Domestic olivine vs magnesite as a thermal-energy-storage material: performance comparisons for electrically heated room-size units in accordance with ASHRAE Standard 94. 2

Electrically heated thermal-energy-storage (TES) heaters employing high-heat-capacity ceramic refractories for sensible heat storage have been in use in Europe for several years. With these heaters, low cost off-peak electrical energy is stored by heating a storage core composed of ceramic material to approximately 800/sup 0/C. During the peak period, no electrical energy is used as the building heating needs are supplied by extracting the stored heat from the core by forced air circulation. Recently significant interest in the use of off-peak TES units in the US has occured, leading to the search for a domestic supply of high heat capacity ceramic refractory material. North Carolina's extensive but under-utilized supply of refractory grade olivine has been proposed as a source of storage material for these units. In this paper, the suitability of North Carolina olivine for heat-storage applications is assessed by comparing its thermal performance with that of European materials. Using the method of ASHRAE Standard 94.2, the thermal performance of two small room-sized commercially available TES units was determined experimentally with two different storage materials, North Carolina olivine and German magnesite. Comparisons between the two materials are made and conclusions are drawn.