Update about the SOCRATCES’ Carbonator construction

The SOCRATCES’ Carbonator is 95% ready concerning the construction at CERTH facilities.

This novel tailor-made drop-tube carbonator reactor of 10 kW_th., is a core equipment unit in the concentrated solar power-thermochemical energy storage integration plant if SOCRATCES. Within July, the team will start the first tests of both the equipment and control (cold commissioning). Then, when everything will be running, CERTH will proceed with the hot commissioning.

This large-scale unit can use fine CaO particles for the fast gas-solid carbonation reaction CaO_(s)+CO_2(g)→CaCO_3(s). A bent coil heat exchanger placed around the walls of the reactor will exploit the thermal energy produced by the exothermic reaction, which then can be transformed into electricity at a power block via an engine. Suitable operation conditions can be managed by the CO₂ partial pressure, temperature, as well as particles residence time in the reactor.