Modeling and Simulation for Thermal Energy Storage System Design**

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More than 81% of the energy consumed by humans in 2015 came from fossil fuels, which generate greenhouse gas emissions responsible for worldwide global warming. It has become vital to reduce their consumption and favor renewable energies, such as hydroelectricity, wind, or solar energies. Unfortunately, most sources of renewable energies are intermittent and not necessarily in phase with the electricity consumption cycle. It is therefore essential to develop energy storage systems to capture renewable energies when they are available and distribute them when needed. The company Sigma Energy Storage in Montreal is currently investigating novel thermal energy storage systems which are charged by hot air flow through packed aggregates of rocks found on-site. The stored heat can be later used during a discharging phase for the generation of electricity. Such a packed-rock bed thermal energy storage system offers an attractive and cost-efficient alternative to existing energy storage systems. The objective of the proposed collaboration between Sigma Energy Storage and Polytechnique Montréal is concerned with the development, implementation, and analysis of heat transfer two-phase transient computational models to be later used in the preliminary design phase of thermal energy storage systems. More specifically, requirements are that the model be fast, robust, and accurate so that it is suitable for design optimization. The major outcome of the project will consist of a feasibility study assessing the range of parameters over which energy can be stored and extracted cost-effectively. The parametric study will be done with the use of established mathematical and numerical models in one and three space dimensions. The development of reliable and performant computational models will help Sigma Energy Storage with the design of optimal configurations of packed-rock bed thermal energy storage systems. Such technology will help in turn reduce fossil fuel consumption and take full advantage of intermittent renewable energies for maximum economic and environmental impact in Canada and elsewhere in the world.