Water Storage Tank Research Articles

The Analysis of Water Losses and Leakages in Drinking Water Networks Using Scada System: A Case Study from Yozgat

For water to be delivered to people cleanly and healthily, the tanks in which it is stored before being made available must also be reliable and clean. To prevent the risk of transmitting infectious diseases through water, it is vital to apply purification and disinfection processes to the water held in water storage tanks. For this reason, monitoring the sediments in the storage tank and their properties, such as pH, pressure, and temperature, are necessary in real-time. With SCADA systems, water flow is monitored remotely by providing central control and monitoring in drinking water distribution. Thanks to the collected data, adverse situations in the storage tanks can be automatically detected, and water distribution can be managed by intervening in the system when necessary. Additionally, water leaks can be detected, and all the water supplied to the network can be delivered to the user. In this study, the data from 4 pumping centers and 13 water storage tanks in Yozgat province were examined, and all processes from the water source to the water storage tanks and the water supply to people's use were controlled remotely with the SCADA system. While the total physical and administrative lost water rate was 64.35% and physical water loss was 27.59% before the use of SCADA, it was observed that the water losses decreased by 51% with the use of SCADA. Thanks to the system, detected sediment formations are prevented quickly, and water is delivered to the user cleanly and healthily.

Three-Dimensional CFD Analysis of a Hot Water Storage Tank with Various Inlet/Outlet Configurations

This study presents a comprehensive 3D numerical analysis of thermal stratification, fluid dynamics, and heat transfer efficiency across six hot water storage tank configurations, identified as Tank-1 through Tank-6. The objective is to determine the most effective design for achieving uniform temperature distribution, stable stratification, and efficient heat retention in sensible heat storage systems, with potential for integration with phase change materials (PCMs). Using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.6, simulations were conducted to evaluate key performance indicators, including the Richardson number, capacity ratio, and exergy efficiency. Among the tanks, Tank-1 demonstrated the highest efficiency, with a capacity ratio of 84.6% and an exergy efficiency of 72.5%, while Tank-3, which achieved a capacity ratio of 70.2% and exergy efficiency of 50.5%, was identified as the most practical for real-world applications due to its balanced heat distribution and feasibility for PCM integration. Calculated dimensionless numbers (Reynolds number: 635, Prandtl number: 4.5, and Peclet number: 2858) indicated laminar flow and dominant convective heat transfer across all the configurations. These findings provide valuable insights into the design of efficient thermal storage systems, with Tank-3’s configuration offering a practical balance of thermal performance and operational feasibility. Future work will explore the inclusion of PCM containers within Tank-3, as well as applications for heat pump and solar water heaters, and high-temperature heat storage with various working fluids.

Assessment of Antibiotic Resistance in Groundwater Bacterial Strains: A Community-based Study

Background: The microbial quality of private and community water supply from groundwater is mostly not monitored nor assessed by any established government agencies in Nigeria. Contamination by pathogenic and antimicrobial resistant microbial agent, and the potential of resistant genes transfer from environmental bacteria to human pathogens is a major risk for public health in these water systems. Aim: This study was aimed at evaluating the microbiological quality and safety in terms of antibiotic resistance bacterial profile of groundwater sources in a typical peri-urban settlement in Nigeria. Methodology: Bacterial contaminants were isolated by membrane filtration technique, characterized and analyzed using standard microbiological approach. Results: A total of 22 and 8 Gram negative and positive bacteria respectively were isolated. The isolates comprised 7 bacterial genera with Klebsiella and Enterobacter species having the highest incidence of 20% respectively, followed by Bacillus (17%) and least being Shigella with 7% incidence. All the isolates were 100% resistant to cefotaxime, followed by 76.7% and 73.3% resistant to vancomycin and meropenem respectively. The least resistance of 3.3% was against ciprofloxacin. Resistance in borehole storage tank water was highest (80%) against vancomycin followed by 70% for meropenem, while 75% resistance was against vancomycin and meropenem respectively in the well water, Seventy-three percent (73%) of the isolates showed multidrug resistance (MDR) pattern, and a multiple antibiotic resistant index (MARI) ≥ 0.3. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that groundwater source in the studied community is contaminated with antibiotic resistant bacteria and underscores the public health implication and concern for monitoring of groundwater supply in Nigerian communities.

