IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v134y2019icp862-874.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The experimental investigation of the thermal stratification in a solar hot water tank

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Zilong
  • Zhang, Hua
  • Huang, Huajie
  • Dou, Binlin
  • Huang, Xiuhui
  • Goula, Maria A.

Abstract

Thermal storage technology is an important approach to improve the efficiency of solar energy utilisation. To analyse the thermal stratification in a hot water storage tank at an initial temperature of 80 °C and at an inlet temperature of 5 °C, this study thoroughly analysed the impact of the position of PCM balls on the thermal stratification for various flow rates (1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 L/min) under different position. Performance parameters, including the Richardson number, MIX number, and exergy efficiency, were involved in the evaluation. The study was further extended to explore the applicability of Fill Efficiency (FE) as a performance parameter of thermal stratification within a storage tank. The experimental results indicated that, for the same inlet flow rate, an improved thermal stratification of the tank was achieved as the positions of the balls became closer are to the inlet, and the balls with a small diameter also showed remarkable potential for improving the thermal stratification of the water tank. When the flow rate increased, the cold and hot water mixing intensified, and the thermocline thickness in the tank increased. Thus, the thermal stratification weakened. Furthermore, when the water-release process progressed, the mixing of the hot and cold water in the water tank tended to be stable, and formed a stable thermocline. Finally, when the inlet flow rate was less than 7 L/min, the thermal stratification of the water tank exceeded that of the PCM water tank, while for an inlet flow rate in excess of 7 L/min, the thermal stratification of the PCM water tanks was superior to that of the water tank in the case when the balls was on the fourth layer.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Zilong & Zhang, Hua & Huang, Huajie & Dou, Binlin & Huang, Xiuhui & Goula, Maria A., 2019. "The experimental investigation of the thermal stratification in a solar hot water tank," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 862-874.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:134:y:2019:i:c:p:862-874
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.088
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148118314071
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.088?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mehling, H. & Cabeza, L.F. & Hippeli, S. & Hiebler, S., 2003. "PCM-module to improve hot water heat stores with stratification," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 699-711.
    2. Kumar, G. Senthil & Nagarajan, D. & Chidambaram, L.A. & Kumaresan, V. & Ding, Y. & Velraj, R., 2016. "Role of PCM addition on stratification behaviour in a thermal storage tank – An experimental study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P1), pages 1168-1178.
    3. Zou, Deqiu & Ma, Xianfeng & Liu, Xiaoshi & Zheng, Pengjun & Cai, Baiming & Huang, Jianfeng & Guo, Jiangrong & Liu, Mo, 2017. "Experimental research of an air-source heat pump water heater using water-PCM for heat storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 784-792.
    4. Oró, Eduard & Castell, Albert & Chiu, Justin & Martin, Viktoria & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2013. "Stratification analysis in packed bed thermal energy storage systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 476-487.
    5. Kicsiny, Richárd, 2018. "Black-box model for solar storage tanks based on multiple linear regression," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 857-865.
    6. Frazzica, Andrea & Manzan, Marco & Sapienza, Alessio & Freni, Angelo & Toniato, Giuseppe & Restuccia, Giovanni, 2016. "Experimental testing of a hybrid sensible-latent heat storage system for domestic hot water applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1157-1167.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. María Gasque & Federico Ibáñez & Pablo González-Altozano, 2021. "Minimum Number of Experimental Data for the Thermal Characterization of a Hot Water Storage Tank," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Rendall, Joseph & Elatar, Ahmed & Nawaz, Kashif & Sun, Jian, 2023. "Medium-temperature phase change material integration in domestic heat pump water heaters for improved thermal energy storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    3. Agnieszka Malec & Tomasz Cholewa & Alicja Siuta-Olcha, 2021. "Influence of Cold Water Inlets and Obstacles on the Energy Efficiency of the Hot Water Production Process in a Hot Water Storage Tank," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-26, October.
    4. Ding, Tao & Meng, Zhaoming & Chen, Kailun & Fan, Guangming & Yan, Changqi, 2020. "Experimental study on thermal stratification in water tank and heat transfer characteristics of condenser in water-cooled passive residual heat removal system of molten salt reactor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    5. F. Aguilar & D. Crespí-Llorens & S. Aledo & P. V. Quiles, 2021. "One-Dimensional Model of a Compact DHW Heat Pump with Experimental Validation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-19, May.
    6. Kutlu, Cagri & Zhang, Yanan & Elmer, Theo & Su, Yuehong & Riffat, Saffa, 2020. "A simulation study on performance improvement of solar assisted heat pump hot water system by novel controllable crystallization of supercooled PCMs," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 601-612.
