Simulation on thermal stratification and de-stratification in liquefied gas tanks

The phenomena of thermal stratification and de-stratification in liquefied gas tanks with heat leak through the side wall were researched numerically. The calculating model developed on ANSYS FLUENT 12.0 was verified through the experimental results from literature. The flow behaviors of the liquid and the temperature distributions at stratification and de-stratification stages were illustrated and the interaction between them was analyzed. When the liquid is stratified, the flow field presents a semi-circulation near the liquid surface with a plume-like flow under it and there exists a cold core under the surface which resisting the warmer circulating flow. The de-stratification of the stratified liquid begins when the circulating loops close with the resistance reduced because of the disappearance of the cold core, and once the circulation forms, it extends down to make the thermal stratifications disappear layer by layer from up to down.     

Review of Molten-Salt Thermocline Tank Modeling for Solar Thermal Energy Storage

Molten-salt thermocline tanks are a low-cost option for thermal energy storage in concentrating solar power systems. A review of previous experimental and numerical thermocline tank studies is performed to identify key issues associated with tank design and performance. Published models have shown that tank discharge performance improves with both larger tank height and smaller internal filler diameter due to increased thermal stratification and sustained outflow of molten salt with high thermal quality. For well-insulated (adiabatic) tanks, low molten-salt flow rates reduce the axial extent of the heat-exchange region and increase discharge efficiency. Under nonadiabatic conditions, low flow rates become detrimental to stratification due to the development of fluid recirculation zones inside the tank. For such tanks, higher flow rates reduce molten-salt residence time inside the tank and improve discharge efficiency. Despite the economic advantages of a thermocline tank, thermal ratcheting of the tank wall remains a significant design concern. The potential for thermal ratcheting is reduced through the inclusion of an internal thermal insulation layer between the molten salt and tank wall to diminish temperature oscillations along the tank wall. Future research directions are also pointed out, including combined analyses that consider the solar receiver and power generation blocks as well as optimization between performance and economic considerations.     

Effect of gas injection mass flow rates on the thermal behavior in a cryogenic fuel storage tank

Large scale using of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen on energy engineering, chemical engineering and petrochemical industries, bring a series of non-equilibrium thermal behaviors within fuel storage tanks. Accurate simulation on the thermal behavior in cryogenic fuel storage tanks is therefore a critical issue to improve the operation safety. In the present study, a 2-dimensional numerical model is developed to predict the active pressurization process and fluid thermal stratification in an aerospace fuel storage tank. Both external heat penetration and heat exchange occurring at the interface are accounted for in detail. The volume of fluid method is adopted to predict the thermal physical process with high-temperature gas injected into the tank. The effect of the gas injection mass flow rate on the tank pressure, the interface phase change, and the fluid temperature distribution are investigated respectively. Finally, some valuable conclusions are obtained. The present study may supply some technique references for the design of the pressurization system.     

Fluid thermal stratification in a non-isothermal liquid hydrogen tank under sloshing excitation

To the safe space operation of cryogenic storage tank, it is significant to study fluid thermal stratification under external heat leaks. In the present paper, a numerical model is established to investigate the thermal performance in a cryogenic liquid hydrogen tank under sloshing excitation. The interface phase change and the external convection heat transfer are considered. To realize fluid sloshing, the dynamic mesh coupled the volume of fluid (VOF) method is used to predict the interface fluctuations. A sinusoidal excitation is implemented via customized user-defined function (UDF) and applied on tank wall. The grid sensitivity study and the experimental validation of the numerical mode are made. It turns out that the present numerical model can be used to simulate the unsteady process in a non-isothermal sloshing tank. Variations of tank pressure, liquid and vapor mass, fluid temperature and thermal stratification are numerically investigated respectively. The results show that the sinusoidal excitation has caused large influence on thermal performance in liquid hydrogen tank. Some valuable conclusions are arrived, which is important to the depth understanding of the non-isothermal performance in a sloshing liquid hydrogen tank and may supply some technique reference for the methods of sloshing suppression.     

