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Comparative study of the influences of different water tank shapes on thermal energy storage capacity and thermal stratification

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  • Yang, Zheng
  • Chen, Haisheng
  • Wang, Liang
  • Sheng, Yong
  • Wang, Yifei

Abstract

The influences of different water tank shapes on thermal energy storage capacity and thermal stratification in the static mode of operation is investigated in this study under laminar natural convection. A new experimental apparatus is built, and a numerical model is developed to simulate the flow and heat transfer in the water tank. Computational results agree with the experimental data. Among the 10 different water tank shapes studied, the sphere and barrel water tanks are ideal for thermal energy storage capacity, whereas the cylinder water tank is the least favorable. The thermal energy storage capacity is closely related to the surface area of the water tank. According to the characteristics of the velocity and temperature fields, these shapes can be divided into three categories: shapes with sharp corners, those with hemispheres, and those with horizontal plane surface. Shapes with sharp corners have the highest degree of thermal stratification, whereas the shapes with horizontal plane surface possess the lowest. That of the shapes with hemispheres lies in between these two degrees. The thermal stratification of different shapes is determined by the flow at the bottom of the water tank and the heat transfer from the fluid to the environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Zheng & Chen, Haisheng & Wang, Liang & Sheng, Yong & Wang, Yifei, 2016. "Comparative study of the influences of different water tank shapes on thermal energy storage capacity and thermal stratification," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 31-44.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:85:y:2016:i:c:p:31-44
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2015.06.016
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    Cited by:

    1. Trojan, Marcin & Taler, Dawid & Dzierwa, Piotr & Taler, Jan & Kaczmarski, Karol & Wrona, Jan, 2019. "The use of pressure hot water storage tanks to improve the energy flexibility of the steam power unit," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 926-936.
    2. Dzierwa, Piotr & Taler, Jan & Peret, Patryk & Taler, Dawid & Trojan, Marcin, 2022. "Transient CFD simulation of charging hot water tank," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    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. Rendall, Joseph & Abu-Heiba, Ahmad & Gluesenkamp, Kyle & Nawaz, Kashif & Worek, William & Elatar, Ahmed, 2021. "Nondimensional convection numbers modeling thermally stratified storage tanks: Richardson's number and hot-water tanks," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    5. Li, Qiong & Huang, Xiaoqiao & Tai, Yonghang & Gao, Wenfeng & Wenxian, L. & Liu, Wuming, 2021. "Thermal stratification in a solar hot water storage tank with mantle heat exchanger," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 1-11.
    6. Khurana, Hitesh & Majumdar, Rudrodip & Saha, Sandip K., 2022. "Response Surface Methodology-based prediction model for working fluid temperature during stand-alone operation of vertical cylindrical thermal energy storage tank," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 619-636.
    7. 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.
    8. Lutsenko, Nickolay A. & Fetsov, Sergey S., 2020. "Effect of side walls shape on charging and discharging performance of thermal energy storages based on granular phase change materials," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 466-477.
    9. Chang, Chun & Wu, Zhiyong & Navarro, Helena & Li, Chuan & Leng, Guanghui & Li, Xiaoxia & Yang, Ming & Wang, Zhifeng & Ding, Yulong, 2017. "Comparative study of the transient natural convection in an underground water pit thermal storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 1162-1173.
    10. Bai, Yakai & Wang, Zhifeng & Fan, Jianhua & Yang, Ming & Li, Xiaoxia & Chen, Longfei & Yuan, Guofeng & Yang, Junfeng, 2020. "Numerical and experimental study of an underground water pit for seasonal heat storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 487-508.
    11. Li, Yong & Hu, Bing & Wang, Dengjia & Liu, Hui & Liu, Yanfeng & Haghighat, Fariborz, 2023. "Enhancing the performance of solar water heating systems: Application of double-layer phase change materials," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P1).
    12. Kurşun, Burak & Ökten, Korhan, 2018. "Effect of rectangular hot water tank position and aspect ratio on thermal stratification enhancement," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(PA), pages 639-646.
    13. Wunvisa Tipasri & Amnart Suksri & Karthikeyan Velmurugan & Tanakorn Wongwuttanasatian, 2022. "Energy Management for an Air Conditioning System Using a Storage Device to Reduce the On-Peak Power Consumption," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-19, November.

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