to hierarchical command and control
- Operational military performance in a virtual world
- SUPRA
- Simulation Live Virtual and Constructive
- Concept Development & Experimentation
- IAMD: Integrated Air & Missile Defence
- JROADS
- FACSIM
- Helicopter studies
- MARVEL / Comprehensive Approach
- TNO ACE: Advanced CD&E Environment
- Integrated approach to Dutch Royal Navy patrol ships
- Operational analysis during military operations
- SketchaWorld: from sketch to virtual world
- Camouflage
- Information & Sensor Systems
- Digital Resilience of The Netherlands
- LFAS - Low Frequency Active Sonar
- Tanker Remote Vision System
- Platform signatures
- TNO shapes the future of MMICs and RFICs
- CARPET: Computer-Aided Radar Performance Evaluation Tool
- Underwater Warfare and Security
- Wide Area Motion Imagery WAMI
- SAKAMATA: sonar and marine mammals
- PARANOID: rapid information processing
- Mine analysis and threat evaluation
- Ship acoustics and underwater acoustic signatures
- PERSEUS Wind Turbine Radar Interference Assessment tool
- Electromagnetic security
- Operating safely at sea
- Operations at sea
- Ocean Space
- National Security
- A new vision on modernizing the emergency reporting process
- Social media in the security sector
- Automatic Video Compilation and Analysis System (AVACS)
- The Dutch Cyber Cube Method: Improving Human Capital for SOCs and CSIRTs
- Concealed weapon detection
- FP7 Project IMPACT Europe
- Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) policies in Europe
- @MIGO: border control
- Smarter Surveillance, man, machine, synergy
- Cyber Security of Industrial Control Systems
- Privacy enhancing techniques in cyber security data sharing
- Driving Innovation in Crisis Management with DRIVER+
- Crisis management: new challenges, new opportunities
- The learning professional: resilient and deployable for the long term
- Protection, Munitions & Weapons
- Weapons systems control and analysis
- Weapon Effects & Protection Center
- Firepower
- Protection and survivability of vehicles
- Naval protection and survivability
- Infrastructure protection and survivability
- World-class ballistics research
- Countering Explosive Threats
- Materials for protection concepts
- Processing of Propellants, Explosives and Pyrotechnics
- Ammunition Safety
- Ballistic Performance and Personal Protection
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Protection
- Anticipating accidents, incidents and threats
- Protecting those who protect us
- Process Safety Solutions: Expertise in Handling Hazardous Conditions Safely
- Expertise groups
- Acoustics and Sonar
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Protection
- Electronic Defence
- Energetic Materials
- Explosions, Ballistics and Protection
- Human Behaviour and Organisational Innovation
- Human Machine Teaming
- Human Performance
- Intelligent Autonomous Systems
- Intelligent Imaging
- Military Operations
- Modelling, Simulation and Gaming
- Networked Organisations
- Radar Technology
- Weapon Systems
- Energy Transition
- Roadmaps
- Renewable electricity
- Towards large-scale generation of wind energy
- Offshore wind farms move up a gear
- Wind energy system integration
- Maximising the value of wind energy in the future energy mix
- Required infrastructure to integrate offshore wind into the energy system
- Safe and flexible integration and monitoring of wind farms in a hybrid energy system
- Energy islands for conversion, transport, and storage
- Wind farms in synergy with society and environment
- Keeping the electricity grid stable when there’s a surplus of wind and solar
- New wind energy technology
- Innovation and the rise of solar energy
- Solar farms respecting landscape and nature
- Solar panels on farmland
- Research innovative solar parks
- Better design of solar parks
- Savings on solar farm operations and maintenance
- Floating solar panels on inland waterbodies
- Offshore solar energy
- National Consortium Solar in Landscape
- National Consortium Solar on Water
- Field lab floating solar
- Research into environmental effects of solar, wind energy
- Solar energy on buildings and infrastructure
- Solar panels in façades
- Solar windows
- More focus on safety of solar systems
- Solar heat and PV-T
- Roofs for solar energy
- Noise barriers producing solar energy
- Solar energy in road surfaces and crash barriers
- Solar panel energy generated on dikes
- Solar and infrastructure
- Outdoor test facility for BIPV(T)
- Solar Highways
- Solar-powered cars
- Mass customization
- Solar panel efficiency
- New technologies make PV more versatile
- Webinar: Innovations in solar energy technologies
- Putting Europe back in the lead in solar panel production
- System transition
- The social aspects of the energy transition
- TNO facilities for research into environmental effects of solar and wind energy
- Effective interventions to increase energy efficiency and reduce energy poverty
- Green and Ease under one roof
- Capacity building programme for energy efficiency in industry
- Zooming in on the future to make the right choices
- Scenarios for a climate-neutral energy system
- A fair system without energy poverty
- Financing the energy transition
- LAUNCH
- Successful neighbourhood approach: motivate residents
- Towards a reliable, affordable and fair energy system
- Towards CO2 neutral industry
- Reducing CO2 emissions through capture, use and storage
- SEWGS: revolutionary CO2-reduction technology and blue hydrogen production
- STEPWISE and FReSMe: CO2 reduction solutions for the steel industry
- 3D-printing for CO2 capture productivity increase
- Multi-partner ALIGN-CCUS project
- CEMCAP
- Reduce emissions steel industry
- CO₂ capture with AVR
- On-site CO₂ Capture Services: reducing emissions cost effectively
- SEDMES: Efficient technology to convert CO2 to useful product
- Hydrogen for a sustainable energy supply
- Optimising production hydrogen
- Hydrogen storage and transport
- Hydrogen, fuel and feedstock
