Most of the thermal energy storage systems available on the market use water as a storage medium. The improvement of the storage efficiency results in a higher performance of the whole system, and thermal stratification is commonly used for this purpose. On the other hand, in applications with small temperature changes, phase change materials (PCMs) provide high energy density since the latent heat is much larger than the sensible heat. This is the case of stratified hot water tanks, where the temperature change in the top layer is small as it is held close to the usage temperature. The benefits of using PCMs in a water tank, in terms of energy storage density, have been demonstrated before. The time with available hot water is increased because of the energy stored in the PCMs. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that the use of PCMs in the upper part of a water tank holds or improves the benefit of the stratification phenomenon. Two tanks with the same dimensions were compared during charging and discharging processes. One of them is a traditional water tank and the other is a PCM-water tank (a water tank with a phase change material placed at the top).
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Comparison of Stratification in a Water Tank and a PCM-Water Tank
A. Castell,
A. Castell
Departament d’Informàtica i Enginyeria Industrial,
Universitat de Lleida
, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain
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C. Solé,
C. Solé
Departament d’Informàtica i Enginyeria Industrial,
Universitat de Lleida
, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain
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M. Medrano,
M. Medrano
Departament d’Informàtica i Enginyeria Industrial,
Universitat de Lleida
, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain
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M. Nogués,
M. Nogués
Departament d’Informàtica i Enginyeria Industrial,
Universitat de Lleida
, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain
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L. F. Cabeza
L. F. Cabeza
Departament d’Informàtica i Enginyeria Industrial,
e-mail: lcabeza@diei.udl.es
Universitat de Lleida
, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain
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A. Castell
Departament d’Informàtica i Enginyeria Industrial,
Universitat de Lleida
, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain
C. Solé
Departament d’Informàtica i Enginyeria Industrial,
Universitat de Lleida
, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain
M. Medrano
Departament d’Informàtica i Enginyeria Industrial,
Universitat de Lleida
, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain
M. Nogués
Departament d’Informàtica i Enginyeria Industrial,
Universitat de Lleida
, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain
L. F. Cabeza
Departament d’Informàtica i Enginyeria Industrial,
Universitat de Lleida
, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spaine-mail: lcabeza@diei.udl.es
J. Sol. Energy Eng. May 2009, 131(2): 024501 (5 pages)
Published Online: March 25, 2009
Article history
Received:
July 6, 2007
Revised:
December 9, 2008
Published:
March 25, 2009
Citation
Castell, A., Solé, C., Medrano, M., Nogués, M., and Cabeza, L. F. (March 25, 2009). "Comparison of Stratification in a Water Tank and a PCM-Water Tank." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. May 2009; 131(2): 024501. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3097277
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