1. Introduction
The extensive use of fossil fuels has resulted in greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution. In response, the global energy sector is transitioning from fossil energy to renewable energy to achieve the goal of low carbon emissions and green development. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that by 2050, 90% of electricity will be generated from renewable energy sources, with solar energy being the largest source [
1]. However, renewable energy is characterized by intermittency and volatility. Furthermore, when a power system is dominated by renewable energy, there is a mismatch between energy supply and demand in time and space. This poses a significant challenge to the expansion of renewable energy in power systems and necessitates the development of new power systems [
2,
3]. Energy storage technology is an essential component of new renewable energy power systems. In particular, this study focused on thermal energy storage technology.
Thermal energy storage technology is a large-scale energy storage technology with ecological and cost efficiency that can realize the direct storage of thermal energy [
4] as well as the indirect storage of electrical energy [
5,
6]. Compared with electrical batteries, thermal energy storage can achieve gigawatt-hour-scale energy storage at a lower cost [
7]. Furthermore, compared with pumped hydro energy storage, thermal energy storage has more compact storage volumes. The application scenarios of thermal energy storage mainly include concentrated solar power generation and waste heat recovery of industrial processes, which help achieve continuous and stable all-weather operation of solar thermal power generation and improve the energy efficiency of industrial systems [
8,
9,
10,
11]. Thermal energy storage includes sensible, latent, and thermochemical heat storage. Sensible and latent heat storage uses temperature changes and phase transitions to achieve heat storage and release [
12], whereas thermochemical heat storage uses reversible chemical reactions (mainly gas–solid reactions) to achieve heat storage and release [
13]. Thermochemical heat storage has the advantages of high energy storage density (0.5–3 GJ/m
3), wide operating temperatures, and long-term energy storage [
14,
15,
16], making it a major focus of research [
17].
Among the many thermochemical heat storage materials, Ca(OH)
2 is among the most promising owing to the reversible reaction of Ca(OH)
2 dehydration and CaO hydration [
18,
19]. This material has the advantages of low cost, high energy storage density, good reversibility, cycle stability, nontoxicity, and fast reaction kinetics [
20]. The working principle of this approach is shown in Equation (1) and
Figure 1. During heat storage, Ca(OH)
2 absorbs heat and decomposes to produce CaO and steam, storing the heat as chemical energy. In the exothermic process, CaO reacts with steam to form Ca(OH)
2, releasing stored chemical energy as heat. Under atmospheric pressure, the heat storage temperature of Ca(OH)
2 ranges from 400 to 600 °C, and the heat release temperature ranges from 25 °C to approximately 500 °C (as determined from the partial pressure of the steam involved in the reaction) [
21]. These temperatures enable the integration of this heat storage system with the steam Rankine cycle while allowing flexible adjustment of the heat storage and release power by controlling the heat input and partial steam pressure.
The Ca(OH)
2/CaO thermochemical heat storage system mainly comprises a heat storage material and a reactor; therefore, development of a more efficient heat storage system should first focus on improving the heat storage material and optimizing the reactor [
12]. This study focuses on improving Ca(OH)
2/CaO heat storage materials. Although the theoretical energy storage density of Ca(OH)
2 can reach 1400 kJ/kg or 3.1 GJ/m
3, the actual volumetric storage density is approximately two-fold lower than the theoretical value because of its low apparent density [
23]. From the perspective of energy storage rates, a lower thermal conductivity (approximately 0.1 W/m. K) limits the heat transfer rate of the material and thus the reaction rate. In terms of cycle stability, the agglomeration and fragmentation of Ca(OH)
2 particles after multiple cycles deteriorate the mass transfer effect and reduce the reaction rate, which is not conducive to practical applications. Additionally, the high decomposition temperature of Ca(OH)
2 (approximately 350 °C) limits the types of heat sources that can be matched. Therefore, the thermodynamic properties, kinetic properties, and structural stability of Ca(OH)
2 must be optimized to improve its energy storage density, energy storage rate, and cycle stability.
Since Wentworth and Chen [
13] first demonstrated that Ca(OH)
2/CaO could be used for heat storage in 1976, this material has been the subject of considerable research for more than 40 years. Material improvement accounts for a large proportion of existing studies, enabling continuous improvements in the performance of Ca(OH)
2 to aid in the rapid transformation of the current energy system. Yuan et al. [
24] summarized the application of CaO-based materials and the role of CaO/Ca(OH)
2 cycles, CaO/CaCO
3 cycles, and the coupling of CaO/Ca(OH)
2 and CaO/CaCO
3 cycles in thermochemical heat storage. Yuan et al. focused on the process and influence of key variables (such as temperature, vapor pressure, and CO
2) and described the improvement effect of four additives (Al
2O
3, LiOH, Na
2Si
3O
7, and nano-SiO
2) on the heat storage materials. Wang et al. [
25] summarized research on the physical and chemical properties of Ca(OH)
2 (such as specific heat capacity, reaction enthalpy, chemical equilibrium, and kinetics), highlighted current problems in the application of this material (high decomposition temperature, low thermal conductivity, agglomeration, cracking, and carbonation) and solutions, and introduced current application fields. However, a comprehensive review on improving Ca(OH)
2 materials is lacking. Considering the importance of this research direction, this review summarized the research on material improvement from a technical perspective. The mechanisms and effects of different technologies on the performance improvement of Ca(OH)
2 heat storage materials were reviewed, existing problems were discussed, and suggestions for future development were provided. Different reactors require different heat storage materials, that is, powder or granulated materials. Therefore, Ca(OH)
2/CaO heat storage materials were reviewed herein based on this characteristic. Different performance enhancement techniques are available for powders and granulation materials, as shown in
Figure 2. Notably, powder materials can be improved by doping modifications, composite powders, surface coatings, and supporting frames technologies, while granulated materials can be improved using composite granules, surface coatings, binder matrices, and macro-encapsulation technologies.
