Thermal Energy Storage and its Significance

Energy plays a vital role in every aspect of life. The changeover from non-renewable to renewable sources of energy will not happen overnight, hence it is necessary to conserve and store energy. The possible ways of energy storage are in the form of electrical, chemical, mechanical, biological and thermal. Energy storage is accomplished by physical media or devices that store energy to accomplish useful processes at a later times. Thermal energy storage (TES) is an emerging technology which can alleviate environmental issues and deliver efficient energy to the society. Hence an effort has been made based on literature review, regarding the classification of TES. A brief classification of thermal energy types (TES) i.e. latent heat storage, sensible heat storage and thermochemical heat storage is given. The principle behind all the three types of thermal energy storage is presented with suitable examples. The advantages and limitations of each kind of thermal energy storage methods is also highlighted.