Investigation of a High-Temperature Packed-Bed Sensible Heat Thermal Energy Storage System With Large-Sized Elements

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarada Kuravi ◽  
Jamie Trahan ◽  
Yogi Goswami ◽  
Chand Jotshi ◽  
Elias Stefanakos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Packed Bed ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
Prototype System ◽  
Sensible Heat

A high-temperature, sensible heat thermal energy storage (TES) system is designed for use in a central receiver concentrating solar power plant. Air is used as the heat transfer fluid and solid bricks made out of a high storage density material are used for storage. Experiments were performed using a laboratory-scale TES prototype system, and the results are presented. The air inlet temperature was varied between 300 °C to 600 °C, and the flow rate was varied from 50 cubic feet per minute (CFM) to 90 CFM. It was found that the charging time decreases with increase in mass flow rate. A 1D packed-bed model was used to simulate the thermal performance of the system and was validated with the experimental results. Unsteady 1D energy conservation equations were formulated for combined convection and conduction heat transfer and solved numerically for charging/discharging cycles. Appropriate heat transfer and pressure drop correlations from prior literature were identified. A parametric study was done by varying the bed dimensions, fluid flow rate, particle diameter, and porosity to evaluate the charging/discharging characteristics, overall thermal efficiency, and capacity ratio of the system.

Investigation of a High Temperature Packed Bed Sensible Heat Thermal Energy Storage System With Large Sized Elements

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarada Kuravi ◽  
Jamie Trahan ◽  
Yogi Goswami ◽  
Chand Jotshi ◽  
Elias Stefanakos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Packed Bed ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
Prototype System ◽  
Sensible Heat

A high temperature sensible heat thermal energy storage (TES) system is designed for use in a central receiver concentrating solar power plant. Air is used as the heat transfer fluid and solid bricks made out of a high storage density material are used for storage. Experiments were performed using a laboratory scale TES prototype system and the results are presented. The air inlet temperature was varied between 300°C to 600°C and the flow rate was varied from 50 CFM to 90 CFM. It was found that the charging time decreases with increase in mass flow rate. A 1D packed bed model was used to simulate the thermal performance of the system and was validated with the experimental results. Unsteady 1D energy conservation equations were formulated for combined convection and conduction heat transfer, and solved numerically for charging/discharging cycles. Appropriate heat transfer and pressure drop correlations from prior literature were identified. A parametric study was done by varying the bed dimensions, fluid flow rate, particle diameter and porosity to evaluate the charging/discharging characteristics, overall thermal efficiency and capacity ratio of the system.

Heat Transfer in a High-Temperature Packed Bed Thermal Energy Storage System—Roles of Radiation and Intraparticle Conduction

1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Jalalzadeh-Azar ◽  
W. G. Steele ◽  
G. A. Adebiyi
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Storage System ◽  
Packed Bed ◽  
Energy Storage System ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage System

A model is developed and experimentally verified to study the heat transfer in a high-temperature packed bed thermal energy storage system utilizing zirconium oxide pellets. The packed bed receives flue gas at elevated temperatures varying with time during the storage process and utilizes air for the recovery process. Both convection and radiation are included in the model of the total heat transfer between the gas and the pellets. It is found that thermal radiation and intraparticle conduction do not play a major role in the overall heat transfer in the packed bed under the specified operating conditions. An uncertainty analysis is performed to investigate the propagation of the uncertainties in the variables to the overall uncertainty in the model predictions and the experimental results.

scholarly journals Thermal energy storage in combined cycle power plants: comparing finite volume to finite element methods

2019 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 01001
Author(s):  
Vasilis G. Gkoutzamanis ◽  
Justin N. W. Chiu ◽  
Guillaume Martin ◽  
Anestis I. Kalfas
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
Rate Variation ◽  
Full Potential

