Numerical Simulation on the Structural Design of a Multi-Pore Water Diffuser during the External Ice Melting Process of an Ice Storage System

Lei Li, Yude Wu, Yi Lu, Xiao Yang, Qiyang Wang, Xiaoai Wang and Yulin Wang
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Lei Li: State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 310000, China
Yude Wu: State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 310000, China
Yi Lu: State Grid Jinhua Power Supply Company, Jinhua 321000, China
Xiao Yang: Nari Group Corporation, State Grid Electric Power Research Institute, Nanjing 211000, China
Qiyang Wang: Nari Group Corporation, State Grid Electric Power Research Institute, Nanjing 211000, China
Xiaoai Wang: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Refrigeration Technology, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin 300134, China
Yulin Wang: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Refrigeration Technology, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin 300134, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: A water diffuser is a critical auxiliary equipment for an ice storage system during the external ice melting process. This paper proposes a linear multi-pore water diffuser for an ice storage system with 500 t of refrigeration capacity to enhance the performance of external ice melting. By establishing a three-dimensional two-phase volume of fluid (VOF) model, different structural designs of water diffusers for the ice storage device are numerically examined regarding the degree of turbulence, flow velocity, and pressure drop. The results show that the optimal water diffuser with five rows of trunk pipe and six perforated pores arranged in per row of branch pipe with a 4 mm diameter of perforated pores exhibiting a relatively lower degree of turbulence with a lower pressure drop compared with the other designs in this study. Meanwhile, the influence of the flow velocity on the ice melting process is also investigated by a numerical model of ice melting. It is found that the fed flow velocity from the main pipe inlet exhibits a great impact on the external ice melting process. Compared with the external ice melting process without the water diffuser, the external ice melting process with optimal water diffuser design under flow velocity of 1.0 m s −1 could shorten the overall ice-melting time by 16 h. Additionally, through adjusting the water flow velocity, different output cooling can be realized to provide a fast response speed to the cooling variations in demand of the terminal users with a reduced cost.

Keywords: ice storage system; water diffuser; external ice melting system; heat transfer; VOF method (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: 2022
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