Research progress on industrial waste heat recycling and seasonal energy storage

With the rapid development of global industrialization, the surplus and waste heat generated during industrial production processes is becoming increasingly abundant, making the utilization of industrial surplus and waste heat a focal point of current research. The main challenge facing the utilization of industrial surplus and waste heat is the spatial and temporal mismatch between the large amount of industrial waste heat generated during the non-heating season and the heating demand during the heating season. Seasonal energy storage technology enables energy to be stored and transferred over long periods and large areas. The application of this technology in the field of industrial surplus and waste heat utilization can effectively reduce energy waste and greenhouse gas emissions, thereby lowering the costs of industrial production. Here, we provide an overview of the current status of the utilization of surplus and waste heat resources in six industrial scenarios: Thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, steel mills, oil refineries, coal mines, and data centers. The research progress of sensible heat storage (SHS), latent heat storage (LHS), and thermochemical storage (THS) is analyzed. The advantages and disadvantages of different energy storage technologies are discussed. Application cases combining industrial waste heat recovery with seasonal energy storage are enumerated and analyzed. Our aim is to provide a reference for research and practice in related fields.