The research in thermal energy storage (TES) systems has a long track record. However, there are several technical challenges that need to be overcome, to become omnipresent and reach their full potential. These include performance, physical size, weight and dynamic response. In many cases, it is also necessary to be able to achieve the foregoing at greater and greater scale, in terms of power and energy. One of the applications in which these challenges prevail is in the integration of a thermal energy storage with the gas turbine (GT) compressor inlet conditioning system in a combined cycle power plant. The system is intended to provide either GT cooling or heating, based on the operational strategy of the plant. As a contribution to tackle the preceding, this article describes a series of 3-dimensional (3D) numerical simulations, employing different Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods, to study the transient effects of inlet temperature and flow rate variation on the performance of an encapsulated TES with phase change materials (PCM). A sensitivity analysis is performed where the heat transfer fluid (HTF) temperature varies from -7°C to 20°C depending on the operating mode of the TES (charging or discharging). The flow rate ranges from 50% to 200% of the nominal inflow rate. Results show that all examined cases lead to instant thermal power above 100kWth. Moreover, increasing the flow rate leads to faster solidification and melting. The increment in each process depends on the driving temperature difference between the encapsulated PCM and the HTF inlet temperature. Lastly, the effect of the inlet temperature has a larger effect as compared to the mass flow rate on the efficiency of the heat transfer of the system.

Experimental Determination of the Forced-Convection Gas-to-Wall Heat Transfer Coefficient in a Packed Bed for High Temperature Thermal Energy Storage

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel C. Nsofor ◽  
George A. Adebiyi
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficient ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Transfer Coefficient ◽  
Forced Convection ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Packed Bed ◽  
Maximum Temperature

Abstract Measurements of the gas-to-wall forced convection heat transfer coefficient in a packed bed, high-temperature, thermal energy storage system were carried out. The maximum temperature attained was 1000°C. Effects of media property variations with temperature were incorporated along with detailed uncertainty analysis. Results were correlated in terms of Nusselt number, Prandtl number and Reynolds number. The operating fluid during energy storage was flue gas and air during recovery, making this more applicable to industrial waste recovery and similar systems. Similar studies used air for both storage and recovery and developed correlations from experiments at either room temperature or slightly above. Few associated results with corresponding uncertainty margins. Due to substantial uncertainties associated with the measurements of this heat transfer coefficient, it is significant to note that no firm conclusions can be reached on the validity or otherwise of existing similar correlations for which the uncertainty margins were not reported.

Thermal Analysis of Elemental Sulfur in a Shell-and-Tube Configuration for Thermal Energy Storage Applications

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell Shinn ◽  
Karthik Nithyanandam ◽  
Amey Barde ◽  
Richard Wirz
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Numerical Model ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Elemental Sulfur ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Shell And Tube

Currently, concentrated solar power (CSP) plants utilize thermal energy storage (TES) in order to store excess energy so that it can later be dispatched during periods of intermittency or during times of high energy demand. Elemental sulfur is a promising candidate storage fluid for high temperature TES systems due to its high thermal mass, moderate vapor pressure, high thermal stability, and low cost. The objective of this paper is to investigate the behavior of encapsulated sulfur in a shell and tube configuration. An experimentally validated, transient, two-dimensional numerical model of the shell and tube TES system is presented. Initial results from both experimental and numerical analysis show high heat transfer performance of sulfur. The numerical model is then used to analyze the dynamic response of the elemental sulfur based TES system for multiple charging and discharging cycles. A sensitivity analysis is performed to analyze the effect of geometry (system length), cutoff temperature, and heat transfer fluid on the overall utilization of energy stored within this system. Overall, this paper demonstrates a systematic parametric study of a novel low cost, high performance TES system based on elemental sulfur as the storage fluid that can be utilized for different high temperature applications.

scholarly journals Performance Evaluation of a Small-Scale Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage Unit for Heating Applications Based on a Nanocomposite Organic PCM

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria K. Koukou ◽  
George Dogkas ◽  
Michail Gr. Vrachopoulos ◽  
John Konstantaras ◽  
Christos Pagkalos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Thermal Behavior ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Heat Transfer Fluid ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Solidification Processes