STUDY OF CHARGING OF STRATIFIED STORAGE TANKS WITH FINITE WALL THICKNESS

This paper presents a numerical and experimental study of finite wall thickness on stratification during charging of soar thermal storage tanks. A numerical two-dimensional spectral-element model has been used. Predictions of the model are compared with experimental data, and with a one-dimensional plug flow model. The fluid inlet effect on the stratification is minimized in the experiments by the use of a proper diffuser design with a settling mesh. Both heat conduction in the tank wall and the developing flow in the tank have a significant effect on stratification during charging at low flow rates. The one-dimensional plug flow model is shown to be inferior to the two-dimensional model in representing the experimental data. Yet, a simple one-dimensional flow model corrected for both centreline velocity and mixing effects has given comparable results to the more expensive two-dimensional model. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Int. J. Energy Res., vol 21, 411–427 (1997).     

Negative buoyant plume model for solar domestic hot water tank systems incorporating a vertical inlet

Thermal stratification in solar energy storage tanks plays an important role in enhancing the performance of solar domestic hot water systems. The mixing that occurs when hot fluid from the solar collector enters the top of the tank is detrimental to the stratification. Mathematical models that are used for system analysis must therefore be able to capture the effects of this inlet jet mixing in order to accurately predict system performance. This paper presents a computational study of the heat transfer and fluid flow in a thermal storage tank of a solar domestic hot water system with a vertical inlet under negative buoyant plume conditions. The effects of parameters such as the fluid inlet velocity and temperature as well as inlet pipe diameter on the thermal mixing were considered. The work culminated in the development of a one-dimensional empirical model capable of predicting the transient axial temperature distribution inside the thermal storage tank. Predictions from the new model were in good agreement with both experimental data and detailed computational fluid dynamics predictions.     

Forced convective mixing in a zero boil-off cryogenic storage tank

This paper presents the results of a study of fluid flow and heat transfer of liquid hydrogen in a cryogenic storage tank with a heat pipe and an array of pump-nozzle units. A forced flow is directed onto the evaporator section of the heat pipe to prevent the liquid from boiling off when heat leaks through the tank wall insulation from the surroundings. An axisymmetric computational model was developed for the simulation of convective heat transfer in the system. Steady-state velocity and temperature fields were solved from this model by using the finite element method. Forty five configurations of geometry and velocity were considered. As the nozzle fluid speed increases, the values of the maximum, average, and spatial standard deviation of the temperature field decrease nonlinearly. Parametric analysis indicates that overall thermal performance of the system can be significantly improved by reducing the gap between the nozzle and the heat pipe, while maintaining the same fluid speed exiting the nozzle. It is also indicated that increased inlet tube length of the pump-nozzle unit results in slightly better thermal performance. Increased heat pipe length also improves thermal performance but only for low fluid speed.     

Thermal stratification in a hot water tank established by heat loss from the tank

This paper presents numerical investigations of thermal stratification in a vertical cylindrical hot water tank established by standby heat loss from the tank. The transient fluid flow and heat transfer in the tank during cooling caused by standby heat loss are calculated by means of validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. The measured heat loss coefficient for the different parts of the tank is used as input to the CFD model. Parametric studies are carried out using the validated models to investigate the influence on thermal stratification of the tank by the downward flow and the corresponding upward flow in the central parts of the tank. Tank design parameters such as tank volume, height to diameter ratio and insulation and different initial conditions of the tank are investigated.It is elucidated how thermal stratification in the tank is influenced by the natural convection and how the heat loss from the tank sides will be distributed at different levels of the tank at different thermal conditions. The results show that 20–55% of the side heat loss drops to layers below in the part of the tank without the presence of thermal stratification. A heat loss removal factor is introduced to characterize the effect of the buoyancy driven flow on exchange of heat loss between tank layers by natural convection. Based on results of the parametric studies, a generalized equation for the heat loss removal factor is obtained by regression which takes into account the influences of tank volume, height to diameter ratio, tank insulation and initial conditions of the tank. The equation is validated for a 150–500 l tank insulated with 0–7 cm mineral wool and a tank height to diameter ratio of 1–5. The equation will be implemented in an existing tank optimization and design program for calculation of thermal performance of a hot water tank.     

