IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v168y2021icp234-246.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Experimental and numerical investigation of the impact of operating conditions on thermocline storage performance

Author

Listed:
  • Vannerem, S.
  • Neveu, P.
  • Falcoz, Q.

Abstract

Thermocline storage performance is studied using a numerical model with three phases (fluid, solid, wall) and one dimension, which is then validated by comparison with experimental results. The impact of the interstitial fluid velocity on storage performance is presented and numerical simulations show the existence of an optimal velocity of 4⋅10−4 m s−1 that maximises the storage utilisation rate (80.6%) for ideal charges between 293 °C and 393 °C. This optimal velocity remains identical when the temperature level of the storage is shifted down and slightly increases to 4.8⋅10−4 m s−1 when the temperature difference is decreased by half (343°C–393 °C). A numerical sensitivity analysis is presented on the impact of heat losses, of thermal diffusion and of the convective heat transfer between the fluid and the solid phases, providing a physical interpretation of the location of the optimum depending on operating conditions. Experimentally, the impact of fluid velocity is too moderate to observe an optimal velocity, especially because of non-ideal inlet temperature conditions, but a deterioration of storage performance is observed at the lowest and highest velocities, with respectively −2.8% and −3.8% compared to the maximal utilisation rate. This moderate influence of both fluid velocity and temperature shows that thermocline storage presents good robustness of its performance to variations in operating conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Vannerem, S. & Neveu, P. & Falcoz, Q., 2021. "Experimental and numerical investigation of the impact of operating conditions on thermocline storage performance," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 234-246.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:168:y:2021:i:c:p:234-246
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.12.061
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148120319996
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2020.12.061?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Medrano, Marc & Gil, Antoni & Martorell, Ingrid & Potau, Xavi & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2010. "State of the art on high-temperature thermal energy storage for power generation. Part 2--Case studies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 56-72, January.
    2. Boukelia, T.E. & Mecibah, M.S. & Kumar, B.N. & Reddy, K.S., 2015. "Investigation of solar parabolic trough power plants with and without integrated TES (thermal energy storage) and FBS (fuel backup system) using thermic oil and solar salt," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 292-303.
    3. Fasquelle, T. & Falcoz, Q. & Neveu, P. & Hoffmann, J.-F., 2018. "A temperature threshold evaluation for thermocline energy storage in concentrated solar power plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1153-1164.
    4. Xu, Chao & Wang, Zhifeng & He, Yaling & Li, Xin & Bai, Fengwu, 2012. "Parametric study and standby behavior of a packed-bed molten salt thermocline thermal storage system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-9.
    5. Bruch, A. & Molina, S. & Esence, T. & Fourmigué, J.F. & Couturier, R., 2017. "Experimental investigation of cycling behaviour of pilot-scale thermal oil packed-bed thermal storage system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 277-285.
    6. Xu, Chao & Wang, Zhifeng & He, Yaling & Li, Xin & Bai, Fengwu, 2012. "Sensitivity analysis of the numerical study on the thermal performance of a packed-bed molten salt thermocline thermal storage system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 65-75.
    7. Yang, Zhen & Garimella, Suresh V., 2010. "Molten-salt thermal energy storage in thermoclines under different environmental boundary conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(11), pages 3322-3329, November.
    8. Filali Baba, Yousra & Al Mers, Ahmed & Ajdad, Hamid, 2020. "Dimensionless model based on dual phase approach for predicting thermal performance of thermocline energy storage system: Towards a new approach for thermocline thermal optimization," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 440-455.
    9. Esence, Thibaut & Bruch, Arnaud & Fourmigué, Jean-François & Stutz, Benoit, 2019. "A versatile one-dimensional numerical model for packed-bed heat storage systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 190-204.
    10. García-Olivares, Antonio & Ballabrera-Poy, Joaquim & García-Ladona, Emili & Turiel, Antonio, 2012. "A global renewable mix with proven technologies and common materials," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 561-574.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vannerem, S. & Neveu, P. & Falcoz, Q., 2023. "Thermal cycle performance of thermocline storage: numerical and experimental exergy analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    2. Xie, Baoshan & Baudin, Nicolas & Soto, Jérôme & Fan, Yilin & Luo, Lingai, 2023. "Experimental and numerical study on the thermocline behavior of packed-bed storage tank with sensible fillers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 106-121.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Filali Baba, Yousra & Al Mers, Ahmed & Ajdad, Hamid, 2020. "Dimensionless model based on dual phase approach for predicting thermal performance of thermocline energy storage system: Towards a new approach for thermocline thermal optimization," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 440-455.
