This paper demonstrates that it is possible to characterize the water temperature profile and its temporal trend in a hot water storage tank during the thermal charge process, using a minimum number of thermocouples (TC), with minor differences compared to experimental data. Four experimental tests (two types of inlet and two water flow rates) were conducted in a 950 L capacity tank. For each experimental test (with 12 TC), four models were developed using a decreasing number of TC (7, 4, 3 and 2, respectively). The results of the estimation of water temperature obtained with each of the four models were compared with those of a fifth model performed with 12 TC. All models were tested for constant inlet temperature. Very acceptable results were achieved (RMSE between 0.2065 °C and 0.8706 °C in models with 3 TC). The models were also useful to estimate the water temperature profile and the evolution of thermocline thickness even with only 3 TC (RMSE between 0.00247 °C and 0.00292 °C). A comparison with a CFD model was carried out to complete the study with very small differences between both approaches when applied to the estimation of the instantaneous temperature profile. The proposed methodology has proven to be very effective in estimating several of the temperature-based indices commonly employed to evaluate thermal stratification in water storage tanks, with only two or three experimental temperature data measurements. It can also be used as a complementary tool to other techniques such as the validation of numerical simulations or in cases where only a few experimental temperature values are available.
Minimum Number of Experimental Data for the Thermal Characterization of a Hot Water Storage Tank