Numerical Simulation Study of Thermal Performance in Hot Water Storage Tanks with External and Internal Heat Exchangers

This paper presents a numerical analysis of two hot water storage tank configurations—one equipped with an external heat exchanger (Tank-1) and the other with an internal heat exchanger (Tank-2). The objective is to evaluate and compare their thermal performance during charging and discharging processes. The numerical model is developed by solving a system of ordinary differential equations using the 4th-order Runge–Kutta method, implemented in the Python programming language. The results indicate that Tank-1 demonstrated a higher charging efficiency of 94.6%, achieving full charge in approximately 2 h and 20 min. In comparison, Tank-2 required 3 h and 47 min to reach full charge, with a charging efficiency of 85.9%. During discharge, both configurations exhibited similar behavior, with an efficiency of 13.63% over approximately 33 min. The analysis showed that the external heat exchanger configuration led to more effective thermal stratification, supported by the Richardson number analysis, which indicated a significant effect of buoyancy during charging. This design advantage makes Tank-1 particularly suitable for applications requiring rapid heating and minimal heat loss, such as in cold climates or intermittent demand systems. The numerical model demonstrated reliable predictive accuracy, achieving an RMSE of 6.1% for the charging process and 6.8% for the discharging process, thereby validating the model’s reliability. These findings highlight the superior performance of the external heat exchanger configuration for fast and efficient energy storage, particularly for applications in cold climates.

Effectiveness of the upscaled use of a silver-ceramic (silver ionization) technology to disinfect drinking water in tanks at schools in rural India.

In many low- and middle-income countries, school children consume untreated water that has been pumped into storage tanks. The water is often of poor quality and consumption can cause gastrointestinal illnesses resulting in missed school days, growth stunting, and cognitive impairment. This study deployed a silver-ceramic technology (MadiDrop) to disinfect drinking water in school storage tanks. While silver ionization is effective at the household scale, relatively little research has been conducted on its effectiveness at the community scale. To address this gap, we assessed disinfection via MadiDrop at three schools that serve vulnerable populations in rural India. Tank inflow and treated outflow samples were tested for total coliforms (TCs) and Escherichia coli (EC). TC was significantly reduced overall and in two of three intervention tanks. Compared to the baseline, reductions in TC were significant in all three tanks and overall, while EC reductions were significant overall and in two of three tanks. TC reduction was negatively correlated with silver concentration and tank residence time, and silver concentrations were maintained below the drinking water quality guideline. While the intervention could be considered successful, several barriers and caveats are provided as are study limitations and areas for future research.

Comparison between cold and hot network in a solar district cooling system

Abstract Heat-powered absorption cooling have attracted attention in recent decades, especially in regions with hot and arid climates a higher availability of solar radiation, can be exploited in solar-assisted District Cooling (SDC) system to reduce costs. The paper proposes a comparison of two Solar District Cooling configurations powered by a PTC field with thermal storage and an absorption chiller. The first configuration, called cold network, has a large hot water storage tank slaved to a single chiller that produces all the chilled water that is distributed to the network; in the second configuration, called hot network, the water heated in the solar array is sent through the network directly to thermal storage tanks, located near the buildings to be served, where each agglomeration has its own chillers. A techno-economic optimization was performed for the two configurations by varying the Solar Fraction (SF), from 25% to 100%. When solar radiation is not sufficient to meet demand, an auxiliary electric chiller will be used. The results show that component size increases linearly with SF up to 75%. To achieve a fully renewable solution, components need to be significantly oversized. Generally, a SDC system in a centralized configuration offers improved performance and reduced distribution losses. However, this is not the case for a scenario with unitary SF, where the distribution network takes on an additional thermal reserve role.

Improving the performance of hot water storage tanks using chimney type heaters

Hot water storage tanks (HWST) are high energy consumption devices. One way of reducing energy consumption is improving thermal stratification of the HWST. Improving thermal stratification will supply hot water faster for users, reduce the energy they consumed, increase efficiency in solar collectors or heat exchanger. In this work, the electrically heated HWST is led under investigation to improve the thermal stratification by imposing a chimney over the heating element to accelerate the top layer temperature by natural convection. Various tank sizes (38, 50, 62, and 75 litres) were investigated. The chimney height (HC), chimney diameter (DC) and chimney natural flow area (Df= 9.5, 2.5 and 1.5 cm) were also analysed to find the optimal chimney. The experiments revealed that using chimney in the HWST will accelerate the natural circulation to the upper layer in the storage tank. This will reduce the amount of energy required to perform the same operation without a chimney. Using chimney type heaters (CTH) in the HWST is favorable especially when tanks volume to heating element power increases. The entropy generation and distorted exergy of the system were improved by using CTH, thus the available reversable work increases. High hot water temperatures were attained in a shorter time which favorite such HWST. Higher efficiencies in case of solar heat collectors (due to lower cold-water temperatures in the bottom layers). Dynamic mode of CTHHWST represents a significant issue which needs detailed investigation which is currently under investigation.

