The present disclosure may provide a cooling plant system, a method of operating a cooling plant system and an energy storage and scheduling control system, the cooling plant system comprising one or more cooling towers; one or more thermal energy storage systems coupled to the one or more cooling towers; one or more electrical energy storage systems, the one or more electrical energy storage systems being coupled to the one or more thermal energy storage systems for selectively providing electrical energy to the one or more thermal energy storage systems; and an energy storage and scheduling control system coupled to the one or more thermal energy storage systems and the one or more electrical energy storage systems, the energy storage and scheduling control system being configured to control operations of the one or more thermal energy storage systems and the one or more electrical energy storage systems via a scheduling of the operations per time slot, the operations including the selective provision of electrical energy to the one or more thermal energy storage systems.

The present invention relates to a cold-crystallizing material having high latent heat, and a method of using the present material for heat storing. The material of the invention comprises of a phase change material and an additive which is preferably a hydrophilic polymer matrix. Preferably, sugar alcohols, such as erythritol or D-mannitol, are used as the phase change material. The polymer of the invention is preferably cross-linked and ionic, i.e. a polyelectrolyte. PCM stores a high amount of heat energy while melting and releases the stored thermal energy by cold-crystallization. Compared to previously studied cold-crystallizing materials, the latent heat of the cold-crystallizing material of the invention is considerably higher, and cold-crystallization is more repeatable in successive melting-crystallization cycles. The material can be used for heat storing. Heat energy can be released from the material by a heat pulse on demand. The method is particularly suitable for long-term heat storing.

In one aspect, methods of managing the temperature of a room are described herein. In some embodiments, such a method described herein comprises disposing a fixture in an interior of the room, wherein the fixture comprises or contains a phase change material. Additionally, in some cases, the fixture is a decorative fixture, such as a piece of artwork.

The invention relates to a method and to a corresponding system for controlling energy streams in order to connect operations of an electricity distribution network (1) and a heat distribution network (2) by means of an intermediate energy storage unit (3). According to the invention, the power balance and quality of current and voltage of the electricity distribution network (1) are adjusted by supplying the losses provided by adjustment of the electricity distribution network to the energy storage unit (3) in the form of heat, and from the energy storage unit the heat is extracted to the heat distribution network (2) according to the heat requirement of the heat distribution network.

A supercooling release device releases a supercooled state of a heat storage material. The supercooling release device includes a first member having a concave portion on a surface and a second member facing the surface and covering the concave portion. The second member can be for example brought into close contact with the first member. The supercooling release device for example applies a load to at least one of the first member and the second member to bring the first member and the second member into close contact with each other.

An apparatus includes multiple layers of phase-stable material, where adjacent layers of the phase-stable material are separated by multiple spaces. The apparatus also includes liquid phase change material in the spaces between the adjacent layers of the phase-stable material. The liquid phase change material is configured to become gaseous phase change material based on thermal energy absorbed by the liquid phase change material. The apparatus further includes at least one release configured to block passage of the liquid phase change material out of the spaces between the adjacent layers of the phase-stable material. The at least one release is also configured to allow passage of the gaseous phase change material out of the spaces between the adjacent layers of the phase-stable material.

A thermal battery system may be provided comprising: a vessel comprising a phase change material and a gas; a heat exchanger configured to transfer heat to and/or from the phase change material; a temperature sensor configured to detect an indication of a temperature of the gas; a pressure sensor configured to detect an indication of a pressure of the gas; and a processor configured to determine a state of charge of the thermal battery system from the indication of the pressure and the indication of the temperature of the gas.

A dynamic temperature regulating device is for use in association with a temperature-controlled container. The dynamic temperature regulating device includes at least one heat source, at least one heat sink, a heat transfer medium and a control system. At least one of the heat source and the heat sink is a PCM (phase change material). The heat transfer medium is in thermal communication with and operably connected to the at least one heat source and the at least one heat sink. The control system is for controlling the selective thermal communication with the at least one heat source and with the at least one heat sink to regulate the temperature of the temperature-controlled container. A detachable PCM contained volumes includes a sealed housing, a phase change material and a heat transfer medium and functions as a PCM thermal energy storage volume.

An arrangement for receiving and/or releasing, in particular storing, thermal energy, including: a container for holding storage material, the container having a first fluid port and a second fluid port for allowing inflow and outflow of fluid flowing through the container in a substantially horizontal flow direction for charging and/or discharging the storage material; at least two first valves at different vertical positions for the first fluid port; at least two second valves at different vertical positions for the second fluid port; and at least two temperature sensors arranged within the container at different vertical positions, in particular in one plane perpendicular to the flow direction.

The present invention relates to a heat storage system (2) comprising a storage space (20), a heat storage medium in the storage space (20), and an extraction device (26) for extracting heat from the heat storage medium, the extraction device (26) comprising a first solid body arrangement (28) contacting the heat storage medium. The extraction device (26) further comprises a second solid body arrangement (30), wherein a solid body contact between the first solid body arrangement (28) and the second solid body arrangement (30) can be modified by increasing or decreasing a heat flow from the first solid body arrangement (28) to the second solid body arrangement (30). The present invention further relates to a method for storing and extracting heat.