Transient analysis for designing and predicting operational performance of a high temperature sensible thermal energy storage system

Abstract

A practical method for calculation and design of a high temperature sensible thermal energy storage device is presented. This method enables evaluation of the performance of the storage device in transient conditions. A tubular configuration of the storage construction was selected. The method is based on a steady state model, useful for system simulation and preliminary design of performance parameters, and a transient model allowing verification of these parameters. The transient method by J. A. Duffie and W. A. Beckman was adapted to tubular storage construction and compared with other methods; good agreement was obtained. The design, thermal and operational parameters resulting from the simulating were analysed. The phenomenon of a sudden drop in temperature at the storage outlet, at the point of the change from the laminar flow regime to transitional, was observed. This drop permits predicting of operational behaviour of a thermal storage system. Based on the developed method a high temperature thermal energy storage device, working about 1000°C, was designed for the Solar Thermochemical Pipeline System at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.