Enhancing Solar Water Heater Performance Using Phase Change Materials and Modified Encapsulation Geometry

ABSTRACTSolar energy's abundant availability in India makes it a potential solution to meet increasing energy needs without harming environment. Solar water heating (SWH) systems are effective in converting solar radiation into heat for domestic and industrial applications. However, their inability to provide hot water during nighttime or off‐sunshine hours due to the intermittent nature of solar energy presents a challenge. Thermal energy storage, particularly using phase change materials (PCMs), has emerged as a solution. In this study, spherical ball‐type encapsulated PCM, specifically RT60, was incorporated into a solar water heater tank under variable atmospheric conditions. The PCM stores excess energy during daylight and releases it when the water temperature drops below the PCM's melting point. The results reveal a significant reduction in the temperature drop of water from 4.5°C to 1.4°C when utilizing PCM compared to conventional storage water tanks without PCM. Additionally, energy storage capacity is enhanced by 5.13% with PCM incorporation. Furthermore, modifying the encapsulation geometry to a rectangular shape enhances heat transfer and reduces temperature drop even further to 0.9°C, making it a promising approach to improving SWH system performance. This study highlights the possibility of enhancing encapsulation shape and applying PCM to enhance SWH system performance. The results highlight the possibility of increasing solar thermal systems' energy efficiency and usefulness, which will support sustainable energy sources.

Numerical approach and experimental investigation of a stratified hot water storage tank for domestic hot water production

Thermal stratification within storage tanks plays a critical role in the efficiency of thermal energy storage systems. In this paper, one-dimensional numerical model of a stratified storage tank is developed to simulate the thermal stratification process within a storage tank during the charging and the discharging processes, capturing the temperature distribution inside the storage tank over time. This work investigates the evolution and transient behavior of stratified flows during the heating and cooling process within sensible-heat energy storage systems under ReD=167 and ReD=616 for heating process. For that purpose, an experimental campaign was performed in an instrumented water storage tank to measure the stratification process when a hot water round jet was injected into a slender cylindrical tank filled with an initially uniform hydrostatic water field stabilized at a lower temperature. This information was used to develop a simple 1D model able to be applied during long-term charging/discharging transients of these kind of systems. The 1D model developed was validated against the experiments performed following prototypical charging/discharging tests according to the standard EN16147 and can be used to describe the energy performance of this kind of systems during long-term charging/discharging sequences. The present model provides a reduction of about 5 % of the error of the time of the water cooling process with respect to other models in the literature.

Insights into water insecurity in Indigenous communities in Canada: assessing microbial risks and innovative solutions, a multifaceted review.

Canada is considered a freshwater-rich country, despite this, several Indigenous reserves struggle with household water insecurity. In fact, some of these communities have lacked access to safe water for almost 30 years. Water quality in Canadian Indigenous reserves is influenced by several factors including source water quality, drinking water treatments applied, water distribution systems, and water storage tanks when piped water is unavailable. The objective of this multifaceted review is to spot the challenges and consequences of inadequate drinking water systems (DWS) and the available technical and microbiological alternatives to address water sanitation coverage in Indigenous reserves of Canada, North America (also known as Turtle Island). A comprehensive literature review was conducted using national web portals from both federal and provincial governments, as well as academic databases to identify the following topics: The status of water insecurity in Indigenous communities across Canada; Microbiological, chemical, and natural causes contributing to water insecurity; Limitations of applying urban-style drinking water systems in Indigenous reserves in Canada and the management of DWS for Indigenous communities in other high-income countries; and the importance of determining the microbiome inhabiting drinking water systems along with the cutting-edge technology available for its analysis. A total of 169 scientific articles matched the inclusion criteria. The major themes discussed include: The status of water insecurity and water advisories in Canada; the risks of pathogenic microorganisms (i.e., Escherichia coli and total coliforms) and other chemicals (i.e., disinfection by-products) found in water storage tanks; the most common technologies available for water treatment including coagulation, high- and low-pressure membrane filtration procedures, ozone, ion exchange, and biological ion exchange and their limitations when applying them in remote Indigenous communities. Furthermore, we reviewed the benefits and drawbacks that high throughput tools such as metagenomics (the study of genomes of microbial communities), culturomics (a high-efficiency culture approach), and microfluidics devices (microminiaturized instruments) and what they could represent for water monitoring in Indigenous reserves. This multifaceted review demonstrates that water insecurity in Canada is a reflection of the institutional structures of marginalization that persist in the country and other parts of Turtle Island. DWS on Indigenous reserves are in urgent need of upgrades. Source water protection, and drinking water monitoring plus a comprehensive design of culturally adapted, and sustainable water services are required. Collaborative efforts between First Nations authorities and federal, provincial, and territorial governments are imperative to ensure equitable access to safe drinking water in Indigenous reserves.

