Evaluation of the State of Charge of a Solid/Liquid Phase Change Material in a Thermal Energy Storage Tank

Gabriel Zsembinszki, Christian Orozco, Jaume Gasia, Tilman Barz, Johann Emhofer and Luisa F. Cabeza
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Gabriel Zsembinszki: GREiA Research Group, Universitat de Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
Christian Orozco: GREiA Research Group, Universitat de Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
Jaume Gasia: GREiA Research Group, Universitat de Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
Tilman Barz: Center for Energy, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, 1210 Wien, Austria
Johann Emhofer: Center for Energy, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, 1210 Wien, Austria
Luisa F. Cabeza: GREiA Research Group, Universitat de Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-26

Abstract: Monitoring of the state of charge of the thermal energy storage component in solar thermal systems for space heating and/or cooling in residential buildings is a key element from the overall system control strategy point of view. According to the literature, there is not a unique method for determining the state of charge of a thermal energy storage system that could generally be applied in any system. This contribution firstly provides a classification of the state-of-the-art of available techniques for the determination of the state of charge, and secondly, it presents an experimental analysis of different methods based on established sensor technologies, namely temperature, mass flow rates, and pressure measurements, tested using a lab-scale heat exchanger filled with a commercial phase change material for cooling applications. The results indicate that, depending on the expected accuracy and available instrumentation, each of the methods studied here can be used in the present application, the deviations between the methods generally being below 20%. This study concludes that a proper combination of two or more of these methods would be the ideal strategy to obtain a more reliable and accurate estimation of the state of charge of the latent heat thermal energy storage.

Keywords: phase change material; thermal energy storage; state of charge; cooling applications; residential buildings; experimental testing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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