scholarly journals Experiments on Air Compression with an Isothermal Piston for Energy Storage

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ren ◽  
Xu ◽  
Cai ◽  
Wang ◽  
Li

Air is usually compressed adiabatically in the compressor. As the operating speed of compressors can be several thousand rpm, heat generated during compression cannot be sufficiently transmitted to the environment in such a short time. It is for this reason that compressor efficiency is limited. Isothermal compression could be an alternative choice applied on industrial compressor and compressed air energy storage (CAES). This paper proposed a new kind of piston to perform isothermal compression. Surface area of such isothermal piston structure is larger. A certain amount of fluid at the chamber bottom absorbs the heat from the isothermal piston. Heat transfer between piston and fluid during compression is investigated. Air pressure is measured to validate the effectiveness of this proposed piston structure in heat transfer. Compression work of the proposed isothermal piston and conventional one is compared. One issue of this comparison is that air-liquid dissolution can affect the pressure and compression work. The influence of dissolution is quantified with Henry’s Law. Quantitative analysis is performed to determine that heat transfer is the dominant factor affecting the pressure and compression work. Some simple experiments are described in this paper, which shed light on that heat transfer could be significantly improved adopting this proposed isothermal piston.

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3 Part B) ◽  
pp. 1989-2000
Author(s):  
Ji-Min Zhang ◽  
Shi-Ting Ruan ◽  
Jian-Guang Cao ◽  
Tao Xu

In the present work, the phase change energy storage heat exchanger in thermal control system of short-time and periodic working satellite payloads is taken as the research object. Under the condition of constant heated power of the satellite payload, the heat transfer characteristics of phase change energy storage heat exchanger are analyzed by numerical simulation and experimental method. The heat exchanger with fin arrays to enhance heat transfer is filled with tetradecane, whose density varies with temperature. The flow field distribution, the solid-liquid distribution, the temperature distribution, and the phase change process in the plate phase change energy storage heat exchanger unit are analyzed. The flow and heat transfer characteristics of heat exchangers under different fluid-flow rates and temperature were investigated.


Author(s):  
Seyyed Ali Hedayat Mofidi ◽  
Kent S. Udell

Intermittency of sustainable energy or waste heat availability calls for energy storage systems such as thermal batteries. Thermo-chemical batteries are particularly appealing for energy storage applications due to their high energy densities and ability to store thermal energy as chemical energy for long periods of time without any energy loss. Thermo-chemical batteries based on a reversible solid-gas (MgCl2 - NH3) reactions and NH3 liquid-gas phase change are of specific interest since the kinetics of absorption are fast and the heat transfer rates for liquid — vapor phase change are high. Thus, a thermo-chemical battery based on reversible reaction between magnesium chloride and ammonia was studied. Experimental studies were conducted on a reactor in which temperature profiles within the solid matrix and pressure and flow rates of gas were obtained during charging processes. A numerical model based on heat and mass transfer within the salt and salt-gas reactions was developed to simulate the absorption processes within the solid matrix and the results were compared with experimental data. The studies were used to determine dominant heat and mass transfer processes within the salt. It is shown that for high permeability materials, heat transfer is the dominant factor in determining reaction rates. However increasing thermal conductivity might decrease permeability and reduce reaction rates. The effect of constraining mass flow rate on the temperature and reaction propagation is also studied. These results show that optimized heat and mass transfer within the solid-gas reactor will lead to improved performance for heating and air conditioning applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2590
Author(s):  
S. A. M. Mehryan ◽  
Kaamran Raahemifar ◽  
Leila Sasani Gargari ◽  
Ahmad Hajjar ◽  
Mohamad El Kadri ◽  
...  

A Nano-Encapsulated Phase-Change Material (NEPCM) suspension is made of nanoparticles containing a Phase Change Material in their core and dispersed in a fluid. These particles can contribute to thermal energy storage and heat transfer by their latent heat of phase change as moving with the host fluid. Thus, such novel nanoliquids are promising for applications in waste heat recovery and thermal energy storage systems. In the present research, the mixed convection of NEPCM suspensions was addressed in a wavy wall cavity containing a rotating solid cylinder. As the nanoparticles move with the liquid, they undergo a phase change and transfer the latent heat. The phase change of nanoparticles was considered as temperature-dependent heat capacity. The governing equations of mass, momentum, and energy conservation were presented as partial differential equations. Then, the governing equations were converted to a non-dimensional form to generalize the solution, and solved by the finite element method. The influence of control parameters such as volume concentration of nanoparticles, fusion temperature of nanoparticles, Stefan number, wall undulations number, and as well as the cylinder size, angular rotation, and thermal conductivities was addressed on the heat transfer in the enclosure. The wall undulation number induces a remarkable change in the Nusselt number. There are optimum fusion temperatures for nanoparticles, which could maximize the heat transfer rate. The increase of the latent heat of nanoparticles (a decline of Stefan number) boosts the heat transfer advantage of employing the phase change particles.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3006
Author(s):  
Serge Nyallang Nyamsi ◽  
Ivan Tolj

Two-tank metal hydride pairs have gained tremendous interest in thermal energy storage systems for concentrating solar power plants or industrial waste heat recovery. Generally, the system’s performance depends on selecting and matching the metal hydride pairs and the thermal management adopted. In this study, the 2D mathematical modeling used to investigate the heat storage system’s performance under different thermal management techniques, including active and passive heat transfer techniques, is analyzed and discussed in detail. The change in the energy storage density, the specific power output, and the energy storage efficiency is studied under different heat transfer measures applied to the two tanks. The results showed that there is a trade-off between the energy storage density and the energy storage efficiency. The adoption of active heat transfer enhancement (convective heat transfer enhancement) leads to a high energy storage density of 670 MJ m−3 (close to the maximum theoretical value of 755.3 MJ m−3). In contrast, the energy storage efficiency decreases dramatically due to the increase in the pumping power. On the other hand, passive heat transfer techniques using the bed’s thermal conductivity enhancers provide a balance between the energy storage density (578 MJ m−3) and the energy efficiency (74%). The utilization of phase change material as an internal heat recovery medium leads to a further reduction in the heat storage performance indicators (142 MJ m−3 and 49%). Nevertheless, such a system combining thermochemical and latent heat storage, if properly optimized, can be promising for thermal energy storage applications.


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