Heat transfer research on the cooling process of waxy crude oil storage in the vault tank based on VOF model

This paper focuses on the static cooling process for waxy crude oil stored in dome roof tanks. For the three phases of gas on top, liquid crude oil, and bottom water in storage tank, the VOF method is used to describe the evolution of physical quantities at the “oil–water”/“oil–gas” interface. The porous medium method is used to quantitatively characterize the sol–gel conversion process for waxy crude oil. A physical and mathematical models are established to describe the flow-heat transfer coupling behavior of the three-phase medium of crude oil, gas on top, and water at the bottom of the dome roof tank. In terms of the overall cooling process,The gas at the top of the tank has the simplest and fastest physical field evolution. It has the most uneven distribution (average temperature variance of 4 °C2), the strongest flow (average flow velocity of 0.4 m/s), the highest cooling rate (0.632 °C/h), and the lowest temperature (14.84 °C at the end). Its physical field is influenced by both the atmosphere and crude oil. The evolution of the physical field of crude oil is the most complex. It lags behind the gas at the top of tank and is directly effectted by it. Based on the evolution characteristics of the flow field of crude oil, the cooling process is divided into three stages: Stage I (0–––10 h) is the stage of convection generation and evolution in the crude oil region; Stage II (10 h − 34 h) is the stage of convection stability in the crude oil region; Stage III (after 35 h) is the stage of flow field transformation of crude oil. In stages I and II, the flow and momentum exchange at the oil–gas interface are significant. Crude oil is jointly influenced by the natural convection of the gas at the top of the tank and its own natural convection, forming a counterclockwise large vortex structure. The low-temperature area is near the central axis boundary of storage tank, oil–gas interface, and tank wall. The high-temperature area is within a range of 0.1 m − 3.3 m from the tank wall. After entering stage III, the flow and momentum exchange at the oil–gas interface weaken. The flow field of crude oil is only controlled by its own natural convection and transforms into a clockwise large vortex dominated. The low-temperature area is concentrated in the enclosed area of “oil–gas interface − tank wall” and “oil–water interface − tank wall”. The temperature field changes accordingly. Eventually, the high-temperature area is concentrated in the area slightly above the center of the tank. The physical field evolution of bottom water lags behind crude oil and is most unstable. Its cooling rate is 0.164 °C/h, slightly higher than crude oil’s 0.157 °C/h. The temperature is always slightly lower (33.47 °C at the end), and the physical field is the most uniform (average temperature variance of 0.0003 °C2), affected by the tank bottom environment and liquid crude oil.

Comparison with Carnot battery of an alternate thermal electricity storage charged by concentrated photovoltaic thermal system and resistance heater

In Carnot Batteries (pumped thermal electricity storage), which is known as a low-cost electricity storage method, electrical energy is stored as thermal energy and then converted back into electrical energy using a heat pump and a heat engine, respectively. In the studies carried out to date, different heat source scenarios, heat storage methods, and methods to improve heat pump and heat engine cycles have been applied to increase efficiency and reduce the cost of the Carnot Battery. This study’s novelty was using a concentrated photovoltaic thermal system and resistance heaters instead of a heat pump for the charge cycle in thermal electricity storage. This novel thermal electricity storage design aimed to reduce the levelized cost of storage of the system by eliminating the need for a heat pump and reducing the volume of the water storage tank. First, parametric analyses were performed for the specific variables of both energy storage systems. Afterward, the Carnot Battery and the proposed system were compared for the same electricity storage capacity. For charge/discharge times ranging from 4 h to 8 h and electricity storage capacities ranging from 0.5 MW to 2 MW, a 31.8 % to 58 % increase in round-trip efficiency and a 7.13 % to 20.67 % decrease in levelized cost of energy storage were achieved with the novel design.

