Energy storage system having thermally stratified liquid

Patent · Tue Apr 16 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:5281232

Roussos, T; Sakhuja, R K

A thermal energy storage system is disclosed for heating a liquid and establishing and maintaining thermal stratification of the liquid in a storage tank. The tank, which may store hot water for domestic use, contains a vertical header assembly which functions to greatly reduce the momentum of incoming heated water and to transport the water up or down in the tank to a distribution level containing water of temperature equal to that of the incoming water. Positioned outside the tank is a heat pipe heat exchanger for heating storage liquid withdrawn from the tank. A solar-heated working fluid is circulated through one chamber of the heat exchanger to vaporize a heat pipe fluid. The heat pipe fluid in turn heats storage liquid pumped through a separate chamber of the heat exchanger from a lower part of the storage tank, after which the heated storage liquid is returned to the tank and distributed by means of the vertical header assembly.

• Assignee: Thermo Electron Corporation
• Patent Number(s): US 4510922
• OSTI ID: 5281232
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
141000* -- Solar Collectors & Concentrators
25 ENERGY STORAGE
250600 -- Energy Storage-- Thermal
BUILDINGS
CONTAINERS
EQUIPMENT
FLUIDS
HEAT EXCHANGERS
HEAT PIPES
HEAT TRANSFER FLUIDS
HEATING
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR HEATING
SOLAR WATER HEATING
STRATIFICATION
TANKS
TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS
THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE EQUIPMENT
WATER HEATING