“Sun in a Box” Day-to-Night Solar Energy Storage for Heating and Cooling Applications Utilizing Zeolite Synthesized from Waste Residues Towards Energy Density Enhancement

As a result of population increase and industrial progress, there are global sustainability concerns. Thus, various investigations have been investigated to explore new trends for improving the environment and utilizing renewable energy sources. Zeolite is divided as a crystalline material with micropores in molecular dimensions. Alum sludge is produced in an inescapable amount as a by-product through drinking water purification. Herein, Zeolite is introduced for enhancing a sustainable energy storage system. Zeolite (ZSM-12) is synthesized from the thermal decomposition of waste alum sludge cake after it is dewatered to remove the excess water. ZSM-12, a high-silica zeolite was presented as a state-of-the-art application to enhance the latent heat energy storage media through the phase change material (PCM). Micro measurements including XRD (X-Ray Diffractometer) and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) were conducted to examine the presence of Zeolite (ZSM-12) in the modified alum sludge. The thermal performance of the phase change material augmented with alum sludge (AS) containing Zeolite (PCM/AS/ZSM-12) showed a 15% increase than the pure PCM with a heat stored reached 89 kJ compared to 7 kJ for the pure PCM based on paraffin wax on a pilot-scale behavior solar energy storage system.