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2026, Vol: 15, Issue: 1
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Technical Note
Online Published: 26 Sep 2025
 


Industrial Rock Packed-Bed Heat Storage System: : Thermal Behavior and Performance Assessment

Aicha Eddemani.


Abstract
The first industrial-scale packed-bed configuration for a Thermal Energy Storage (TES) using rocks, offering a thermal capacity of 100 MWhth, has been constructed for a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) facility in Ait Baha, Morocco. It employs environmentally friendly materials, using natural pebbles as the energy storage material and ambient air as the heat exchange fluid. The storage unit features an innovative design characterized by a truncated-cone form, is embedded in the ground, and operates at high temperatures ranging from 293K to 843K. To assess the thermal performance and behavior of the system, a verified Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method is employed over thirty days of operation under real-world daily conditions. The results of the cyclic behavior show that the impact of thermal cycles is most pronounced in the initial cycles, while thermal stratification during both the energy storage and release phases is significantly enhanced through repeated operation. Furthermore, the system's performance improves over the thermal cycles, achieving an efficiency of 80% by the 30th cycle.

Key words: Rock-bed, storage material, thermal stratification, industrial packed-bed, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis.


 
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How to Cite this Article
Pubmed Style

Aicha Eddemani. Industrial Rock Packed-Bed Heat Storage System: : Thermal Behavior and Performance Assessment. Sol. Energy Sustain. Dev.. 2025; 14(2): 79-90.

doi:10.51646/jsesd.v14iSTR2E.800

Web Style

Aicha Eddemani. Industrial Rock Packed-Bed Heat Storage System: : Thermal Behavior and Performance Assessment. https://www.jsesd.org/?mno=302658368 [Access: November 11, 2026].

doi:10.51646/jsesd.v14iSTR2E.800

AMA (American Medical Association) Style

Aicha Eddemani. Industrial Rock Packed-Bed Heat Storage System: : Thermal Behavior and Performance Assessment. Sol. Energy Sustain. Dev.. 2025; 14(2): 79-90.


doi:10.51646/jsesd.v14iSTR2E.800

Vancouver/ICMJE Style

Aicha Eddemani. Industrial Rock Packed-Bed Heat Storage System: : Thermal Behavior and Performance Assessment. Sol. Energy Sustain. Dev.. (2025), [cited November 11, 2026]; 14(2): 79-90.


doi:10.51646/jsesd.v14iSTR2E.800

Harvard Style

Aicha Eddemani (2025) Industrial Rock Packed-Bed Heat Storage System: : Thermal Behavior and Performance Assessment. Sol. Energy Sustain. Dev., 14 (2), 79-90.


doi:10.51646/jsesd.v14iSTR2E.800

Turabian Style

Aicha Eddemani. 2025. Industrial Rock Packed-Bed Heat Storage System: : Thermal Behavior and Performance Assessment. Solar Energy and Sustainable Development, 14 (2), 79-90.


doi:10.51646/jsesd.v14iSTR2E.800

Chicago Style

Aicha Eddemani. "Industrial Rock Packed-Bed Heat Storage System: : Thermal Behavior and Performance Assessment." Solar Energy and Sustainable Development 14 (2025), 79-90.


doi:10.51646/jsesd.v14iSTR2E.800

MLA (The Modern Language Association) Style

Aicha Eddemani. "Industrial Rock Packed-Bed Heat Storage System: : Thermal Behavior and Performance Assessment." Solar Energy and Sustainable Development 14.2 (2025), 79-90. Print.


doi:10.51646/jsesd.v14iSTR2E.800

APA (American Psychological Association) Style

Aicha Eddemani (2025) Industrial Rock Packed-Bed Heat Storage System: : Thermal Behavior and Performance Assessment. Solar Energy and Sustainable Development, 14 (2), 79-90.


doi:10.51646/jsesd.v14iSTR2E.800

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