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EDITORIAL article

Front. Energy Res., 01 June 2023
Sec. Energy Storage
This article is part of the Research Topic Materials, Process, and Applications in Energy Storage Systems View all 5 articles

Editorial: Materials, process, and applications in energy storage systems

  • 1School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
  • 2Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture Beijing, Beijing, China
  • 3School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China
  • 4Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Nepal
  • 5School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
  • 6School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
  • 7Global Energy Interconnection Research Institute, Changping, China

The intensification of global warming has forced countries around the world to make plans to reduce carbon emissions. As an energy-consuming country, China has also set the goal of carbon reduction to achieve its carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Improving the energy efficiency of traditional fossil fuels (e.g., waste heat recovery and utilization) and increasing the deployment of renewable energy sources, such as solar energy and wind energy, are widely considered as two important approaches to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. However, the uncontrollable fluctuation nature of waste heat and renewable energy will lead to a mismatch between power supply and energy demand, which will greatly restrict the large-scale application of such energy sources. Energy storage technology can be used as an energy buffer to solve these issues effectively. As the core part of energy storage technology, energy storage materials directly determine charging and discharging performance, energy storage capacity, service, and environmental impact, etc. Moreover, the thermal performance of an energy storage system can also be affected by heat transfer enhancement, the structure of energy storage devices, and operation optimization.

This Research Topic contains the four of the latest research in the area of energy storage materials, heat transfer enhancement, and the optimization of structural and operational parameters. A summary of the contribution of this research is presented as follows. For materials, Li et al. prepared two kinds of LiBr solutions, one added with dispersant (E414) and the other added with dispersant (E414) and nano-CuO. The effects of temperature, LiBr concentration, dispersant amount, and volume fraction of nanoparticles on the viscosity of the LiBr solution were further investigated. For heat transfer enhancement, Ebrahimnataj et al. proposed to adopt T-shaped fins with a novel layout for improving the melting of phase change materials (PCMs) in a triple-tube heat storage system . The effect of the fins’ dimension on the melting process of PCMs was analyzed numerically to the determine the optimum case. Shojaeinasab Chatroudi et al. used spaced circular fins to improve the heat transfer performance of PCMs in a double-tube latent heat storage unit. The influence of the presence of fins in the free convection and melting process of molten PCMs was comprehensively studied, and then the optimum geometrical characteristics of the fins (e.g., arrangement, size, and number) were determined. For optimization of the structural and operational parameters, Zhang et al. numerically investigated the effects of structural operational parameters on the vertical cooling process by establishing the 2-D steady-state mathematical model of the porous media. The optimized operating and structural parameters were finally obtained with the objective of the maximum income energy of the gas.

There are many good works that could not be collected in this Research Topic due to the limit of time. We look forward to continuing to follow Frontiers in Energy Research, especially with a focus on the aspect of energy storage technology.

Author contributions

FJ is the first author, YX is the corresponding author, and all others are contributors. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Acknowledgments

The team of Guest Editors would like to express their gratitude to all the authors who provided their high-quality papers. Meanwhile, the reviewers who put effort into ensuring a high level of scientific publications also deserve recognition. We are very grateful to all the topic editors for their support in this Research Topic.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Keywords: energy storage materials, heat transfer enhancement, energy storage system, renewable energy, carbon emission

Citation: Jiang F, Xiong Y, Xu Q, Lohani SP, Jiang Z, Zhao Y and Peng X (2023) Editorial: Materials, process, and applications in energy storage systems. Front. Energy Res. 11:1221873. doi: 10.3389/fenrg.2023.1221873

Received: 13 May 2023; Accepted: 24 May 2023;
Published: 01 June 2023.

Edited and reviewed by:

Kui Jiao, Tianjin University, China

Copyright © 2023 Jiang, Xiong, Xu, Lohani, Jiang, Zhao and Peng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Yaxuan Xiong, eGlvbmd5YXh1YW5AYnVjZWEuZWR1LmNu

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.