Anyone stepping barefoot across a hot beach knows sand stores heat. A University of Dayton researcher is working on extracting and storing heat from that sand and other sand-like materials, which someday may be used to power U.S. homes.

"Similar technologies have been demonstrated in laboratories and small industrial settings, but the next step is optimizing such technologies in a variety of industries to harness, store and transfer heat to generate electricity; or potentially find that sweet spot where the technologies are most economically viable," said Andrew J. Schrader, UD assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. "All of these technologies are highly dependent on optimizing structures to move bulk hot sand; which is tough because bulk granular materials behave a little like solids, liquids and gasses depending on the handling conditions."

Working with Brayton Energy, a research and design firm dedicated to sustainable and efficient energy production, Schrader hopes to optimize industrial-scale thermal sand batteries.

On a project with Sandia National Laboratories and Saudi Arabia's King Saud University, Schrader is striving to improve solar receivers that deliver concentrated solar energy into curtains of sand to be heated to 1475 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The third project, led by Schrader and the Dayton Thermal Applications Laboratory at the University of Dayton, is dedicated to optimizing particle heat exchangers. 

The U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office is funding these projects with nearly $2 million.

"The end game is to develop economically viable solutions to store solar energy, wind energy or industrial waste heat in thermal sand batteries for later use," Schrader said. "Such storage systems could better integrate energy resources into the same electrical grid and support technologies such as natural gas-fired or nuclear power plants. This technology could extend the lifetime of valuable U.S. natural resources such as natural gas, facilitate increased diversification of the American energy landscape and enable the reduction of CO2 emissions."

Postdoctoral research assistants and graduate and undergraduate students working with Schrader on these projects will perform energy modeling and run experiments at the University of Dayton to inform optimal industrial designs implemented at Brayton Energy, Sandia National Laboratories and King Saud University. 

"These research opportunities are vital to the education of engineering students," said Schrader, who also directs the University of Dayton Thermal Applications Laboratory. "These research opportunities count toward class credit and on-campus employment; and provide practical, hands-on experiences not available in the classroom. These opportunities truly bridge the gap between the classroom and the real-world, and further reinforce the theory that supports society's engineered systems. There are tens of thousands of engineering graduates leaving school each year, research is a way to help Dayton Flyers further convey their strong foundational engineering knowledge to employers." 

Anyone interested in learning more about Schrader's research and the Dayton Thermal Applications Laboratory can contact him at aschrader1@udayton.edu.

For interviews, contact Shawn Robinson, associate director of news and communications, at srobinson1@udayton.edu, 937-229-3391 or 937-545-5421.