    7. Joseph Rendall & Fernando Karg Bulnes & Kyle Gluesenkamp & Ahmad Abu-Heiba & William Worek & Kashif Nawaz, 2021. "A Flow Rate Dependent 1D Model for Thermally Stratified Hot-Water Energy Storage," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-17, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rendall, Joseph & Elatar, Ahmed & Nawaz, Kashif & Sun, Jian, 2023. "Medium-temperature phase change material integration in domestic heat pump water heaters for improved thermal energy storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    2. Afshan, Mahboob E. & Selvakumar, A.S & Velraj, R. & Rajaraman, R., 2020. "Effect of aspect ratio and dispersed PCM balls on the charging performance of a latent heat thermal storage unit for solar thermal applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 876-888.
    3. Jie Huang & Fei Xu & Zilong Wang & Hua Zhang, 2023. "An Experimental Investigation on the Performance of a Water Storage Tank with Sodium Acetate Trihydrate," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Porteiro, Jacobo & Míguez, José Luis & Crespo, Bárbara & López González, Luis María & De Lara, José, 2015. "Experimental investigation of the thermal response of a thermal storage tank partially filled with different PCMs (phase change materials) to a steep demand," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 202-214.
    5. Kutlu, Cagri & Zhang, Yanan & Elmer, Theo & Su, Yuehong & Riffat, Saffa, 2020. "A simulation study on performance improvement of solar assisted heat pump hot water system by novel controllable crystallization of supercooled PCMs," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 601-612.
    6. Diana Isabel Berrocal & Juan Blandon Rodriguez & Maria De Los Angeles Ortega Del Rosario & Itamar Harris & Arthur M. James Rivas, 2024. "Heat Transfer Enhancements Assessment in Hot Water Generation with Phase Change Materials (PCMs): A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-35, May.
    7. Jin, Xin & Zhang, Huihui & Huang, Gongsheng & Lai, Alvin CK., 2021. "Experimental investigation on the dynamic thermal performance of the parallel solar-assisted air-source heat pump latent heat thermal energy storage system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 637-657.
    8. Majumdar, Rudrodip & Saha, Sandip K., 2019. "Effect of varying extent of PCM capsule filling on thermal stratification performance of a storage tank," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 1-20.
    9. Frazzica, Andrea & Manzan, Marco & Sapienza, Alessio & Freni, Angelo & Toniato, Giuseppe & Restuccia, Giovanni, 2016. "Experimental testing of a hybrid sensible-latent heat storage system for domestic hot water applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1157-1167.
    10. Kumar, G. Senthil & Nagarajan, D. & Chidambaram, L.A. & Kumaresan, V. & Ding, Y. & Velraj, R., 2016. "Role of PCM addition on stratification behaviour in a thermal storage tank – An experimental study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P1), pages 1168-1178.
    11. Sharif, M.K. Anuar & Al-Abidi, A.A. & Mat, S. & Sopian, K. & Ruslan, M.H. & Sulaiman, M.Y. & Rosli, M.A.M., 2015. "Review of the application of phase change material for heating and domestic hot water systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 557-568.
    12. Dutil, Yvan & Rousse, Daniel R. & Salah, Nizar Ben & Lassue, Stéphane & Zalewski, Laurent, 2011. "A review on phase-change materials: Mathematical modeling and simulations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 112-130, January.
    13. Gao, Jinshuang & Li, Sheng & Wu, Fan & Jiang, Long & Zhao, Yazhou & Zhang, Xuejun, 2024. "Study on efficient heating method by solar coupled air source heat pump system with phase change heat storage in severe cold region," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 367(C).
    14. Chen, Jianyong & Chen, Liuxing & Li, Junjie & Chen, Ying & Luo, Xianglong & Liang, Yingzong & Yang, Zhi & He, Jiacheng, 2022. "Potentials of implementing liquid-separation to a transient wrap-around microchannel condenser coil within heat pump water heater," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    15. Huiqian Guo & ELSaeed Saad ELSihy & Zhirong Liao & Xiaoze Du, 2021. "A Comparative Study on the Performance of Single and Multi-Layer Encapsulated Phase Change Material Packed-Bed Thermocline Tanks," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-24, April.
    16. Li, Chuan & Li, Qi & Ding, Yulong, 2019. "Investigation on the thermal performance of a high temperature packed bed thermal energy storage system containing carbonate salt based composite phase change materials," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 374-388.
    17. Cong Zhou & Yizhen Li & Fenghao Wang & Zeyuan Wang & Qing Xia & Yuping Zhang & Jun Liu & Boyang Liu & Wanlong Cai, 2023. "A Review of the Performance Improvement Methods of Phase Change Materials: Application for the Heat Pump Heating System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-21, March.
    18. Wanjiru, Evan M. & Sichilalu, Sam M. & Xia, Xiaohua, 2017. "Model predictive control of heat pump water heater-instantaneous shower powered with integrated renewable-grid energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 1333-1346.
    19. Mondol, Jayanta Deb & Smyth, Mervyn & Zacharopoulos, Aggelos, 2011. "Experimental characterisation of a novel heat exchanger for a solar hot water application under indoor and outdoor conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1766-1779.
    20. Heier, Johan & Bales, Chris & Martin, Viktoria, 2015. "Combining thermal energy storage with buildings – a review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1305-1325.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:134:y:2019:i:c:p:862-874. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.