On January 17^th  and 18^th the kick off meeting the project SOCRATCES (SOlar Calcium looping integRAtion for Thermochemical Energy Storage) is held at the Engineering School of the University of Seville. This is a project funded by the H2020 program of the European Commission with a budget of € 4,994,152 and coordinated by the University of Seville. The consortium that will execute the project is composed of 14 entities, universities, research centers and companies from 7 European countries.

The SOCRATCES project, with a total duration of 3 years, focuses on the development of a new concept of concentrated solar energy thermochemical storage (CSP by its acronym in English) through the Calcium-Looping process. This process is based on the reversible reaction of calcination-carbonation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The concentrated solar energy is used to carry out the endothermic reaction of calcination and the products, calcium oxide (CaO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are stored. Subsequently, to release the energy stored in the chemical bonds, these products are taken to a reactor where the opposite exothermic reaction, carbonation, takes place. This process of carbonation releases the energy stored in the chemical bonds, delivering heat at a high temperature that can be used for the production of electrical energy.

Among the advantages of the system to be developed are the use of limestone as the main material, the high expected performance of the system in its stage of technological maturity and the storage capacity of energy for long periods of time. The limestone is composed mainly of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), a very low cost material, non-toxic and widely available, as it is one of the most abundant materials on the planet. The high expected performance of the is based on the very high energy density of the system and the high temperature achievable in the exothermic reactions and the long-term storage is associated with the stability of the chemical bonds of the intermediate products of calcination and carbonation.

The final prototypes of the project will be installed in Seville

Roll up - Solar Calcium - looping integRAtion for Thermo-Chemical Energy Storage - here