Thermal Energy Storage With Horizontal Thermocline Tank for Sludge Drying Application
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v2i.948Keywords:
Process Heat, Thermal Energy Storage, ThermoclineAbstract
Solar thermal technologies can be an attractive option for the decarbonization of process heat applications; in particular, thermal energy storage is a high value proposition for continuous processes that may operate at a range of thermal conditions. A thermal-fluid model is developed to investigate the buoyant flow in a horizontal thermocline storage tank for a sludge-drying application. The process conditions and tank geometry considered are unique compared to the domestic water heating application typically considered in the literature and well suited for parabolic trough collectors. It was found that good separation of hot and cold fluids can be achieved with the long horizontal tank geometry depending on the inlet configuration. Uniform flow distribution along the length of the tank is required to establish a thermocline. Assuming desirable inlet conditions can be achieved, the tank outlet temperature predicted by the thermal-fluid model shows good agreement with the system-level performance model.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Luca Imponenti, Ryan Shininger, Hank Price, Kyle Kattke
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Accepted 2024-07-10
Published 2024-07-24
Funding data
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Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Grant numbers DE-EE0009640
