Even if the technology for heat production and their efficiency is constantly rising, heat losses still represent a main issue, which correspond also to a huge money loss; a problem for everyone and most of all for these countries located in zones where heating sources are used for most of the year and therefore where avoiding losses becomes fundamental.
In 2022 The Polar Night Energy agency of Finland has completed and activated a new heat storage solution where the sand represent the medium of storage. The two available solutions, respectively with a production of 300 MWh and one of 1000 MWh, are able to keep the heat which comes from the conversion of electricity, mainly generated by solar panels, up to a maximum temperature of 1000 ˚C and with an efficiency that reaches almost the 95% thanks to sand’s physical properties. Heat can be store for months, facing minimal losses and with a CO2 emission generated only by the realization phase, from the electricity and material production. This technology can be adapted in many different situations, by changing dimensions and capacity of the plant; it could be the resource for an industry, for both heating and electricity, a single house or for an entire district, until the support of needs for an entire island.
Actually, the existing application, realized by the three dimensional transient of heat transport and the simulation realized by the COMSOL software, is working as part of a district heating network in the West of the country but other projects are about to be completed, with the great advantage for this revolutionary application, to be implemented also in the underground, avoiding the exploitation of surface territory, the utilization of hazardous materials or the visual impact. The wide availability of the sand and cheaper costs for its processing are other pillars of this application that we hope could expand becoming a valid solution especially for the reduction of energy losses (and consequently demand), costs and emissions.
