Moving the scientific conversation from massive, macro-system grid architecture down to the complex world of microscopic physics, the COOPERANT project delivered an impactful oral presentation at the United Kingdom Energy Storage (UKES 2026) conference in Belfast.
Adina Hochuli, representing the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), took to the podium to present the consortium’s latest breakthrough paper: “Hybrid Sensible-Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage for Concentrated Solar Technologies: Insights From Modelling And Validation On Particle Level.” The presentation gave international energy storage peers a rare, detailed look at the precise thermodynamic behaviors occurring at the atomic and particle boundaries inside COOPERANT’s high-temperature thermal batteries.
The Battleground of the Micro-Scale
While previous conference milestones focused on how the storage tanks are shaped or how the overarching system aligns with European energy roadmaps, the UKES 2026 presentation targeted the fundamental physics of the storage medium itself.
COOPERANT’s unique battery system relies on a packed bed of solid particles mixed with specialized phase-change materials (PCMs) to combine sensible and latent heat storage. However, operating at temperatures soaring toward 1,000°C creates a chaotic thermal environment. If the individual particles degrade, fracture, or transfer heat unevenly, the entire multi-million-dollar solar plant loses efficiency.
Hochuli unveiled HSLU’s advanced computational models alongside real-world laboratory validation data. The presentation demonstrated exactly how individual storage particles absorb, conduct, and release heat during rapid thermal cycling.
By modeling these mechanics at the single-particle level, the COOPERANT team has successfully unlocked a way to predict precisely how the material will behave over decades of continuous operation. This effectively mitigates the risks of structural degradation and thermal degradation before full-scale commercial deployment begins.
Driving Industry Confidence Through Rigorous Validation
For the utility developers and grid infrastructure investors attending UKES 2026, this level of microscopic validation is a crucial milestone. It moves high-temperature Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) out of the realm of high-risk experimentation and into the category of predictable, bankable engineering.
The ability to prove that the storage particles can survive thousands of high-heat cycles without crumbling ensures that COOPERANT’s technology can offer a long-lasting, low-maintenance alternative to fossil-fuel baseload plants.
Scientific Resource: Review the underlying equations, particle simulation graphics, and validation models presented at UKES by accessing the official Zenodo repository: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20268815
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