Thermodynamic Efficiency of Water Vapor / Solid Chemical Sorption Heat Storage for Buildings: Theoretical Limits and Integration Considerations

The theoretical limits of water sorbate-based chemical sorption heat storage are investigated in this study. First, a classification of thermochemical heat storage is proposed based on bonding typology. Then, thermodynamics of chemical solid/gas sorption is introduced. The analysis of the reaction enthalpy from the literature indicates that this value is only slightly varying for one mole of water. Using this observation, and with the help of thermodynamic considerations, it is possible to derive conclusions on energy efficiency of closed and open heat storage systems. Whatever the salt, the main results are (1) the energy required for evaporation of water is, at least, 65% of the available energy of reaction, and (2) the maximum theoretical energy efficiency of the system, defined as the ratio of the heat released to the building over the heat provided to the storage, is about 1.8. Considering the data from literature, it is also possible to show that perfectly working prototypes have an energy efficiency about 49%. Based on those results, it is possible to imagine that for the best available material, a perfect thermochemical heat storage system would correspond to 12 times water with a temperature difference about 50 °C. Such solution is definitely competitive, provided that some difficult issues are solved—issues that are discussed throughout this paper.