Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis on Thermal Energy Storage Tank for District Cooling Plant Operation Analysis

Lee, Wing Kiat (2020) Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis on Thermal Energy Storage Tank for District Cooling Plant Operation Analysis. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Thermal energy storage (TES) is a technology to store heat or cold energy for later use. In large scale air-conditioning systems, chilled water thermal energy storage (CWTES) is used to store the chilled water. Hence, the cooling load of the air-conditioning system can shift to off-peak hours (night time) where the rate of electricity is lower. Therefore, the electricity cost of the airconditioning system can be reduced. In the CWTES tank, there is a layer called thermocline which is a layer to separate the cold and hot water mix together. The efficiency of the CWTES is depending on the thickness of the thermocline, thinner the layer of the thermocline, greater the efficiency of the CWTES system. In this research, a numerical model will be built to carry out the FEA simulation of CWTES. COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4® was utilized to simulate the charging and discharging process of the CWTES tank. To achieve the thinnest thermocline layer of CWTES, the inlet velocity must be as slow as possible. In this present study, case 1 has the average thinnest thermocline layer for charging process for 10 hours where the inlet velocity at the nozzles is 0.0002 m/s. Moreover, case 6 has the average thinnest thermocline layer for discharging process for 10 hours where the inlet velocity at the nozzles is 0.0002 m/s.