Thermal performance of a packed bed reactor for a high-temperature chemical heat pump

The thermal performance of a chemical heat pump that uses the reaction syst em of calcium oxide/lead oxide/carbon dioxide, which is developed for utili zation of high-temperature heat above 800 degreesC, is studied experimental ly. The thermal performance of a packed-bed reactor of a calcium oxide/carb on dioxide reaction system, which stores and transforms a high-temperature heat source in the heat pump operation, is examined under various heat pump operation conditions. The energy analysis based on the experiment shows th at it is possible to utilize high-temperature heat with this heat pump. Thi s heat pump can store heat above 850 degreesC and then transform it into a heat above 900 degreesC under an approximate atmospheric pressure. An appli ed system that combines the heat pump and a high-temperature process is pro posed for high-efficiency heat utilization. The scale of the heat pump in t he combined system is estimated from the experimental results. Copyright (C ) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.