Volume 19: Sustainable Energy Solutions for a Post-COVID Recovery towards a Better Future: Part II

Experimental Analysis on Temperature Stratification Characteristics of Storage Tanks for Geothermal Heating Wei Zhang, Dongxi Liu, Xinli Lu, Qingyao Meng, Jiaqi Zhang, Maoqin Hu, Feng Ma

Abstract

In a geothermal heating system coupled with storage tanks, temperature stratification effect of the storage tank is greatly influenced by different internal structures. A horizontal multi-sink storage tank with flow equalizing plate was designed and a test rig of storage tank was established in order to study the stratification characteristics. Experiments of three storage tanks with different flow sharing plate structures (full opening, middle opening and near water side opening) were carried out. The initial water temperature in the tank is 30℃ and under the same inlet water temperature, the temperature distribution cloud map of each heat storage tank under different flow rates is drawn according to the experimental data. Results showed that:(1) The temperature stratification characteristics of the storage tank can be optimized by selecting the near water side opening at low flow rate and the full opening at high flow rate;(2) The thickness of the thermocline can be significantly reduced and the temperature stratification characteristics can be improved by adding the flow equalizing plate.

Keywords Geothermal heating, Storage tanks, Temperature stratification, Experimental analysis