Heat Transfer Behavior of Sulfur for Thermal Storage Applications

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karthik Nithyanandam ◽  
Amey Barde ◽  
Louis Tse ◽  
Reza Baghaei Lakeh ◽  
Richard Wirz
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Elemental Sulfur ◽  
Storage System ◽  
Thermal Storage ◽  
Energy Storage System ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage System ◽  
Transfer Behavior

Efficient and cost-effective thermal energy storage system plays an important role in energy conservation. Elemental sulfur, the thirteenth most abundant element on earth, is actively being researched as a potential thermal storage medium due to its high energy storage density and low cost. The present work investigates the heat transfer behavior of elemental sulfur at temperatures between 50 degree Celsius and 250 degree Celsius. A shell and tube heat exchanger configuration with sulfur stored inside the tubes and heat transfer fluid flowing over the tubes through the shell is considered. A detailed computational model solving for the conjugate heat transfer and solid-liquid phase change dynamics of the sulfur based thermal energy storage system is developed to elucidate the complex interplay between the governing heat transfer and fluid flow phenomena during charge and discharge operations. The developed numerical model is compared with experimental results and a systematic parametric analysis of the effects of various design parameters on the performance of the thermal storage system is reported.

Experimental Investigation on Enhancement of Heat Transfer in Thermal Energy Storage System Using Paraffin Wax as PCM

2015 ◽  
Vol 766-767 ◽  
pp. 457-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Beemkumar ◽  
A. Karthikeyan
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Storage System ◽  
Energy Storage System ◽  
Paraffin Wax ◽  
Maximum Heat ◽  
Transfer Rates ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage System

An experimental study is conducted to investigate heat transfer enhancement in Thermal Energy Storage system (TES) with paraffin wax as a Phase Change Material (PCM). Therminol 66 is used as a heat transfer fluid (HTF) to carry the heat throughout circuit. The PCM is encapsulated in spherical shells which is stored in the storage tank. The work includes study of heat transfer rates between HTF and PCM with different encapsulation materials namely Copper, Aluminium and Brass. A series of experiments were conducted to investigate the time required and heat transfer rates of HTF during the processes of charging and discharging of the PCM. Experimentally, Copper was found to have the maximum heat transfer rate and Brass was found to have the least cost/kW of energy stored. In discharging process, the cumulative heat gained by HTF from the brass encapsulated PCM is higher (1419.8 kJ) than aluminium (1199.96 kJ) and copper (815.24 kJ). Thus it can be concluded the brass is the most economical encapsulating material for enhancing the heat transfer in a thermal storage system than copper. The heat transfer from the HTF to PCM occurs in copper are 4.9% faster when compared to Brass and 2.3% faster than Aluminum encapsulation. On the other hand, The cost per kW energy transfer from the different encapsulated materials proves that the brass is cost effective during both charging and discharging process.

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