Rudrodip Majumdar
EEP, School of Natural Sciences and Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc campus
Sandip Kumar Saha
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Powai, Mumbai – 400076. Maharashtra, India
Using the thermal stratification phenomena in storing energy
in thermal energy storage is a promising technology. In this
work, we have studied the effect of the addition of
encapsulated PCM to enhance thermal stratification in the
storage system. We have developed a numerical model based
on simplified energy balance equations considering thermal
non- equilibrium between encapsulated phase change material
(PCM) and heat transfer fluid (HTF), devoid of complicated
momentum and energy equations. The effect of the location of
PCM bed location in the storage system and HTF flow rate on
the thermal stratification performance is investigated using
stratification number, Richardson number, as well as, charging
and storage efficiencies for the charging phase. The HTF flow
rate is found to significantly affect the thermal stratification in the storage tank. The Richardson number increases by 400% if the HTF flow rate is doubled from 2 L/min.