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Stratification of a thermal storage tank

In a few words

EOLIOS Engineering has designed a thermal storage system by inertia allowing the valorization of heat pump waste heat.

Project

Stratification of a thermal storage tank

Year

2021

Customer

NC

Location

Nantes

Typology

Industrial Process

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Description of the project

Association with a heat pump :

As part of the design of a thermal inertia storage system, EOLIOS ingénierie teams were able to optimize a hot water storage tank using CFD simulation . The aim of the study was initially to investigate a complete storage/retrieval cycle for water produced by an energy recovery system from a chiller. From the technical characteristics of the heat generation source, the loading/emptying times could be established according to different stored buffer volumes.

What is the thermocline in a hot water storage tank?

The thermocline is a neckche from leat which go to holeve à a somee profwaveon and which a a température différente from leat situee in dessus and in dessYou can visit. Dyears a ballon deat chaude, the thermocline go to forme entre leat chaude in haut and water more froide in bottom. He is an invisible layer that separates the two layers of water according to their temperature.

Why is this important in thermal storage sizing?

The thermocline is importante for the stockage thermics because elthe permet from handtenir the température from leat chaude more longtemps. The objective is a heterogeneous storage to optimize the phase shift. If this layer is disturbed, then the thermal stratification is not perfect, which can lead to heat loss and unnecessary energy consumption. Optimizing the thermal store also allows the heat pump to operate more efficientlyand to produce more heat at lower cost.

Why integrate storage levels in a hot water tank?

The paliers limitant the brassage from leat shave importants dyears a ballon from stockage thermics because its empêchent the training da neckche chaude and froide separatee. Cela permet daméliorer lefficacity from the pompe à chaleon in refromisant the peryour from chaleon and in handtenant the température from leat à a niveat optimal. The bearings limiting the mixing of the water must be designed according to the loading speed of the tank. The shorter the time between cycles, the smaller the steps must be to prevent the formation of homogeneous heat layers. Bearings should also be designed according to the type of heat pump used, as some heat pumps may require larger bearings than others.

How can thermal storage tanks be used to optimize the performance of a heat pump?

The dephasage is a technique which permet from regulate the flow of heat entre the thermal storage tank and the thermal source. Candte méthode consiste à checkôler the hardee and lintensity à thethatit leat chaude is pumpee from ballon for handtenir the température à a niveat optimal. This processus permet from reduce energy consumption and to maximize the return from the pompe à chaleon.

The stockage thermics peut être utilisé for optimiser lefficacity da pompe à chaleon in permandtant à leat chaude from store heat longer. Cela permet à the pompe à chaleon from fonctionner more efficacement and from produire more from chaleon à moindre coût. From more, the stockage thermics peut reduce peaks from consommation dénergy, to allow lutilisateur from benéficirst from tarifs more avantageux and recovering waste heat.

Optimization of thermal storage by CFD simulation

EOLIOS Ingénierie used these initial dimensioning elements to carry out transient CFD simulations of the storage tank loading and unloading cycle. These time studies made it possible to determine the temperatures of the water extracted from the storage tank, so as to optimize the Air/Water heat pumps supplied by the storage tanks.
Finally, the design of the tank was optimized by the use of trays to promote thermal stratification in the tank, followed by the design of a transfer device devised by the EOLIOS teams. This stratification system has been patented by the EOLIOS teams.

Design and sizing of storage system based on thermal stratification

Video summary of the study

The thermocline is a neckche invisible dyears a ballon deat chaude which sépare the neckches deat go tolon theon température. Elthe is importante for the stockage thermics because elthe permet from handtenir the température from leat chaude more longtemps and from reguler the température for a consommation dénergie more efficiente. The stockage thermics peut également être utilisé for optimising the efficiency of a heat pump and for refromire the peaks from consommation dénergie. The dephasage is a technique which permet from reguler the flows from chaleon entre the ballon and the source thermics. The thermal stratification must be perfect afin doptimiser the makesement from the pompe à chaleon and from reduce heat loss.

Below is a video synthesis of the studies that led to the design and optimization of a storage system based on waste heat.

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