A small-scale latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) unit for heating applications was studied experimentally using an organic phase change material (PCM). The unit comprised of a tank filled with the PCM, a staggered heat exchanger (HE) for transferring heat from and to the PCM, and a water pump to circulate water as a heat transfer fluid (HTF). The performance of the unit using the commercial organic paraffin A44 was studied in order to understand the thermal behavior of the system and the main parameters that influence heat transfer during the PCM melting and solidification processes. The latter will assist the design of a large-scale unit. The effect of flow rate was studied given that it significantly affects charging (melting) and discharging (solidification) processes. In addition, as organic PCMs have low thermal conductivity, the possible improvement of the PCM’s thermal behavior by means of nanoparticle addition was investigated. The obtained results were promising and showed that the use of graphite-based nanoplatelets improves the PCM thermal behavior. Charging was clearly faster and more efficient, while with the appropriate tuning of the HTF flow rate, an efficient discharging was accomplished.

Numerical Study of Thermochemical Storage Using Ca(OH)2/CaO: High Temperature Applications

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qasim A. Ranjha ◽  
Nasser Vahedi ◽  
Alparslan Oztekin
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Storage System ◽  
Packed Bed ◽  
Heat Transfer Fluid ◽  
Operational Parameters ◽  
Storage And Retrieval

Thermal energy storage by reversible gas-solid reaction has been selected as a thermochemical energy storage system. Simulations are conducted to investigate the dehydration of Ca(OH)2 and the hydration of CaO for thermal energy storage and retrieval, respectively. The rectangular packed bed is heated indirectly by air used as a heat transfer fluid (HTF) while the steam is transferred through the upper side of the bed. Transient mass transport and heat transfer equations coupled with chemical kinetics equations for a two dimensional geometry have been solved using finite element method. Numerical results have been validated by comparing against results of previous measurements and simulations. The effect of geometrical and operational parameters including the material properties on overall storage and retrieval process has been investigated. The co-current and counter-current flow arrangements for steam and heat transfer fluid have been considered.

Development and Design Prototype 300 kW-Thermal High-Temperature Particle Heating Concentrator Solar Power System Utilizing Thermal Energy Storage

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Golob ◽  
Sheldon Jeter ◽  
Said I. Abdel-Khalik ◽  
Dennis Sadowski ◽  
Hany Al-Ansary ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Heat Supply ◽  
Power Conversion ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Prototype System ◽  
Solar Heat ◽  
Particle Heating

The advantages of high temperature central receiver particle heating solar heat supply systems in concentrator solar power (CSP) have been recognized in recent years. The use of particulate as the collection medium provides two critical advantages: (1) Ordinary particulate minerals and products will allow higher collection temperatures approaching 1000°C compared with conventional molten salts, which are limited to around 650°C, and (2) the low cost high temperature particulate material can also be used as the storage medium in a highly cost effective thermal energy storage (TES) system. The high operating temperature allows use of high efficiency power conversion systems such as supercritical steam in a vapor power cycle or supercritical carbon dioxide in a Brayton cycle. Alternatively, a lower cost gas turbine can be used for the power conversion system. High conversion efficiency combined with inexpensive TES will yield a highly cost effective CSP system. The 300 kW-th prototype is being constructed as a solar heat supply system only, deferring the power conversion system for later demonstration in a larger integrated CSP system. This paper describes the general design and development efforts leading to construction of the 300 kW prototype system located in the Riyadh Techno Valley development near King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which is the first sizeable solar heat supply system purposely designed, and constructed as a particle heating system. An important component in a particle heating system is the particle heating receiver (PHR), which should be durable and efficient while remaining cost-effective. A critical enabling technology of the PHR being implemented for this project was invented by researchers on our team. In our version of the PHR, the particulate flows downwards through a porous or mesh structure where the concentrated solar energy is absorbed. The porous structure will reduce the speed of the falling particulate material allowing a large temperature rise on a single pass. The new design will also increase the absorption of solar energy and mitigate convective heat loss and particle loss. Other innovative aspects of this design include low cost thermal energy storage bins and a cost effective particle to working fluid heat exchanger. Certain features of these design elements are subjects of ongoing patent applications. Nevertheless, the overall design and the development process of the prototype system is presented in this paper.

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