 High-temperature thermal energy storage for solar and fossil-fuel power applications is gaining increasing attention. Bulk thermal energy storage would permit power plants to operate at their highest efficiency conditions. Sensible thermal energy storage using a cementitious matrix is considered in the present study due to the wide availability of concrete. Existing systems have been focused on solar applications. Liang et al. \[1,2\] performed numerical parametric studies and experimented with various concrete mixes to optimize material properties before building a large module centered around a shell and tube heat exchanger. Bergan et al. \[3\] measured the cyclic performance of the system and created a model to show how their modules, when placed in series and parallel, can add flexibility to the power cycle.

            Computational fluid dynamic simulations and heat transfer analyses were performed to study the thermal performance of a sensible thermal energy storage module consisting of a cementitious matrix. The effect of the heat transfer fluids (HTF) operating conditions on the charging and discharging performance of the module was considered. The present study builds upon the design of an existing system using pipes placed at the vertices of a triangle with spacing equal to 7.5D, where D is the pipe diameter, 17mm. The length of the module is 5m. After constructing the interior of the module, a symmetric cross-section was selected to model an infinite (interior) domain in order to neglect wall effects. The present study varies the flow rate and temperature of the fluid for a fixed module geometry (length, pipe diameter, spacing) and thermophysical properties of the storage medium in a typical charge/discharge cycle.

            In the charge (storage of energy) cycle, the block is initially at 300°C, and HTF at a higher temperature flows through the pipes within the module, causing the concrete to heat up and store energy. The present study considers the block charged when the volume-averaged temperature (VaT) of the module reaches a 10°C temperature difference relative to the HTF. In the discharge (energy output) cycle, the concrete is initially at the higher temperature, and colder fluid at 300°C flows through the pipes, causing thermal energy to transfer from the concrete into the fluid. When the VaT of the block reaches 310°C, the block is considered to be fully discharged.

Laminar and turbulent flow rates corresponding to Reynolds numbers of 500, 1,500, and 8,000, and HTF temperatures of 400, 450, and 500°C were simulated. The block temperature and the heat transfer fluid outlet temperature was monitored over time. Charging/discharging time, the total amount of energy stored/retrieved, and the rate at which energy stored/discharged are characterized for various operating conditions. Analyzing the effect of the HTF on the amount of energy stored and the rate of storage will help design lab-scale and prototype modules.

References:

\[1\] Laing, Doerte, Carsten Bahl, Thomas Bauer, Michael Fiss, Nils Breidenbach, and Matthias Hempel. 2012. “High-Temperature Solid-Media Thermal Energy Storage for Solar Thermal Power Plants.” *Proceedings of the IEEE* 100 (2): 516–24.

\[2\] Laing, Doerte, Rainer Tamme, and Wolf-Dieter Steinmann. 2003. “Advanced Thermal Energy Storage Technology for Parabolic Trough.” In *Solar Energy*, 563–71. Kohala Coast, Hawaii, USA: ASME.

\[3\] Bergan, Pål, Nicolas Calvet, Nils Hoivik, Christopher Greiner, Juan Barragan, Alberto Crespo Iniesta, Geir Skeie, and Pablo Blanco-Rodriguez. 2019. “Long-Term Performance Results of Concrete-Based Modular Thermal Energy Storage System.” *Journal of Energy Storage* 24 (August): 100735.

 


Thermal Performance of the Sensible Energy Storage Module Consisting of Cementitious Matrix \u2013 the Effect of Operating Conditions

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