Numerical Simulation of Latent and Sensible Concrete Thermal Energy Storage System

摘要

A new type of concrete with PCM (Phase Change Material) Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system ispresented. The system, developed for industrial applications, is supposed to operate with temperature up to400°C and the PCM added mixture presents enhanced performances. A stainless-steel pipe is inserted in thecenter of the cylinder and the whole system is insulated. The charging stage is obtained by heating the pipe’ssurfaces by Joule effect and the module is then cooled with compressed air through the pipe. Two concretemixtures were tested, with and without PCM addition, in the same conditions, to evaluate their differences. Abinary mixture of salts was used as PCMs, composed of 40% of KNO_3 and 60% of NaNO_3, and they wereabsorbed by diatomite, a porous fossil flour. A cylindric concrete module was numerically simulated, with theCFD software ANSYS Fluent, and the results were compared with previous experimental tests.