Thermal performance analysis of the sorption heat storage system with packed bed based on a spatially resolved 2D model

Publication Name

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments

Abstract

For a thermochemical energy storage (TCES) system, the fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and reaction kinetics in packed bed reactors are closely related to the packing structure, which is crucial for charging/discharging performance. This study presented a spatially resolved 2D model to investigate the effects of packing structure on the discharge process in a packed bed reactor of a TCES system. Good agreement between the numerical results of the developed 2D model and experimental measurements was observed regarding the temperature profile and breakthrough curve. The proposed model effectively bridged the gap between the pseudo-homogeneous model and the spatially resolved 3D model, which could resolve the particle-resolved physical fields with limited computational resources. The radial profiles of velocity and intra-particle water loading complied with the oscillating distribution of the radial porosity. Furthermore, when the diameter ratio increased from 5.8 to 9.67, the relative velocity increased slightly from 3.98 to 4.33 in the near-wall region, whereas the non-uniformity of the velocity in the centre region decreased. Additionally, the developed 2D model was employed to conduct a parametric study of packed beds. According to the numerical results, the packed bed had an energy density of up to 245 kWh/m3.

Open Access Status

This publication may be available as open access

Volume

49

Article Number

101753

Funding Number

51774181

Funding Sponsor

National Natural Science Foundation of China

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101753