Electrified Thermal Solutions is developing a firebrick-based thermal battery that converts low-cost electricity into high-temperature heat for energy-intensive industries. The technology could pair with solar and wind to absorb surplus generation and deliver round-the-clock industrial heat at costs competitive with natural gas.
Rapid growth in data centers, industrial production, and economy-wide electrification is straining power systems worldwide. At the same time, manufacturers of steel, cement, chemicals, and other materials remain largely dependent on fossil fuels to provide the high-temperature process heat they need.
Electrified Thermal Solutions, a Boston-based startup, is developing a thermal storage system designed to electrify heavy industry while limiting strain on the grid. The company’s Joule Hive Thermal Battery (JHTB), also known as the E-brick, combines traditional firebricks with advanced firebricks that conduct electricity. The bricks serve three functions within the system: heating elements, thermal storage media, and heat exchangers.
The system allows high-temperature industrial facilities to store off-peak electricity as heat and, on demand, release that heat as hot air through channels in the bricks to furnaces, kilns, or boilers. Electrified Thermal Solutions says the E-brick is compatible with electrical supplies ranging from 480 V to 100 kV and can store heat at temperatures of up to 1,800 C. Output temperatures can be adjusted from 200 C to 1,800 C.
