Page 10 - European Energy Innovation - spring 2018 publication

10 Spring 2018 European Energy Innovation

COMMUNICATION

Among the most innovative
ideas in Europe: The Heatsel®
storage capsule increases the
capacity of heat and cold storages

Heatsel® is lens-shaped, plate-sized and a real
break-through in the area of heat and cold
storage as it increases the storage capacity
of heat and cold storages by up to three or
four times. By macro-encapsulation of phase change
materials (PCM) the German company ESDA developed
with its subsidiary Axiotherm a high-performance, high-
capacity but cost-efficient user-friendly solution that can
be introduced into the storage subsequently as well. The
European commission recognised the Heatsel®'s innovation
and market potential and is supporting its implementation
with the SME instrument. The project application of ESDA
received the highest points out of the total 135 submitted
applications in the "energy" category, making the first place
among Europe's most innovative ideas.

THE TECHNOLOGY
For decades, there have been attempts to transfer PCM such
as paraffins or salt hydrates into a user-friendly form. Before
now, it was assumed that micro and macro encapsulation
of PCM would be unsuitable for a broad application, both
technically and economically. But Heatsel® proves the
precise opposite.

Latent storage systems can only achieve sensible integration
into complex systems such as technical building equipment
if not only their capacity, but also the discharge and
charging power can be controlled in a wide range, and in a
temperature range that is as precisely defined as possible.
Therefore, the Heatsels® are surrounded by a heat carrier
medium (e.g. water), to optimise heat transfer from the heat
carrier to the PCM.

In the Futurium – the so called "house of the future" in the
neighbourhood of the Federal Ministry of Education and
Research in Berlin – such a PCM storage forms a central
part of the innovative cooling concept. The production of
cold with a delay and its demand will be bridged by five
storages holding more than 9,000 litres and equipped with
9,500 Heatsels®. At the same time, the current output can
be controlled by the variable mass flow on the primary and

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