Open AccessPerformance Analysis and Application of Three Different Computational Methods for Solar Heating System with Seasonal Water Tank Heat Storage
Author(s) -
Dongliang Sun,
Jinliang Xu,
Peng Ding
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
advances in mechanical engineering/advances in mechanical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.318
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1687-8140
pISSN - 1687-8132
DOI - 10.1155/2013/857941
Subject(s) - stratification (seeds) , computation , storage tank , thermal stratification , thermal energy storage , environmental science , numerical analysis , computer science , thermal , marine engineering , process engineering , meteorology , mechanical engineering , mathematics , engineering , algorithm , thermodynamics , seed dormancy , mathematical analysis , botany , germination , physics , dormancy , biology
We analyze and compare three different computational methods for a solar heating system with seasonal water tank heat storage (SHS-SWTHS). These methods are accurate numerical method, temperature stratification method, and uniform temperature method. The accurate numerical method can accurately predict the performance of the system, but it takes about 4 to 5 weeks, which is too long and hard for the performance analysis of this system. The temperature stratification method obtains relatively accurate computation results and takes a relatively short computation time, which is about 2 to 3 hours. Therefore, this method is most suitable for the performance analysis of this system. The deviation of the computational results of the uniform temperature method is great, and the time consumed is similar to that of the temperature stratification method. Therefore, this method is not recommended herein. Based on the above analyses, the temperature stratification method is applied to analyze the influence of the embedded depth of water tank, the thickness of thermal insulation material, and the collection area on the performance of this system. The results will provide a design basis for the related demonstration projects