    2. Wang, Letian & Yang, Zhen & Duan, Yuanyuan, 2015. "Influence of flow distribution on the thermal performance of dual-media thermocline energy storage systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 283-292.
    3. Calderón-Vásquez, Ignacio & Cortés, Eduardo & García, Jesús & Segovia, Valentina & Caroca, Alejandro & Sarmiento, Cristóbal & Barraza, Rodrigo & Cardemil, José M., 2021. "Review on modeling approaches for packed-bed thermal storage systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    4. Xinming Xi & Zicheng Zhang & Huimin Wei & Zeyu Chen & Xiaoze Du, 2023. "Experimental Study of Simultaneous Charging and Discharging Process in Thermocline Phase Change Heat Storage System Based on Solar Energy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-17, April.
    5. Fasquelle, T. & Falcoz, Q. & Neveu, P. & Hoffmann, J.-F., 2018. "A temperature threshold evaluation for thermocline energy storage in concentrated solar power plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1153-1164.
    6. Wu, Ming & Xu, Chao & He, Ya-Ling, 2014. "Dynamic thermal performance analysis of a molten-salt packed-bed thermal energy storage system using PCM capsules," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 184-195.
    7. Galione, P.A. & Pérez-Segarra, C.D. & Rodríguez, I. & Oliva, A. & Rigola, J., 2015. "Multi-layered solid-PCM thermocline thermal storage concept for CSP plants. Numerical analysis and perspectives," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 337-351.
    8. Ortega-Fernández, Iñigo & Hernández, Ana Belén & Wang, Yang & Bielsa, Daniel, 2021. "Performance assessment of an oil-based packed bed thermal energy storage unit in a demonstration concentrated solar power plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    9. Zhao, Bing-chen & Cheng, Mao-song & Liu, Chang & Dai, Zhi-min, 2018. "System-level performance optimization of molten-salt packed-bed thermal energy storage for concentrating solar power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 225-239.
    10. Chang, Zheshao & Li, Xin & Xu, Chao & Chang, Chun & Wang, Zhifeng & Zhang, Qiangqiang & Liao, Zhirong & Li, Qing, 2016. "The effect of the physical boundary conditions on the thermal performance of molten salt thermocline tank," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA), pages 190-202.
    11. Peng, Hao & Li, Rui & Ling, Xiang & Dong, Huihua, 2015. "Modeling on heat storage performance of compressed air in a packed bed system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 1-9.
    12. Xu, Chao & Wang, Zhifeng & He, Yaling & Li, Xin & Bai, Fengwu, 2012. "Parametric study and standby behavior of a packed-bed molten salt thermocline thermal storage system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-9.
    13. Wu, Ming & Li, Mingjia & Xu, Chao & He, Yaling & Tao, Wenquan, 2014. "The impact of concrete structure on the thermal performance of the dual-media thermocline thermal storage tank using concrete as the solid medium," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1363-1371.
    14. Zhao, Bing-chen & Cheng, Mao-song & Liu, Chang & Dai, Zhi-min, 2016. "Thermal performance and cost analysis of a multi-layered solid-PCM thermocline thermal energy storage for CSP tower plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 784-799.
    15. Tiskatine, R. & Eddemani, A. & Gourdo, L. & Abnay, B. & Ihlal, A. & Aharoune, A. & Bouirden, L., 2016. "Experimental evaluation of thermo-mechanical performances of candidate rocks for use in high temperature thermal storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 243-255.
    16. González, Ignacio & Pérez-Segarra, Carlos David & Lehmkuhl, Oriol & Torras, Santiago & Oliva, Assensi, 2016. "Thermo-mechanical parametric analysis of packed-bed thermocline energy storage tanks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1106-1122.
    17. Cocco, Daniele & Serra, Fabio, 2015. "Performance comparison of two-tank direct and thermocline thermal energy storage systems for 1 MWe class concentrating solar power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 526-536.
    18. Zanganeh, G. & Pedretti, A. & Haselbacher, A. & Steinfeld, A., 2015. "Design of packed bed thermal energy storage systems for high-temperature industrial process heat," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 812-822.
    19. Mao, Qianjun & Zhang, Yamei, 2020. "Thermal energy storage performance of a three-PCM cascade tank in a high-temperature packed bed system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 110-119.
    20. Ma, Zhao & Li, Ming-Jia & Zhang, K. Max & Yuan, Fan, 2021. "Novel designs of hybrid thermal energy storage system and operation strategies for concentrated solar power plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:168:y:2021:i:c:p:234-246. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.