Optimal flow control of a forced circulation solar water heating system with energy storage units and connecting pipes

This paper focuses on pump flow rate optimization for forced circulation solar water heating systems with pipes. The system consists of: an array of flat plate solar collectors, two storage tanks for the circulation fluid and water, a heat exchanger, two pumps, and connecting pipes. The storage tanks operate in the fully mixed regime to avoid thermal stratification. The pipes are considered as separated components in the system so as to account for their thermal effects. The objective is to determine optimal flow rates in the primary and secondary loops in order to maximize energy transfer to the circulation fluid storage tank, while reaching user defined temperatures in the water storage tank to increase thermal comfort. A model is developed using mainly the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The model is used to maximize the difference between the energy extracted from the solar collector and the combined sum of the energy extracted by the heat exchanger and corresponding energies used by the pumps in the primary and secondary loops. The objective function maximizes the overall system energy gain whilst minimizing the sum of the energy extracted by the heat exchanger and corresponding pump energy in the secondary loop to conserve stored energy and meet the user requirement of water tank temperatures. A case study is shown to illustrate the effects of the model. When compared to other flow control techniques, in particular the most suitable energy efficient control strategy, the results of this study show a 7.82% increase in the amount of energy extracted. The results also show system thermal losses ranging between 5.54% and 7.34% for the different control strategies due to connecting pipe losses.     

The effects of infill on hydrogen tank temperature distribution during fast fill

The temperature rise of hydrogen tank during fast fill poses challenge on the safety of hydrogen-powered vehicles. Researchers have been continuously looking for methods to mitigate the challenge of overheating. In this paper, we proposed an innovative solution by introducing porous infill in gas tanks to slow down gas-to-wall heat transfer. The porosity of the infill is no less than 97% to maintain the volume capacity of gas tanks. To evaluate the impact of infill heat capacity, we modelled the filling process with a lumped-parameter model and obtained various time-independent temperature evolution curves. Then, we set up a 2D and a 3D finite volume model and investigated the spatial distribution of temperature rise. Four cases with different infill properties were simulated and compared. At the end of the fast fill, the infill resulted in lower tank wall temperature at the cost of higher gas temperature. The combined effect of internal gas temperature and gas-phase effective thermal conductivity largely determines the final temperature distribution. The presence of infill effectively slowed down convective heat transfer, yet overly resistive porous infill may overly slow down the gas flow and result in thermal stratification. Further studies on infill design can be done to seek more effective solutions.     

基于分层蓄热水箱的相变球释热实验研究

相变蓄热水箱可有效调节集热器和负载端之间供求不匹配的矛盾,设计了环形布水器进水结构和蓄热水箱,并搭建相变蓄热水箱性能测试平台,对比直进型蓄热水箱和环形布水器蓄热水箱的温度分层,探究孔隙率、进水流速和变温进水等变量下相变蓄热水箱的热分层和相变球的释热性能。实验研究表明：环形布水器能有效抑制进水水流对温度场的扰动,保持良好的温度分层,使相变球逐层放热,增大相变球与传热流体（HTF）的温差,提高释热效率,保证高温水能够源源不断地提供给用户端;孔隙率越小分层效果越好;流速越大分层效果越差,但是释热效率有所提高;变温进水比恒温进水,释热时间延长约40%。     

Buoyancy driven flow in a hot water tank due to standby heat loss

Results of experimental and numerical investigations of thermal behavior in a vertical cylindrical hot water tank due to standby heat loss of the tank are presented. The effect of standby heat loss on temperature distribution in the tank is investigated experimentally on a slim 150 l tank with a height to diameter ratio of 5. A tank with uniform temperatures and with thermal stratification is studied. A detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the tank is developed to calculate the natural convection flow in the tank. The distribution of the heat loss coefficient for the different parts of the tank is measured by experiments and used as input to the CFD model. Water temperatures at different levels of the tank are measured and compared to CFD calculated temperatures. The investigations focus on validation of the CFD model and on understanding of the CFD calculations.The results show that the CFD model predicts satisfactorily water temperatures at different levels of the tank during cooling by standby heat loss. It is elucidated how the downward buoyancy driven flow along the tank wall is established by the heat loss from the tank sides and how the natural convection flow is influenced by water temperatures in the tank. When the temperature gradient in the tank is smaller than 2 K/m, there is a downward fluid velocity of 0.003–0.015 m/s. With the presence of thermal stratification the buoyancy driven flow is significantly reduced. The dependence of the velocity magnitude of the downward flow on temperature gradient is not influenced by the tank volume and is only slightly influenced by the tank height to tank diameter ratio. Based on results of the CFD calculations, an equation is determined to calculate the magnitude of the buoyancy driven flow along the tank wall for a given temperature gradient in the tank.     