Application of PVT Coupled Solar Heat Pump System in the Renovation of Existing Campus Buildings

A photovoltaic thermal panel (PV/T) is an integrated module that harnesses both photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies to convert solar energy into electricity and heat, thereby enhancing overall energy efficiency. This paper aims to explore the suitability of PV/T solar heat pump systems across various climate zones and assess their potential for widespread application. By analyzing the operating principles of an indirect expansion PV/T solar heat pump system in conjunction with the climate characteristics of different regions, MATLAB R2019b/Simulink software was employed to evaluate the photoelectric performance of PV and PV/T systems in representative cities across five distinct climate zones in China during typical winter days. Key metrics, such as power generation, hot water storage tank temperature, indoor temperature, and system COP, were chosen to assess the heating performance of the PV/T solar heat pump system. The findings indicate that the winter ambient temperature significantly affects the photoelectric efficiency of both the PV and PV/T systems. While higher latitudes with lower ambient temperatures yield greater photoelectric efficiency, the southern regions exhibit higher power generation during winter. The winter heating effectiveness of the PV/T solar heat pump system is mainly influenced by indoor and water tank temperatures, with Harbin’s system performing the poorest and failing to meet heating demands, whereas Nanjing’s system shows the best results.

Integrated solar dryer and distillation system with PCM and injection, powered by PVT panels and solar concentrator

This research introduces a novel hybrid system integrating solar drying, solar distillation, and photovoltaic thermal panels, aimed at drying agricultural products, producing clean drinking water, and conserving energy. The system enhances the drying air temperature using thermal energy storage materials and a solar dish concentrator connected to a hot water storage tank, ensuring continuous operation even after sunset. The solar distiller, equipped with energy storage materials and an air injection system, is integrated with an external condenser to condense water vapor before expulsion, thereby increasing freshwater productivity. The results revealed that the developed system achieved an accumulative freshwater productivity of 87.1 L per day. The rates of water removal from dried potato slices ranged from 0.18 to 0.91 kg/h between 8:00 am and 10:00 pm. Additionally, the system achieved a gain output ratio of 1.38, indicating a significant improvement in energy efficiency. This innovative system offers practical solutions to address energy and freshwater scarcity, especially in remote regions of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, which are characterized by high solar irradiance. The implementation of such hybrid systems could contribute to sustainable development by reducing reliance on conventional energy sources and mitigating environmental pollution.

Autonomous Planetary Liquid Sampler (APLS) for In Situ Sample Acquisition and Handling from Liquid Environments.

Many natural and artificial liquid environments, such as rivers, oceans, lakes, water storage tanks, aquariums, and urban water distribution systems, are difficult to access. As a result, technology is needed to enable autonomous liquid sampling to monitor water quality and ecosystems. Existing in situ sample acquisition and handling systems for liquid environments are currently limited to a single use and are semi-autonomous, relying on an operator. Liquid sampling systems should be robust and light and withstand long-term operation in remote locations. The system components involved in liquid sampling should be sterilisable to ensure reusability. Here, we introduce a prototype of a liquid sampler that can be used in various liquid environments and may be valuable for the scientific characterisation of different natural, remote, and planetary settings. The Autonomous Planetary Liquid Sampler (APLS) is equipped with pre-programmed, fully autonomous extraction, cleaning, and sterilisation functionalities. It can operate in temperatures between -10 °C and 60 °C and pressure of up to 0.24 MPa (~24 m depth below mean sea level on Earth). As part of the control experiment, we demonstrate its safe and robust autonomous operation in a laboratory environment using a liquid media with Bacillus subtilis. A typical sampling procedure required 28 s to extract 250 mL of liquid, 5 s to fill the MilliQ water, 25 s for circulation within the system for cleaning and disposal, and 200 s to raise the system temperature from ~30 °C ambient laboratory temperature to 150 °C. The temperature is then maintained for another 3.2 h to sterilise the critical parts, allowing a setup reset for a new experiment. In the future, the liquid sampler will be combined with various existing analytical instruments to characterise the liquid solution and enable the autonomous, systematic monitoring of liquid environments on Earth.

