Scientific Publications

From its inception, ALACAES was committed to pursue high quality scientific work  in the development of its technologies. Therefore, close collaborations were initiated with renowned academic institutes across Switzerland.

Today, ALACAES collaborates closely with ETH Zurich, EPFL , SUPSI and PSI in order to support its innovative technological development with high quality research.

ALACAES is proud to be the main industrial partner for several nationwide, cross-institutional R&D projects funded by the SCCER, SNF and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.

 

Journal Papers

  • Iliev P., Giacomazzi E., Wittel F., Mendoza M., Haselbacher A., Herrmann H., “Behavior of confined granular beds under cyclic thermal loading”, Granular Matter, pp. 21-59, 2019.
  • Marti J., Geissbühler L., Becattini V., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., “Constrained multi-objective optimization of thermocline packed-bed thermal-energy storage”, Applied Energy, 216, pp. 694-708, 2018.
  • Geissbühler L., Becattini V., Zanganeh G., Zavattoni S., Barbato M., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., “Pilot-scale demonstration of advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage, Part 1: Plant description and tests with sensible thermal-energy storage”, Journal of Energy Storage 17, pp. 129-139 , 2018.
  • Becattini V., Geissbühler L., Zanganeh G., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., “Pilot-scale demonstration of advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage, Part 2: Tests with combined sensible/latent thermal-energy storage”, Journal of Energy Storage 17, pp. 140-152 , 2018.
  • Becattini V., Motmans T., Zappone A., Madonna C., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., “Experimental investigation of the thermal and mechanical stability of rocks for high-temperature thermal-energy storage”, Applied Energy, 203, pp. 373-389, 2017.
  • Ortega-Fernández I., Zavattoni S., Rodríguez-Aseguinolaza J., D’AguannoB., Barbato M., “Analysis of an integrated packed bed thermal energy storage system for heat recovery in compressed air energy storage technology”, Applied Energy Journal 205, pp. 280-293, 2017.
  • Zavattoni S., Barbato M., Pedretti A., Zanganeh G., Transient evolution of thermal stratification of an air-based thermocline TES subjected to different pre-charging time, Journal of Energy Storage, submitted.
  • Geissbühler L., Kolman M., Zanganeh G., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., Analysis of industrial-scale high-temperature combined sensible/latent thermal energy storage, Applied Thermal Engineering 101, 657-668, 2016.
  • Geissbühler L., Zavattoni S., Barbato M., Zanganeh G., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., Experimental and numerical investigation of combined sensible/latent thermal energy storage for high-temperature applications, CHIMIA 69, No. 12, pp. 799-803, 2015.
  • Zavattoni S., Barbato M., Pedretti A., Zanganeh G., Evaluation of thermal stratification of an air-based thermocline TES with low-cost filler material, Energy Procedia, vol. 73, pp. 289 – 296, 2015.
  • Perraudin D., Binder S., Rezaei E., Ortona A., Haussener S., Phase change material systems for high temperature heat storage, CHIMIA, 69(12), pp. 780-783, 2015.
  • Zanganeh G., Khanna R., Walser C., Pedretti A., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., Experimental and numerical investigation of combined sensible-latent heat for thermal energy storage at 575 °C and above, Solar Energy, 114, pp. 77-90, 2015.
  • Zavattoni S., Barbato M., Pedretti A., Zanganeh G., Single-tank TES system – Transient evaluation of thermal stratification according to the second-law of thermodynamics, Energy Procedia, vol. 69, pp. 1068 – 1077, 2015.
  • Zanganeh G., Pedretti A., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., Design of packed ped thermal energy storage systems for high-temperature industrial process heat, Applied Energy, 137, pp. 812-822, 2015.
  • Zavattoni S, Barbato M., Pedretti A., Zanganeh G. , Steinfeld A., High temperature rock-bed TES system suitable for industrial-scale CSP plant – CFD analysis under charge/discharge cyclic conditions, Energy Procedia, vol. 46, pp. 124-133, 2014.
  • Zanganeh G., Commerford M., Haselbacher A., Pedretti A., and Steinfeld A., Stabilization of the outflow temperature of a packed-bed thermal energy storage by combining rocks with phase change materials, Applied Thermal Engineering, 70(1), pp. 316-320, 2014.
  • Zanganeh G., Pedretti A., Zavattoni S., Barbato M., and Steinfeld A., Packed-bed thermal storage for concentrated solar power – Pilot-scale demonstration and industrial-scale design, Solar Energy, 86(10), pp. 3084-3098, 2012.