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of fluid flow with phase change heat transfer in an asymmetrically heated porous channel

Fluid flow with phase change heat transfer in a three-dimensional porous channel with asymmetrically heating from one side is numerically studied in this paper. The “modified” Kirchhoff method is used to deal with the spatial discontinuity in the thermal diffusion coefficient in the energy equation. The velocity and temperature fields, as well as the liquid saturation field on the heated section of the wall with different Peclet and Rayleigh numbers are investigated. The results show that the liquid flow bypasses the two-phase zone, while the vapor flows primarily to the interface between the sub-cooled liquid zone and the two-phase zone. An increase in the Peclet number decreases the two-phase region while an increase in the Rayleigh number helps to spread the heat to a larger region of the domain. The distribution of the liquid saturation on the heated section of the wall indicates that the minimum liquid saturation increases with the increase of both the Peclet and Rayleigh numbers.     

Studies on Thermal Stratification Phenomenon in LH2 Storage Vessel

A study of convective heat transfer in a cryogenic storage vessel is carried out numerically and experimentally. A scaled down model study is performed using water as the model fluid in a rectangular glass tank heated from the sides. The convective flow and the resulting thermal stratification phenomenon in the rectangular tank are studied through flow visualization, temperature measurement, and corresponding numerical simulations. It is found that a vortex-like flow near the top surface leads to a well-mixed region there, below which the fluid is thermally stratified. In addition, in an attempt to simulate the actual conditions, a numerical study is performed on a cylindrical cavity filled with liquid hydrogen (LH₂) and heated from the sides. The results are compared with our model study with water, and the qualitative agreement is found to be good.     

Effect of dispersion on thermally stable stratified power-law fluids over the vertical frustum of a cone in a non-Darcy porous medium: Flow separation

The present problem shares out the influences of convective heating and thermal dispersion on thermally stable stratified power-law fluid flow over the vertical frustum of a cone situated in a non-Darcy porous medium. For the first time, it is considered in both aiding and opposing flow cases as it is readily applicable in realistic, practical situations. The local nonsimilarity approach, along with the spectral local linearization method, is used to analyze the fluid behavior and heat transfer within the boundary layer region. In addition, error analysis and comparison with the existing results are also included to validate the obtained results wherever feasible. It is significant to perceive the existence of flow separation in this study as more gain of the velocity of a power-law fluid is seen for aiding flow case in comparison with the opposing flow case. Also, it is evident from these results that the separation of flow is less in the presence of thermal stratification, but it is more in the absence of thermal stratification. Finally, thermal stratification significantly affects the heat transfer rate of power-law fluids besides delaying the boundary layer separation.     

Thermal stratification within the water tank

To sufficiently store and use high-quality heat energy, thermal stratification is gradually applied in many kinds of energy storage fields such as solar thermal utilization system. Because of the unsteady characteristics of solar radiation, thermal storage becomes very essential in long-term operation of heating load. The wide application of thermal stratification lies in the minimization of the mixing effect by use of the thermal stratification, which is caused by the thermal buoyancy because of the difference of temperature between cold and hot water. According to the review, the conception of thermal stratification allows a wide variety of different design embodiments, which essentially extends the fields of practical application of these devices. In this paper a survey of the various types of thermal stratification tanks and research methods is presented, and reasons of energy storage with efficiency problems related to the applications are introduced and benefits offered by thermal stratification are outlined. The structure designs based on theoretical prediction of thermal-stratified water tank performed at many organizations are introduced and are compared with their experimental results. Finally, the development of the tank with thermal stratification in the future application is predicted.     