Numerical modeling of heat losses from hot water storage tank

Domestic hot water storage tanks (HWST) are widely used devices, and their daily operation can generate significant annual heat losses to the environment. Previous studies concerning HWST have mainly focused on the impact of insulation quality and thickness, stratification, and tank operation on total heat losses. Some studies have addressed these losses concerning different parts of the tank, including upper, lower, and side walls. However, the influence of insulating additional tank elements, such as connectors, on heat loss has not been analyzed.Therefore, experimental studies were conducted as a reference for the temperature distribution and heat loss from an insulated HWST equipped with 12 connectors. Then, CFD numerical calculations of heat loss were performed for various variants: an insulated HWST without connectors, a tank with connectors insulated in five different ways, and an uninsulated tank.It was found that, in extreme cases of poor insulation of the tank connectors, the heat loss increased by 92.5 % and 147.6 %, respectively, compared to the reference loss. This means an increase in heat loss streams by 62.0 W and 98.9 W compared to the reference case. The latter value corresponds to an annual heat loss of approximately 3 GJ. The study also showed that insulating the bottom of the tank is crucial. With proper insulation, heat losses from this part account for less than 10 % of the total heat loss.The results highlight the critical role of proper connector insulation in minimizing standby heat losses in water storage systems.

Assessing rainwater harvesting scenarios to mitigate potable water storage needs in Algerian individual houses under intermittent supply

Urban areas in Algeria are increasingly suffering from water scarcity due to climate change and rapid urbanization, prompting the government to introduce an intermittent water supply system. This situation requires households to store potable water during supply interruptions. This study investigates the potential of rainwater harvesting (RWH) to reduce the need for such storage in single-family homes in the municipality of Beni-Mared (north of Algeria). Through five simulated scenarios: "Current" which represents the existing situation without RWH; "Maximum" in which all available rainwater is captured; "Switch" in which the existing potable water storage tanks are used for rainwater; "Optimal" in which the size of the storage tanks and efficiency are balanced; and "Outdoor" in which the focus is on rainwater for external purposes such as watering. The results show that the "Maximum" scenario has the greatest potential, as it reduces the need for potable water storage by up to 84.5%, although it requires large and potentially expensive tanks. The "Optimal" scenario offered a practical solution in which a 2.7 m³ tank covers up to 33% of the storage. The "Switch" scenario, where existing tanks were repurposed, reduced storage requirements by 15.07%, while the "Outdoor" scenario, designed for external uses, achieved a more modest reduction of 5.85%–6.71%. These results demonstrate the importance of implementing an adapted RWH approach supported by a comprehensive development strategy, community involvement and financial support to effectively address water scarcity in Algeria.

Analysis and Characterization of Coconut Shell Particulates Filled HDPE Composites

Abstract: This project mainly focuses on evaluating the mechanical property of composite material that consist of High-density polyethylene (HDPE) and Coconut shell powder (CS). The matrix material is High-density polyethylene (HDPE), and reinforcement is Coconut Shell (CS) particles were created with varying weight percentages (0, 10, 20 and 30wt. percent) using the injection molding process and were tested for strength. The elemental compositions of HDPE/CS new composites were investigated mechanical characterization and FEA software analysis. The varies wt. % such that (0,10,20, and 30 wt%) CS particulates-filled HDPE composite revealed the maximum compressive strength, Shore A hardness, Tensile test, Flexural test was founded. Then the Catia V5 software FEA structural analysis test was conducted such that structural analysis and thermal analysis. The HDPE/CS composites would be utilized for applications requiring low strength rack and pinion gear, light weight, electrical insulating component, home appliances, automobile interior parts, low power transmission spur gears, automobile brake fluid reservoir, automobile radiator water storage tank

Feasibility study of a metal hydride-based solar thermal collector system

The present study aims to assess the technical feasibility of a novel Metal Hydride-based Solar Thermal Collector (MH-STC) system. This system includes a flat-plate solar collector integrated with a metal hydride bed, a hydrogen compressor, a photovoltaic panel, a hydrogen tank, and a water storage tank. This system combines the principles of a conventional solar thermal collector with the energy storage capabilities of metal hydrides, enabling the storage of surplus thermal energy. The LaNi5 alloy was used as heat storage material. A 3D-mathematical model is established and a numerical code written in Fortran-90 is developed to simulate the dynamic behavior of the proposed solar thermal collector. It was shown that the developed 3D-model produces computational results that are consistent with experimental data. In addition, to check the accuracy of the mathematical model and numerical approach, the relative errors in the mass balance and energy balance were calculated and values of 0.054 % and 0.18 %, respectively, were obtained.The simulation results offer insights into the system's technical feasibility, revealing an overall efficiency of 90.6 %, the water temperature at the collector outlet can reach 357.3 K, and a water volume heated of 230.4 L under the considered operating conditions. Moreover, the results indicate that the proposed MH-STC system exhibits significant potential as a viable alternative for thermal storage in domestic hot water systems.

Drones Clean Water Storage Tanks Safely and Efficiently

Drones Clean Water Storage Tanks Safely and Efficiently