Parametric analysis of an internal-melt ice-on-coil tank

Conference · Wed Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:349968

Neto, J H.M. ^[1]; Krarti, M ^[2]

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1. Centro Federal de Educacao Technologica de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais (Brazil)
2. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)

In this paper, a parametric analysis is presented to evaluate the performance of an internal-melt ice-on-coil ice storage tank for various design configurations. In particular, the effects of variables such as thermal conductivity of the coil material, tank capacity, and longitudinal and transversal pitches are considered. In addition, an economic analysis is performed for different tank arrangements to determine optimum values for coil diameter and tank capacity. A numerical model based on a thermal network technique and validated experimentally is used to carry out the parametric analysis. The input parameters include secondary fluid inlet temperatures and flow rates of a 29% by weight concentration mixture of ethylene glycol and water. Among the model output parameters analyzed in this paper are the time variation of the secondary fluid heat transfer rates, the inventory of ice, and the secondary fluid pressure drop through the coils for both charging and discharging periods. It was found that the time required to charge and discharge the tanks can be reduced when optimal values of external coil diameters and thermal conductivities of the coil material--higher than those available commercially--are used.

• OSTI ID: 349968
• Report Number(s): CONF-970668--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
ICE
LATENT HEAT STORAGE
PERFORMANCE TESTING
THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE EQUIPMENT