- H-vision: blue hydrogen to accelerate carbon-low industry
- 15 things you need to know about hydrogen
- World first: Green hydrogen production in the North Sea
- New research centre for hydrogen production
- Identifying the future international chain of green hydrogen
- Opportunities for green hydrogen for the manufacturing industry investigated
- Hydrogen from offshore wind: optimising the electricity grid
- Faraday lab: optimising and scaling up electrolysis
- Blue hydrogen paves the way for green hydrogen
- Biomass to fuels and feedstock
- ARBAHEAT - Sustainable future for coal-fired power stations possible through conversion to biomass
- AMBITION Advanced biofuel production from lignin rich residues
- BECOOL EU Brazilian cooperation on advanced biofuels
- Horti-BlueC - a new EU cooperation on reducing Bio-waste and CO2-footprint in horticulture
- UNRAVEL - valorization of lignocellulosic biomass
- MacroFuels advanced biofuels from seaweed
- BRISK2 Biofuel Research Infrastructure for Sharing Knowledge
- New facility for seaweed processing
- TORWASH technology successful for waste water treatment and recycling plastics
- Biofuels lab: Making transport more sustainable with biofuels
- Take-Off: Sustainable aviation fuels from CO2, water and green energy
- HEREWEAR: Circular textiles from locally-sourced bio-based materials
- Transition to e-fuels: a strategy for HIC Rotterdam
- Re-use of existing infrastructure to accelerate the energy transition
- Sustainable Industrial Heat System
- 4 pioneering routes to a CO2 neutral industry
- Research facility Industrial Electrification accelerates greening of Rotterdam port
- Mollier facility: innovating in industrial drying technology
- Research facility for negative CO2 emissions
- Carnot lab accelerates sustainable industrial heat management
- Using energy and raw materials efficiently in industry
- e-Missi0n MOOI: TNO supports Dow and Shell in electric cracking
- CO2 reduction requires improvement of industrial processes
- Making the industrial energy transition feasible and affordable
- Accelerating sustainable industry TNO Green Print
- Sustainable subsurface
- Geological Survey of the Netherlands
- Geological Survey of the Netherlands
- 100 years of geological mapping
- GeoTOP
- Sand, gravel and clay extraction
- GIS and other tools for interactive planning
- DINO, Data and Information of the Dutch Subsurface
- BRO: the Dutch Key Register of the Subsurface
- Sustainable use and management Flemish-Dutch subsurface
- Petroleum Geological Atlas of the Southern Permian Basin
- 3D Subsurface mapping of the Dutch offshore
- Geological Survey of the Netherlands across borders
- Towards an energy-producing environment
- Expertise
- Advisory Group for Economic Affairs
- Biobased and Circular Technologies
- Geo Data & IT
- Geomodelling
- Heat Transfer & Fluid Dynamics
- Applied Geosciences
- Solar Energy
- Solar Technologies & Applications
- Sustainable Process & Energy Systems
- Sustainable Technologies for Industrial Processes
- Wind energy
- Energy transition studies
- Industry
- Roadmaps
- Flexible & Free-form Products
- Space & Scientific Instrumentation
- Semiconductor Equipment
- Smart Industry
- Expertise groups
- Buildings, Infrastructure & Maritime
- Roadmaps
- Safe and Sustainable Living Environment
- Infrastructure
- Sustainable buildings: towards an energy-producing built environment
- Building innovation
- Greenhouse design
- Digitisation in construction
- Smart megastructures
- Expertise groups
- Circular Economy & Environment
- Roadmaps
- Circular economy
- Environment & Climate
- Sustainable Chemical Industry
- Expertise groups
- Healthy Living
- Roadmaps
- Health Technology & Digital Health
- Biomedical Health
- Work
- Youth
- Expertise groups
- Traffic & Transport
- Roadmaps
- SMART and Safe Traffic and Transport
- Societal impact for accessibility and liveability
- Decision-making information based on facts for municipalities
- Making disruptive technologies practicable
- Accessible, healthy and vibrant cities
- CITYkeys – Performance evaluation framework for smart cities and projects
- Big data ecosystems: collaborating on data-controlled cities
- Knowledge mediator puts an end to bickering
- Intact – Climate resilient critical infrastructure
- Organising mobility
- Smart mobility and logistics
- Smart vehicles
- Smart Mobility Research Centre SMRC
- Sustainable Traffic and Transport
- Sustainable Mobility and Logistics
- Improving air quality by monitoring real-world emissions
- Emission factors for road traffic
- Measuring the emissions of powered two wheelers
- Emissions of particulate matter from diesel cars
- Random Cycle Generator
- EnViVer: model traffic flow and emissions
- Measuring real-world emissions with TNO’s Smart Emissions Measurement System (SEMS)
- Measuring the emissions of trucks and buses
- Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Commercial Road Transport
- Measuring the emissions of non-road mobile machinery
- Emission measures in practice
- The transition to CO2-neutral mobility in 2050
- Sustainable Vehicles
- Innovative technologies for zero-emission vehicles
- CO2 reduction by high-efficiency Flex Fuel technology with extremely low emissions
- Actual energy consumption and emissions
- Automotive Battery Research
- Making transport more sustainable by means of electric vehicles
- Energy Efficient Electric Bus E3Bus
- eCoMove
- How hydrogen can accelerate energy transition in the transport sector
- Green performance of ships
- Expertise groups
- Information & Communication Technology
- Roadmaps
- Fast open infrastructures
- Data sharing
- Trusted ICT
- Efficiency, effectiveness, quality and the costs of systems
- Expertise groups
- Strategic Analysis & Policy
- Expertise groups
- Strategic Business Analysis
- Strategy & Policy
- Orchestrating Innovation
- Tech Transfer
Dr. ir. Sten de Wit
- Energy
- Buildings
Send a question to Dr. ir. Sten de Wit
Your question has been sent.
Sorry! Something unexpected happened. Please try again later.