Evaluation of Pressure Drop and Particle Sphericity for an Air-rock Bed Thermal Energy Storage System

Abstract The pressure drop of a packed bed thermal energy storage system with irregular shaped solid pellets and tank-to-particle diameter ratio of 10.4 is investigated. The bed height to diameter ratio is 2. The particle sphericity is calculated and used to compare pressure drop correlations to the measured values in the particle Reynolds number range of 353 ≤ Re p ≤ 5206

Encapsulation of thermal energy storage media

In one embodiment, a method for depositing metal on a polymer surface, the method includes coating the polymer surface with a binding metal to render the polymer surface solvophillic and/or hydrophilic and depositing a further metal on the binding metal-coated polymer surface

Encapsulation of thermal energy storage media

In one embodiment, a method for fabricating a ceramic phase change material capsule includes forming a hollow ceramic capsule body having a filling hole, filling the ceramic capsule body with one or more phase change materials via the filling hole, and closing and sealing the filling hole

Encapsulation of thermal energy storage media

In one embodiment, a method for fabricating a ceramic phase change material capsule includes forming a solid phase change material pellet, coating the pellet with a green ceramic material, and sintering the green ceramic material while on the pellet to form a ceramic outer shell of the capsule

Encapsulation of thermal energy storage media

In one embodiment, a metal-plated polymer object includes a polymer surface, a first metal layer that has been applied to the polymer surface to render it electrically conductive, and a second metal layer that has been deposited on the first metal layer

Encapsulation of thermal energy storage media

In one embodiment, a metal-plated polymer object includes a polymer surface, a first metal layer that has been applied to the polymer surface to render it electrically conductive, and a second metal layer that has been deposited on the first metal layer

Photocatalytic degradation of 3,4-dichlorophenol using TiO₂ in a shallow pond slurry reactor

75-81In the present study, the TiO2 mediated photocatalytic degradation of 3,4-dichlorophenol, as a model compound, has been investigated using a low cost non-concentrating shallow pond slurry reactor at laboratory scale under a variety of conditions. The degradation was studied by monitoring the change in substrate concentration employing UV-spectroscopic analysis, decrease in COD values and increase in chloride formation as a function of irradiation time. The effect of pH, catalyst loading, substrate concentration, UV intensity, aperture to volume ratio of the reactor and presence of electron acceptors such as hydrogen peroxide besides molecular oxygen, on degradation, was studied. The degradation rates were strongly influenced by some of these parameters. The optimum parameters for maximum degradation were determined. The degradation of 3,4-dichlorophenol can be emulated in sunlight using a similar large-scale shallow pond reactor for the solar detoxification in open atmosphere

Investigation of a High-Temperature Packed-Bed Sensible Heat Thermal Energy Storage System With Large-Sized Elements

A high temperature sensible heat thermal energy storage (TES) system is designed for use in a central receiver concentrating solar power plant. Air is used as the heat transfer fluid and solid bricks made out of a high storage density material are used for storage. Experiments were performed using a laboratory scale TES prototype system and the results are presented. The air inlet temperature was varied between 300°C to 600°C and the flow rate was varied from 50 CFM to 90 CFM. It was found that the charging time decreases with increase in mass flow rate. A 1D packed bed model was used to simulate the thermal performance of the system and was validated with the experimental results. Unsteady 1D energy conservation equations were formulated for combined convection and conduction heat transfer, and solved numerically for charging/discharging cycles. Appropriate heat transfer and pressure drop correlations from prior literature were identified. A parametric study was done by varying the bed dimensions, fluid flow rate, particle diameter and porosity to evaluate the charging/discharging characteristics, overall thermal efficiency and capacity ratio of the system.</jats:p