Numerical Simulation Study on Structure Optimization and Performance Improvement of Hot Water Storage Tank in CHP System

Ying Li, Fengzhong Sun, Qiannan Zhang, Xuehong Chen and Wei Yuan
Additional contact information
Ying Li: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, 17923 Jingshi Road, Jinan 250061, China
Fengzhong Sun: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, 17923 Jingshi Road, Jinan 250061, China
Qiannan Zhang: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, 17923 Jingshi Road, Jinan 250061, China
Xuehong Chen: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, 17923 Jingshi Road, Jinan 250061, China
Wei Yuan: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, 17923 Jingshi Road, Jinan 250061, China

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-14

Abstract: The central heating technology with thermal storage technology is an important means to realize thermoelectric decoupling, meet heating demand, reduce primary energy consumption, and protect the ecological environment. For this paper, the numerical simulation method was used to study the temperature variation of large-capacity hot water storage tank (HWST) in an actual combined heat and power system. The influence of various factors, including the length diameter ratio, water supply temperature, and water supply flow, as well as the orifice diameter and number of the water distributor, on the flow uniformity and performance of the HWST was investigated. The results show that the heat storage efficiency and flow uniformity of the HWST can be improved by properly increasing the water supply flow, the orifice diameter, and number of the water distributor. Increasing the length diameter ratio can improve the flow uniformity, but it will reduce the heat storage efficiency of the HWST. Increasing the water supply temperature can increase heat storage efficiency of the HWST and accelerate the stratification of cold and hot water in the tank. Besides, the comprehensive analysis of the non-dimensional exergy loss calculation results, velocity field, and temperature field show that there is a certain coupling relationship between the non-dimensional exergy loss and flow uniformity at the initial stage of heat storage. In practical application, the influence of these factors on flow uniformity, heat storage efficiency, and non-dimensional exergy loss should be comprehensively considered in order to achieve the best heat storage and release performance of the HWST. This paper provides some engineering guidance for the application of large-capacity heat storage tanks in the combined heat and power (CHP) system.

Keywords: thermoelectric decoupling; thermal storage technology; combined heat and power (chp); numerical simulation; heat storage tank (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 (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/18/4734/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/18/4734/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:18:p:4734-:d:411983

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().