Conference Papers

  • Zavattoni S., Geissbühler L., Zanganeh G., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., Barbato M., “CFD modeling and experimental validation of the TES unit integrated into the world’s first underground AA-CAES pilot plant”, AIP Conference Proceedings 2126, 200033, 2019.
  • Roncolato J., Pizzoferrato A., Becattini V., Haselbacher A., Zanganeh G., Barbato M., “AA – CAES plant modelling in Simscape”, International CAE Conference, November 6-7, Vicenza, Italy, 2017.
  • Zavattoni S., Geissbühler L., Barbato M., Zanganeh G., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., “High-temperature thermocline TES combining sensible and latent heat – CFD modeling and experimental validation”, AIP Conference Proceedings 1850, 080028, 2017.
  • Zavattoni S., Geissbühler L., Barbato M., Zanganeh G., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., High-temperature thermocline TES combining sensible and latent heat – CFD modeling and experimental validation, 22nd SolarPACES Conference, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2016.
  • Zavattoni S., Barbato M., Zanganeh G., Pedretti A., High temperature thermocline TES – effect of system pre-charging on thermal stratification, AIP Conference Proceedings 1734, 050043, 2016.
  • Geissbühler L., Kolman M., Zanganeh G., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., Analysis of industrial-scale high-temperature combined sensible/latent thermal energy storage. ASME-ATI-UIT Conference on Thermal Energy Systems: Production, Storage, Utilization and the Environment, Napoli, Italy, 2015.
  • Zavattoni S., Barbato M., Pedretti A., Zanganeh G., CFD modeling of a TES system based on a packed bed of natural rocks, 99th Eurotherm Seminar, Lleda, Spain, 2014.
  • Good P., Zanganeh G., Ambrosetti G., Barbato M., Pedretti A., Steinfeld A., Towards a commercial parabolic trough CSP system using air as heat transfer fluid. SolarPACES, Las Vegas, USA, 2013.
  • Zanganeh G., Pedretti A., Zavattoni S., Barbato M., Haselbacher A., Steinfeld A., Design of a 100 MWhth packed-bed thermal energy storage. SolarPACES, Las Vegas, USA, 2013.
  • Zavattoni S., Barbato M., Pedretti A., Zanganeh G., Steinfeld A., Effective thermal conductivity and axial porosity distribution of a rock-bed TES system: CFD modeling and experimental validation, SolarPACES, Marrakech, Morocco, 2012.
  • Zavattoni S., Barbato M., Pedretti A., Zanganeh G., CFD simulations of a pebble bed thermal energy storage system accounting for porosity variations effects, SolarPACES, Granada, Spain, 2011.
  • Zanganeh G., Pedretti A., Steinfeld A., A packed bed of rocks for hightemperature
    thermal storage of concentrating solar energy. World Engineers’ Convention, Geneva, Switzerland, 2011.


PhD Dissertations

  • Zanganeh G., High temperature thermal energy storage for concentrated solar power with air as heat transfer fluid, ETH Zurich, 2014.
  • Geissbühler L., Thermocline Thermal Energy Storage: Advances and Applications to CSP, Compressed Air Energy Storage, and Solar Fuels, ETH Zurich, 2017.
  • Becattini V., Combined sensible/latent thermal-energy storage: filler materials, feasibility at the pilot scale, and design method, ETH Zurich, 2018.
  • Binder S., Preparation of high-conductivity, high-capacity phase change media capsules with enhanced thermos-chemical stability in thermal energy storage applications, EPFL, 2019.

 

Ongoing PhD Projects

  • Roos P., Thermal energy storage for AA-CAES plants, ETH Zurich.

 

Master Theses

  • Santo Luca, “AA-CAES physical modelling: integration of a 1D TES code and plant performance analysis”, Uppsala University, 2018
  • Kolmann M., Experimental study of combined sensible/latent thermal energy storage using various PCMs, ETH Zurich, 2015.
  • Walser C., Experimental Investigation of Multi-Layered Combined Sensible and Latent Heat storage, ETH Zurich, 2016.
  • Khanna R., Storing Sunlight – experimental investigation of a combined sensible and latent heat storage for concentrated solar power, ETH Zurich, 2014 (ETH Medal awardee).
  • Commerford M., Numerical investigation of a combined sensible and latent heat thermal energy storage system, ETH Zurich, 2012.
  • Zanganeh G., Modification of a model for thermal energy storage in packed beds and comparison with experimental results, ETH Zurich, 2009.

 

Semester Projects

  • Zoller S., Heat Transfer of Encapsulated Phase Change Materials for Thermal Energy Storage, ETH Zurich, 2015.
  • Guetg F., A CFD Heat Transfer Study of Successively Rotated Tube Rows in Cross Flow, ETH Zurich, 2016.
  • Andreoli F., Inlet flow optimization for packed bed thermal energy storage systems, ETH Zurich, 2013.
  • Commerford M., Thermodynamic analysis of a packed bed thermal energy storage system, ETH Zurich, 2012.

 

Bachelor Theses

  • Weibel M., Experimental and Numerical Contributions to a Thermal Energy Storage System, ETH Zurich, 2015.
  • Frick K., Experimental study of thermo-physical properties of phase change materials for thermal energy storage, ETH Zurich, 2016.
  • Walser C., High temperature measurement of thermo-physical properties of different materials for thermal energy storage, ETH Zurich, 2013.
  • Zavattoni S., Studio del sistema di stoccaggio di energia in una centrale solare a concentrazione, SUPSI, 2008.

 

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