Jose M. Cardemil

• Doctor of Engineering
• Professor (Associate) at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

Heating solids arranged in a packed bed is a simple method to store sensible thermal energy. This study focuses on cylindrical packed-bed configurations, where a temperature profile develops along the stacked solids and moves towards the system’s outlet. Therefore, the availability to store thermal energy in the packed bed decreases over time and t...

Air-solid packed-bed thermal energy storage (PBTES) systems are potential candidates to reduce implementation costs for renewable energy applications. However, heat transfer modelling requires high computational resources, which makes these models unsuitable for control and management in integrated systems. This work presents a fit parameter estima...

This study presents a comprehensive techno-economic analysis of green hydrogen production utilizing a third-generation Concentrated Solar Power system integrated with Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells, examining system configurations under variable climatic conditions in Chile and Spain. By employing dynamic simulation models that consider hourly and...

Integration of a SHIP system with copper slag packed-bed TES • Dynamic simulation and analysis of the system's main variables • System performance assessment and control improvement • Techno-economic analysis of the entire system and carbon savings • SHIP system with TES presents a payback of 14 years and annual savings of 30 tCO2 A R T I C L E I N...

This study delves into the techno-economic benefits of integrating Proton Exchange Membrane electrolyzers with photovoltaic systems for hydrogen production, with a keen focus on cost optimization strategies. A comprehensive analysis of several system scales and cost scenarios unveils the critical roles of Proton Exchange Membrane stack systems and...

Solar heating for industrial processes (SHIP) is a promising alternative for heat generation worldwide, especially in industries where low-temperature heat is required. However, despite the large importance of the food industry in Brazil’s gross domestic product, SHIP technology is still incipient. Among the reasons, one can mention high installati...

Packed-bed thermal energy storage (PBTES) systems have arisen as a promising alternative to store heat at high temperatures with low implementation costs. The literature has focused on improving its design to reduce thermal losses, enhance structural integrity, and increase storage capacity by analyzing thermocline development. The integration of P...

Sustainable greenhouses have gained relevance in recent years due to their potential to reduce the carbon footprint of the agricultural sector by being integrated with renewable systems, contributing to the decarbonization of energy. Although solar technologies tend to be more accessible to cover the system’s energy demands, greenhouses are subject...

The latest generation of concentrated solar power (CSP) systems uses supercritical carbon dioxide (s-CO2) as the working fluid in a high-performance recompression Brayton cycle (RcBC), whose off-design performance under different environmental conditions has yet to be fully explored. This study presents a model developed using the Engineering Equat...

Process heating is the activity with the most energy consumption in the industrial sector. Solar heating (SH) systems are a promising alternative to provide renewable thermal energy to industrial processes. However, factors such as high investment costs and area limitations in industrial facilities hinder their utilization; therefore, hybrid system...

n this work, the potential of southeastern Spain to host solar thermal plants to meet the heat demands of its industrial enclaves is assessed and presented. For this, the generation of thermal energy for industrial uses in the medium temperature range is estimated, with special emphasis on those areas not connected to the thermal energy distributio...

Porous media structures have been proposed as an interesting solution on the design of high-temperature volumetric heat exchangers and sensible thermal energy storage devices. The wide exchange area between the solid matrix and the fluid offers the possibility to reach higher conversion efficiencies, particularly on applications of high-temperature...

A discrete 1-D Eulerian and 3-D Lagrangian model was developed to analyze heat transfer in packed beds composed of spherical particles to study a in more detail the solid phase phenomenon. The proposed thermal model simulates the particles using the discrete element method, generating a particle distribution inside the packed bed. It considers dire...

Comprehensive radiation studies on packed beds require the estimation of view factors between the surfaces, which often computationally expensive. This paper proposes a novel method based on Monte Carlo Ray Tracing for high-precision and low time computation processing of view factors in random assemblies of cylindrical packed beds. The Monte Carlo...

Solar thermal technologies for power generation have become cost-effective, efficient, flexible, and play a prominent role in achieving low-carbon energy systems. Concentrated solar power is the main solar technology for large-scale power generation and can offer thermal energy storage capacity, delivering power to the grid with high reliability, h...

El almacenamiento térmico ha mostrado ser altamente beneficioso al acoplarse a sistemas solares para la generación de calor y energía. Actualmente se utiliza en centrales eléctricas concentradas que utilizan sal fundida como material de almacenamiento, pero esta tecnología tiene inconvenientes considerables, ya que puede afectar el rendimiento de l...

Industrial energy accounts for a large percentage of global consumption and, thus, it is a target for decarbonization by renewable and in particular solar energy adoption. Low uncertainty simulation tools can reduce the financial risk of solar projects, fostering the transition to a sustainable energy system. Several simulation tools are readily av...

