Imagine a special metal bead that acts like a thermal battery, soaking up heat when it's too hot and releasing it when needed. It works by melting and freezing at specific temperatures to store energy. The best part is that it's made from recycled aluminum and tin, turning scrap metal into a tool for saving energy.
Industrial processes waste massive amounts of heat, and current storage materials are often expensive or rely on critical raw materials. There is a need for low-cost, sustainable materials that can store and release heat efficiently.
A method to create granules of composite metallic Phase Change Materials (m-PCMs) using recycled Al-Si alloys and Tin.
If you are an aluminum casting plant dealing with wasted heat from furnaces — this project developed metallic phase change materials that capture and reuse that energy. By using recycled Al-Si alloys, it turns waste into a thermal management asset.
If you are a CSP operator dealing with intermittent power supply — this project developed m-PCM granules that store heat during the day. This allows for a more flexible discharge of energy to stabilize the power grid.
If you are a manufacturer dealing with high-temperature process fluctuations — this project developed a low-cost one step process for thermal granules. These materials help maintain steady temperatures, reducing energy waste in industrial heating.
Based on available project data, the project focuses on using low-cost manufacturing processes and recycled Al-Si casting alloys to keep production expenses down.
The project is currently in the preliminary stage of development, focusing on a low-cost one step process to create granules, but industrial scale-up is a goal for future TRL increases.
Based on available project data, the consortium consists of universities and research centers; specific licensing terms are not provided, but dissemination prefers open science activities.
The materials are produced as granules, which can be integrated into Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems to modulate heat exchange with fluids.
The project runs for 3 years, from 2023-10-01 to 2026-09-30.
The consortium is purely academic and research-driven, consisting of 4 partners from 3 countries (IT, DE, PL). With 2 universities and 2 research organizations and a 0% industry ratio, the project is focused on fundamental material science and modeling rather than immediate commercial deployment.
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