Discharge of a thermal storage tank using an immersed heat exchanger with an annular baffle

A number of solar domestic hot water systems and many combined space and water heating systems have heat exchangers placed directly in the storage fluid to charge and/or discharge the tank. Operation of the heat exchanger produces a buoyancy-driven flow within the storage fluid. With a view toward controlling the flow field to increase heat transfer, a cylindrical baffle is inserted in a 350 l cylindrical storage tank. The baffle creates a 40 mm annular gap adjacent to the tank wall. A 10 m-long, 0.3 m² copper coil heat exchanger is placed in the gap. The effects of the baffle on the transient heat transfer, delivered water temperature, heat exchanger effectiveness, and temperature distribution within the storage fluid are presented during discharge of initially thermally stratified and fully mixed storage tanks. The baffle increases the storage side convective heat transfer to the heat exchanger by 20%. This increase is attributed to higher storage fluid velocities across the heat exchanger.     

Geometric design of solar-aided latent heat store depending on various parameters and phase change materials

The cylindrical latent heat storage tanks considered here are part of a domestic heating system. In this study, the performances of such energy storage tanks are optimized theoretically. Two different models describing the diurnal transient behaviour of the phase change unit were used. The first is suited to tanks where the phase change material (PCM) is packed in cylinders and the heat transfer fluid (HTF) flows parallel to it (mode 1). The second is suited to tanks where pipes containing the fluid are embedded in the PCM (mode 2). The problem (treated as two-dimensional) is tackled with an enthalpy-based method coupled to the convective heat transfer from the HTF. A series of numerical tests are then undertaken to assess the effects of various PCMs, cylinder radii, pipe radii, total PCM volume in the tank, mass flow rates of fluid, and inlet temperatures of the HTF on the storing time. In addition, optimal geometric design of the store depending on these parameters and PCMs is presented.     

Mixed convective flow and thermal stratification in hot water storage tanks during discharging mode

An analysis of transient, two dimensional, mixed convection and thermal stratification in cylindrical hot water storage tanks is presented. The governing equations together with inflow and outflow boundary conditions are written for laminar mixed convection flow using a finite volume based computational code in the dynamic discharging mode based on Boussinesq approximations and conjugate heat transfer. The equations are solved numerically and the results are obtained for aspect ratios of the tanks ranging from 1 to 4 in the Richardson number range of 10⁵ to 10⁸ using a finite volume based computational code. The dynamic discharging mode is considered using a conjugate heat transfer model. The transient temperature profiles in the bulk fluid reveal reduced mixing at higher Richardson numbers during discharging process. The system performance in the dynamic mode of operation is defined by a Mix Number and discharging efficiency parameter. Mixing at the bottom of the tank due to inflow of low temperature water from the load is found to have significant influence on the storage efficiency. The discharging efficiency decreases with Fourier number due to increased thermal degradation with time.     

An integrated thermal and mechanical investigation of molten-salt thermocline energy storage

Thermal ratcheting is a critical phenomenon associated with the cyclic operation of dual-medium thermocline tanks in solar energy applications. Although thermal ratcheting poses a serious impediment to thermocline operation, this failure mode in dual-medium thermocline tanks is not yet well understood. To study the potential for the occurrence of ratcheting, a comprehensive model of a thermocline tank that includes both the heterogeneous filler region as well as the composite tank wall is formulated. The filler region consists of a rock bed with interstitial molten salt, while the tank wall is composed of a steel shell with two layers of insulation (firebrick and ceramic). The model accounts separately for the rock and molten-salt regions in view of their different thermal properties. Various heat loss conditions are applied at the external tank surface to evaluate the effect of energy losses to the surroundings. Hoop stresses, which are governed by the magnitude of temperature fluctuations, are determined through both a detailed finite-element analysis and simple strain relations. The two methods are found to yield almost identical results. Temperature fluctuations are damped by heat losses to the surroundings, leading to a reduction in hoop stresses with increased heat losses. Failure is prevented when the peak hoop stress is less than the material yield strength of the steel shell. To avoid ratcheting without incurring excessive energy loss, insulation between the steel shell and the filler region should be maximized.