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and geothermal energy systems are outlined as two of the most promising technologies for sustainable and reliable electricity generation. Several studies in the technical literature have pointed out that the hybridization of solar and geothermal energy sources could lead to a reduction of the levelized cost of energy...

Exergy is a thermodynamic property that represents the quantification of the maximum useful work that can be extracted from a system interacting with the environment. Regarding solar radiation, radiative exergy has been a matter of study over the last 60 years where the main models applied describe the radiation as undiluted and diluted. The exergy...

The Atacama Desert presents the highest Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) levels on the planet and at the same time is one of its driest places on Earth. The region concentrates a large number of copper mining facilities and is currently considered as a hotspot for the deployment of solar technologies. The mining activity consumes large amounts of wat...

The trend to reduce CO2 emissions in cooling processes has made it possible to increase the alternatives for integrating solar energy with thermal equipment whose viability depends on its adaptation to polygeneration schemes. Despite the enormous potential offered by the industry for cooling and heating processes, solar cooling technologies (SCT) h...

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems help maintain the appropriate level of thermal comfort and air quality in buildings. To this end, the energy supply of these systems must be guaranteed. However, continuous efforts are required to improve the energy efficiency of this system and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In the zero-emission...

This study presents a comprehensive analysis evaluating the impact of the dispatch strategy on the optimal design configurations of different combinations of solar power plants with storage. The analysis considers four dispatch profiles (baseload, daylight, night, and daylight and evening), and four technology combinations including a solar PV plan...

The water–energy–food nexus has captured the attention of many researchers and policy makers for the potential synergies between those sectors, including the development of self-sustainable solutions for agriculture systems. This paper poses a novel design approach aimed at balancing the trade-off between the computational burden and accuracy of th...

Concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies have been developed over the past four decades for commercial operation, establishing them as reliable power generation sources in regions with high direct solar irradiance. The sizing of the solar field, thermal energy storage systems, and power block enables CSP plants to operate under various operating...

Purpose Volumetric air receivers experience high thermal stress as a consequence of the intense radiation flux they are exposed to when used for heat and/or power generation. This study aims to propose a proper design that is required for the absorber and its holder to ensure efficient heat transfer between the fluid and solid phases and to avoid s...

Thermocline tanks using packed-bed of rocks have become feasible candidates for improving the performance of Concentrated Solar Power plants, enabling high operating temperatures and reduced capital costs when industrial byproducts are employed as filler materials and low-cost working fluids, being competitive against molten salts thermal storage s...

The use of supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) cycle has been proposed as a promising alternative to replace conventional steam Rankine cycle. This study entails the development of a power cycle model to assess the impact of fluctuations on the heat source and environmental conditions on a recompression sCO2 Brayton cycle during off-design operatio...

Several authors have established single-tank packed-bed storage as a promising alternative that can be coupled with renewable thermal energy sources. The use of such systems can ensure a cost reduction of approximately 33%, compared to two-tank systems, which represents the dominating solution for high-temperature storage. Herein, an overview of th...

Open volumetric solar receivers (VSRs) are a promising technology for concentrated solar power plants due to their capability to provide heat using ambient air as the working fluid operating at temperatures over 700°C. Nevertheless, VSRs are challenged by the unsteadiness and high intensity of the radiation flux, which may cause unreliable or unsaf...

Open volumetric solar receivers (VSRs) are a promising technology for concentrated solar power plants due to their capability to provide heat using ambient air as the working fluid operating at temperatures over 700 C. Nevertheless, VSRs are challenged by the unsteadiness and high intensity of the radiation flux, which may cause unreliable or unsaf...

Volumetric solar receivers are known to exhibit choked flow regions and hotspots above a critical irradiance value, resulting in catastrophic failure. This phenomenon is commonly and wrongly attributed to flow instabilities. A dimensionless lumped model is formulated to investigate the coupled dynamics between the mass flux of fluid, the fluid temp...

The Atacama Desert, located in northern Chile, is regarded as one of the regions with the highest solar radiation in the world. However, Chile exploits limited renewable energy resources, currently represented by hydroelectric generation, wood based biomass and incipient wind farms. Thus, the country relies heavily on fuel imports to meet its growi...

O presente estudo tem o objetivo de desenvolver uma metodologia para a simulação transiente de uma central heliotérmica de micro escala (120 kWe) que seja adequada em termos de precisão e esforço computacional. A planta considerada emprega calhas parabólicas para a captação da radiação solar e um ciclo de Rankine orgânico para a geração de eletrici...

O projeto SWERA (Solar and Wind Resource Assessment) visa promover a inserção das energias renováveis na matriz energética dos países em desenvolvimento, através do levantamento de dados confiáveis que assistam ao processo de avaliação técnica e econômica de projetos solares e eólicos. No presente trabalho realiza-se o exercício de avaliar a instal...