Amadeus

Well beyond today's maximum operation temperatures of ~1000ºC, Amadeus isl synthetizing new phase change materials (PCMs) with latent heat in the range of 2-4 MJ/kg (an order of magnitude greater than that of typical salt-based PCMs), developing advanced thermal insulation and PCM casing designs, along with novel solid-state heat to power conversion technologies able to operate at temperatures up to 2000ºC. Using these new materials and devices, we aim at realizing the proof of concept of a new kind of extremely compact LHTES device with unprecedented high energy density. The key enabling technologies are: novel PCMs based on the silicon-boron system with ultra-high melting temperature and latent heat, novel refractory lining composites based on carbides, nitrides and oxides for the PCM container walls, advanced thermally insulated PCM casing for ultra-high temperature operation, and novel solid-state heat-to-power converters based on photovoltaic and thermionic effects. In this regard, we will perform the proof of concept of a new kind of hybrid thermionic-photovoltaic (TIPV) device that has been recently formulated theoretically. TIPV cells combine the ionic and photovoltaic phenomena to convert high temperature heat directly into electricity at very high power rates.