Numerical Investigation Of Thermal Energy Storage (Tes) System For Low And High-Temperature Applications

Abstract

Energy Is The Pillar Of All Day To Day Human Activity In The World And It Is A Dominant Factor In A Country??S Economy. Fossil Fuels Have Served And Fulfilled All Human Energy Needs For A Long Era, But Fossil Fuels Price Is Increased. Among Several Energy Sources, Solar Energy Has Been Identified To Take The Role Of Fossil Fuels. However, The Intermittent And Fluctuating Nature Of Solar Radiation Has Been The Main Obstacle For The Development And Promotion Of This Renewable Energy Source. Integrating Thermal Energy Storage (Tes) System In Any Solar Thermal Application Has Become The Main Solution To Tackle The Above-Mentioned Issue. Tes System Is A Temporary Storing Of Thermal Energy In The Form Of Hot Or Cold Substance At Low Or Hightemperatures For Later Utilization Of The Harvested Solar Energy. The Aim Of This Study Is To Store (7) And (15) Mj Amount Of Heat Energy By Investigating The Performance Analysis Of The Solar Tes System For Low And High-Temperature Applications. 3-D Multiphysics Tes Model Is Developed To Investigate Transient Conjugate Heat Transfer Between The Htf And The Storage Material. During The Investigation Paraffin Wax And Concrete Are Used As A Storage Material For Low And High-Temperature Tes Models, Respectively. The Governing Equations Involved In The Developed Model Are Solved By The Help Of Comsol Multiphysics 4.3a Commercial Software. In Addition To The Major Objective Optimization Of The Number Of Htf Tubes And Heat Transfer, An Enhancement Technique Is Also Applied In This Study. A 2d Tes Model Is Developed To Optimize The Number Of Htf Tubes, The Performance Is Compared By Varying Number Of Charging/Discharging Tubes (13, 17, 21, 25, And 29) And Finally, 21 And 25 Tubes Are Found To Be In The Configuration For Both Models. Based On The Results Obtained, A 9.8 And 15.06 Mj Of Heat Energy Is Stored To Fulfill The Energy Demand Of 66 L Hot Water Per Day At 50 ??? And Produce Saturated Steams At Steam Power Plant, Respectively. Hence, The Developed Tes Model Has Achieved The Required Amount Of Heat Energy For Low And High-Temperature Applications. Numerical Investigations For Intermediate Temperature Application Could Be Recommended In Future Work.