In thermal and nuclear power plants, 70% of the generated thermal energy is lost as waste heat. The temperature of the waste heat is below the boiling temperature of water. Recently, researchers show a long-term heat-storage ceramic that absorbs heat energy at warm temperatures from 38°C (311 K) to 67°C (340 K). This unique series of material is composed of scandium-substituted lambda-trititanium-pentoxide (λ-ScxTi3−xO5). λ-ScxTi3−xO5 not only accumulates heat energy from hot water but also could release the accumulated heat energy by the application of pressure. λ-ScxTi3−xO5 has the potential to accumulate heat energy of hot water generated in thermal and nuclear power plants and to recycle the accumulated heat energy on demand by applying external pressure. This heat-storage performance could provide a sophisticated energy reuse technology for thermal and nuclear power plants and mitigate negative environmental impact of the waste heat.Furthermore, it may be used to recycle waste heat in industrial factories and automobiles.

Figure1. Application of Sc-substituted λ-Ti3O5 for power plants.

@Yoshitaka Nakamura, Science Advances

Source from:

Yoshitaka Nakamura, Yuki Sakaimasaki Azuma, Shin-Ichi Ohkoshi. Long-term heat-storage ceramics absorbing thermal energy from hot water. Science Advances 2020; 6(27): eaaz5264. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz5264