01. Experimental/Computational Fluid Dynamics

Thermal energy storage system using packed-bed of pebbles is one of the viable options for improving the performance of CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) plants, enabling high operating temperatures and reduce the capital costs by employing cost effective filler materials and working fluids, being competitive against the currently employed molten salt thermal storage systems. Thus, various (sensible and latent) packed bed systems have been proposed and developed in the recent years. In order to design and assess the performance of these packed bed TES systems, numerical modeling and experimental validation at high temperatures plays a vital role. Accordingly in this study, a lab scale prototype packed bed TES system has been developed to investigate the effect of Reynolds number and temperature of heat transfer fluid on the charging performance of the packed bed system. These experiments enable to conduct the validation studies of numerical model and eventually optimize the key designing and operating temperature of packed bed storage system. The results indicate that heat transfer performance of the tank is significantly increased when increasing the Reynold number of the flow.