4. Problems and Suggestions
Based on the reviewed literature, each technology can improve various properties of Ca(OH)
2 while also creating other problems, and, currently, no single technology can solve all of these problems. A reasonable approach is to select the most appropriate technology according to the practical application of the strengthening demand for specific aspects of heat storage materials or to combine various technologies. Bayon et al. [
69] found that feedstock cost accounts for a major part of the capital cost after an economic evaluation of 17 thermochemical energy storage systems based on gas–solid reaction. For a composite material based on Ca(OH)
2, the material cost mainly comprises additive and processing costs. With an increase in the cycle number and carbonation of heat storage materials under the influence of CO
2 in the air, performance gradually declines, and fresh materials are needed [
70]. Therefore, to achieve large-scale industrial applications, it is necessary to screen cheaper additives and use a relatively simple preparation process so that the material costs remain acceptable. At the same time, reactions between the added functional material and heat storage material should be avoided as much as possible, as this significantly reduces the content of the effective heat storage material. These are common issues that all technologies must address. The individual problems and suggestions related to specific technologies for future development are summarized as follows:
Small amounts of elements can be doped to change the properties of heat storage materials. A small amount of doping material has little effect on the heat storage capacity of the material and can significantly improve its kinetic characteristics. Earlier studies mainly focused on the doping effect of a single element, whereas more recent studies have focused on the co-doping effect based on relatively inexpensive elements. Simultaneously, more attention should be paid to the mechanisms of doping modifications;
The main purpose of constructing composite materials (powders or granules) is to introduce other substances with excellent properties into Ca(OH)2 to compensate for the shortage of heat storage materials, such as high-thermal-conductivity materials that improve the heat transfer effect. Because the heat storage capacity of a composite material includes the thermochemical heat storage capacity of Ca(OH)2/CaO and the sensible heat storage capacity of all substances, the excessive addition of functional materials reduces the heat storage capacity of the composite. Therefore, it is necessary to explore advanced functional materials to reduce the amount of added material while maintaining the performance of the composite materials;
Coating nanoparticles onto the surface of a powder or granulated material can reduce adhesion forces and stabilize the surface structure of the material. Because the volume and surface structure of the host particles change during heat storage cycles, a higher coverage quality is required to enable the nanoparticles to adapt to changes in the host particles;
The supporting frames and binder matrices can improve the structural integrity of heat storage materials. These materials occupy a high proportion of the composite material, which significantly reduces the energy storage density of the composite. For supporting frame technology, skeleton materials with high porosity should be developed to improve the loading capacity of heat storage materials. For binder matrix technology, the particle structure should be maintained, whereas the amount of binder added should be reduced to improve the energy storage density;
Macro-encapsulation provides excellent mechanical strength and can maintain the structure of heat storage materials for a long time. As inert shell materials occupy a certain space and exhibit mass transfer resistance, it is necessary to ensure acceptable compressive strength while reducing shell thickness and improving permeability to improve heat storage rates and capacities.
In addition to these performance-improving technologies, advanced technologies in other fields should also be used as references. For example, Huang et al. [
71] regulated the crystal morphology of Ca(OH)
2 at the microscopic level and showed that Ca(OH)
2 nanoparticles with a spindle structure (
Figure 17a) were superior to those with a hexagonal structure. Bian et al. [
72] prepared hollow nanostructured CaO (HN-CaO) using glucose as the carbon template (
Figure 17b) and reported that its hollow structure has the advantages of high porosity, large surface area, and high gas diffusion efficiency [
73]. Therefore, the diffusion resistance of steam is significantly reduced, and a high conversion rate is achieved. Newly developed heat storage materials should also be tested in larger-scale reactors to evaluate their ability to withstand mechanical and thermal stresses on a bulk scale.
5. Carbide Slag Can Replace High-Quality Ca(OH)2 for Heat Storage
Carbide slag is a by-product of the calcium carbide method used to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the main component of which is Ca(OH)
2. The annual output of carbide slag in China, as a bulk industrial solid waste, is almost 34 million tons. In 2018, Yuan et al. [
74] proposed the use of carbide slag instead of high-quality Ca(OH)
2 for heat storage and demonstrated its potential for long-term thermochemical heat storage over 30 heat storage cycles. Zhang et al. [
75] modified carbide slag with a by-product of biodiesel (more than 90% glycerol), obtained a porous and loose structure, and reduced the diffusion resistance of steam. After 30 cycles, the hydration conversion and heat storage density of the modified carbide slag were 0.65 mol/mol and 1.14 GJ/t, respectively, which was 1.6 times that of the original carbide slag. Subsequently, Zhang et al. [
76] prepared Ca/Mg-based composites using carbide slag with dolomite (CaMg(CO
3)
2) as the raw material and found that a small amount of MgO maintained good pore characteristics, whereas excessive MgO hindered steam diffusion. Feng et al. [
77,
78,
79] also systematically studied the thermodynamic characteristics (including thermal stability, heat storage capacity, and heat transfer characteristics) and reaction kinetics of carbide slag (
Figure 18). They showed that while the thermochemical heat storage capacity of carbide slag was lower than that of pure Ca(OH)
2, its sensible heat storage capacity was higher than that of pure Ca(OH)
2. Under the same conditions, the reaction rate of the carbide slag was almost the same as that of pure Ca(OH)
2; however, the heat storage rate was lower because of differences in purity. Considering that carbide slag is an industrial solid waste, its near-zero material cost and good heat storage performance indicate its high potential for large-scale thermochemical heat storage applications.