Title: Configurations for multiple thermal energy storages in thermal networks

Authors: Behnaz Rezaie; Bale V. Reddy; Marc A. Rosen

Addresses: Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), Oshawa, Ontario, L1H 7K4, Canada ' Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), Oshawa, Ontario, L1H 7K4, Canada ' Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), Oshawa, Ontario, L1H 7K4, Canada

Abstract: There are some conditions, depending on space availability, economics, project requirements, insulation, storage media and other issues, for which it may be advantageous to utilise several thermal energy storages (TESs) instead of one in thermal networks. Here, various configurations for multiple TESs are proposed and examined. First, one TES is investigated to determine the final temperature and energy recovery. Next, various configurations of multiple TESs are developed as functions of TES characteristics. In the parallel configuration, the TESs behave independently. This suggests that with the TES can consist of different storage media types and sizes, and that there is no restriction on initial TES temperature, while for the series configuration, the TESs are connected directly or indirectly through a heat exchanger. The general grid configuration is observed to exhibit characteristics of both series and parallel configurations.

Keywords: thermal energy storage; TES; serial configurations; parallel configurations; compound configurations; grid configurations; temperature; energy recovery; thermal networks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPSE.2015.071414

International Journal of Process Systems Engineering, 2015 Vol.3 No.1/2/3, pp.191 - 206

Received: 12 Nov 2013
Accepted: 31 Mar 2014
Published online: 27 Aug 2015 *

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