Abstract
A prototype Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) unit has been designed, constructed, and experimentally analysed for its thermal storage performance under different operational conditions considering heating application and exploiting solar and geothermal energy. The system consists of a rectangular tank filled with Phase Change Material (PCM) and a finned tube staggered Heat Exchanger (HE) while water is used as Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF). Different HTF inlet temperatures and flow rates were tested to find out their effects on LHTES performance. Thermal quantities such as HTF outlet temperature, heat transfer rate, stored energy, were evaluated as a function of the conditions studied. Two commercial organic PCMs were tested A44 and A46. Results indicate that A44 is more efficient during the charging period, taking into account the two energy sources, solar and heat pump. During the discharging process, it exhibits higher storage capacity than A46. Concluding, the developed methodology can be applied to study different PCMs and building applications.
Highlights
The building sector accounts for 40% of the total energy demand in the European Union [1, 2]
This work focuses on the performance evaluation of a full scale Phase Change Material (PCM) thermal energy storage unit under different operational conditions considering its coupling with building heating systems [15]
The low flow rate was estimated based on the heat pump in one of the demo sites working in nominal conditions and considering the number of heating thermal energy storage tank (HTES) tanks in that site [15]
Summary
The building sector accounts for 40% of the total energy demand in the European Union [1, 2]. The efficient design of HEs must take into account desired storage rate, transient PCM heat exchange and required energy storage capacity It should consider the PCM characteristics including low thermal conductivity, a major drawback of organic PCMs [9]. The compact finned (staggered) heat exchanger made of aluminum fins and copper tubes widely used as evaporator or condenser in small air conditioning units, shows the highest ratio of heat transfer area to external volume It has the highest average thermal power, with values above 1kW for charging and discharging tests at cases with larger temperature differences between PCM and water. This work focuses on the performance evaluation of a full scale PCM thermal energy storage unit under different operational conditions considering its coupling with building heating systems [15]. It is considered that the stored energy at temperatures between 38–45°C will be used for the TESSe2b heating system
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