Experimental and theoretical studies of the heat transfer characteristics of the lab-scale sensible heat storage system

Sensible heat storage in a passive mode is in the phase of development and has a significant potential for improvement. The present work includes the composition of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for predicting the heat transfer characteristics of the sensible heat storage system (SHSS) followed by the validation of the numerical model with experimental data obtained using a lab-scale facility constructed for investigating the heat transfer characteristics of the SHSS. A concrete structure with an embedded steel pipe having the maximum energy storage capacity of 1.12 MJ was considered for numerical modeling and experimentation. For the 90-min charging period, the stored energy was 1.01 MJ during experimentation, and the numerical model has predicted the stored energy to be equal to 0.99 MJ. The charging/discharging time, pipe and concrete temperature profiles were also predicted with considerable accuracy by the numerical model. The dependence of storage performance on operating temperature range, thermophysical properties of sensible heat storage material, and heat transfer fluid has also been established. The excellent agreement between experimental and theoretical results ensured the applicability of the numerical model for higher temperature full-scale applications. © 2019 by Begell House, Inc.