Solar energy is an energy intermittent source that faces a substantial challenge for its power dispatchability. Hence, concentrating solar power (CSP) plants and solar process heat (SPH) applications employ thermal energy storage (TES) technologies as a link between power generation and optimal load distribution. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-based materials are widely used in sensible TES, but their use is limited to operation temperatures below 400 to 500 °C because of thermal degradation processes. This work proposes a geopolymer (GEO)-based concrete as a suitable alternative to OPC concrete for TES that withstands high running temperatures, higher than 500 °C. To this end, thermophysical properties of a geopolymer-based concrete sample were initially measured experimentally; later, energy storage capacity and thermal behavior of the GEO sample were modeled numerically. In fact, different thermal scenarios were modeled, revealing that GEO-based concrete can be a sound choice due to its thermal energy storage capacity, high thermal diffusivity and capability to work at high temperature regimes.

Thermal energy storage (TES) systems are dependent on materials capable of operating at elevated temperatures for their performance and for prevailing as an integral part of industries. High-temperature TES assists in increasing the dispatchability of present power plants as well as increasing the efficiency in heat industry applications. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-based concretes are widely used as a sensible TES material in different applications. However, their performance is limited to operation temperatures below 400 °C due to the thermal degradation processes in its structure. In the present work, the performance and heat storage capacity of geopolymer-based concrete (GEO) have been studied experimentally and a comparison was carried out with OPC-based materials. Two thermal scenarios were examined, and results indicate that GEO withstand high running temperatures, higher than 500 °C, revealing higher thermal storage capacity than OPC-based materials. The high thermal energy storage, along with the high thermal diffusion coefficient at high temperatures, makes GEO a potential material that has good competitive properties compared with OPC-based TES. Experiments show the ability of geopolymer-based concrete for thermal energy storage applications, especially in industries that require feasible material for operation at high temperatures.

Concrete has emerged as a promising solid-based sensible heat storage (SHS) material due to its favorable balance of thermal properties, cost-effectiveness, non-toxicity, and widespread availability. This state-of-the-art review examines the applications of concrete-based SHS across diverse domains, including buildings, concentrated solar power systems, and industrial power generation. It also investigates the thermal properties of concrete relevant for SHS applications and explores the design considerations for concrete SHS systems and reviews the current research landscape and the role of numerical modeling and simulation techniques in optimizing the performance of concrete SHS systems. Various computational methods, such as transient modeling, finite element method (FEM), computational fluid dynamics, and simplified lumped capacitance models, have been employed to analyze and enhance the design of these systems. As research and development continue in this field, several future trends are anticipated.