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Pebble bed‐oil thermal energy storage for solar thermo‐electric power systems
Author(s) -
Bhavsar V. C.,
Balakrishnan A. R.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.4440140211
Subject(s) - thermal energy storage , nuclear engineering , pebble , transient (computer programming) , environmental science , thermal , storage tank , energy storage , heat transfer , instrumentation (computer programming) , solar energy , materials science , engineering , mechanics , mechanical engineering , electrical engineering , power (physics) , meteorology , thermodynamics , geology , physics , geomorphology , computer science , operating system
Results of a study to examine the operating characteristics of a 100 kWh thermal energy storage (TES) system suitable for solar thermo electric applications is described. The system chosen consisted of a pebble bed as the primary storage medium and oil as the heat transfer cum storage medium. The operating temperatures considered were between 230 and 250°C with a 20 deg C swing. A full‐size unit consisting of a steel tank of volume 10 m 3 with 50 mm pebbles, suitable instrumentation and facility for heating the oil was built. The important operating variables and characteristics of the system studied included the transient behaviour of the bed, namely the thermal wave front characteristics. Results of the theoretical analysis of the transient bed behaviour were compared with the experimental data on the wave front propogation characteristics and the comparisons are discussed. The uniformity of flow distribution is also examined.